The original title of this ballad was ‘The Deceased Maiden Lover’, and the tune direction is for ‘Bonny Nell’, which no longer survives. The setting on this record is by Robert Johnson (c1583–1633), lutenist to Elizabeth I, who subsequently provided much of the music in Shakespeare’s plays. The four-part setting in the last verse is an arrangement by The City Waites.
from notes by Douglas Wootton © 1981
