Annotation:Friar in the Well (The)
FRIAR IN THE WELL, THE. AKA and see "Maid Peeped Out at the Window (The)." English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 or 6/8 time). G Mixolydian (Raven): G Dorian (Chappell). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune appears in John Playford's English Dancing Master of 1651 (p. 42), although "Friar in the Well" is the secondary title, and "Maid Peeped Out at the Window (The)" the primary. The song that goes with the tune tells the tale of a lascivious friar who is outwitted by a woman; Chappell (1859) says this is based on a very common story which appears in "most old French and Italian collections of facetious tales."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Barlow (Complete Country Dances from Playford's Dancing Master), 1985; No. 59, p. 29. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 27.
Recorded sources: