Annotation:Pray Goody

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PRAY GOODY. AKA - "Pray Goody, please to moderate." English, Air (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The air is to a song from Kane O'Hara's [1] (1712-1782) first burletta, Midas [2] (1762), music by Thomas Arne. According to William Chappell, "in the original book of words to the opera, the music of 'Pray Goody' is stated to be 'A tune in Queen Mab. The music for the pantomime of Queen Mab was composed by Dr. Burney. 'Hope told a flattering tale' was written [by Peter Pindar] to supply the demand for English words to Paisiello's exquisite air--

Nel cor più non mi sent
Brillar la gioventù.

We will only add...that as music to pantomimes is almost invariably selected music, Dr. Burney may have borrowed 'Pray Goody' from Rousseau, for whom the air has been claimed" [Notes and Queries, Sept. 12, 1874, p. 220].

The song was popular and much anthologized in songsters of the latter-18th through the mid-19th century, and was issued on period song sheets.

PRAY, Goody, please to moderate,
The rancour of your tongue;
Why flash those sparks of fury from your eyes?
Remember when the judgement's weak,
The prejudice is strong:
A stranger why will you despise?
Ply me,
Try me,
Prove e'er you deny me,
If you cast me off you blast me,
Never more to rise.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: O’Farrell (Pocket Companion for the Union Pipes, vol. IV), c. 1810; p. 111. Riley (Riley's Flute Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1814; p. 93.

Recorded sources:

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