Annotation:Loath to Depart (1)
X:1 T:Loath to Depart (1) M:6/4 L:1/8 R:Air B:Fitzwilliam Virginal Book B:Chappell - Popular Music of the Olden Time, vol. 1 (p. 102) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Cmin G2G2G2 G4c2|B4A2G6|F3G A2 G4F2|c2B2A2 G6|| G2G2G2 G4c2|B4A2G6|F3G A2 G4F2|G4G2 F6||
LOATH TO DEPART [1]. English, Air (6/4 time). C Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. There are several 'loath to depart' tunes, notes Chappell (1859), which could be any song sung or tune played at the parting of friends or a leave-taking. Kines (1964) says this was the "Auld Lang Syne" of the Elizabethan period and was mentioned in several works, including Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at Several Weapons (act ii, sc. 2). A Welsh tune called "Anharudd ymadael" (Loath to Depart) appears in Edward Jones' (1752-1824, known as 'Bardd y Brenen') first volume of Welsh music The Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards (1784), but it is a different melody.
