Annotation:Fain I Would
Tune properties and standard notation
FAIN I WOULD. AKA and see "Parthenia (1)," "King's Complaint (The)." English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 time). D Minor (Chappel, Raven): G Minor (Barnes, Sharp). Standard tuning. AB (Chappell, Raven): AABB (Barnes, Sharp). The air appears in John Playford's English Dancing Master of 1650 and Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book (where it is called "The King's Complaint"). The tune dates to at least the mid-17th century, and, according to Chappell (1859), it was probably originally a dance tune adapted to a ballad whose words were lost. In later editions of the Dancing Master the tune is also called "Parthenia," although the ballad that that title came from has also been lost. After the 8th edition of 1690 it was dropped from the Playford publications.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), vol. 1, 1859; p. 293. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 41 (a facsimile copy of Playford's printing). Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909; p. 29.
Recorded sources: