Annotation:Under the Greenwood Tree (1)
UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE. English, Air (6/4 or 6/8 time). D Major (Oswald). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDD (Oswald). The melody and country dance instructions were printed in John Playford's Dancing Master, supplement to the 6th edition (1679), and were retained in the long-running series through the 18th and final edition of 1728. The tune was also printed in London by John Walsh. A number of early 18th century ballad operas employed it as a vehicle for songs, and it can be heard in The Devil to Pay (1731), The Jovial Crew (1731), Henry Potter's The Decoy (1733), Lacy Ryan's The Cobler's Opera (1729), Ebenezer Forrest's Momus Turn'd Fabulist, or Vulcan's Wedding (1729) and several others.
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