The folk music of Ireland (also known as Irish
traditional music, Irish trad, Irish folk music, and
other variants) is the generic term for music that has
been created in various genres in Ireland.
"The Maid and the Barley" is a free setting of an
English tune known variously as “The Farmer”s
Daughter,” “Cold and Raw,” “The Northern
Ditty,” or “The Scotchman Outwitted by the Country
Damsel.” It appears in the collection “Pills
to Purge Melancholy” (1719-1...(+)
The folk music of Ireland (also known as Irish
traditional music, Irish trad, Irish folk music, and
other variants) is the generic term for music that has
been created in various genres in Ireland.
"The Maid and the Barley" is a free setting of an
English tune known variously as “The Farmer”s
Daughter,” “Cold and Raw,” “The Northern
Ditty,” or “The Scotchman Outwitted by the Country
Damsel.” It appears in the collection “Pills
to Purge Melancholy” (1719-1720), edited by Thomas
D’Urfey (c. 1653-1723). By the mid-17th
century, the disposition known as melancholy had passed
its fashionable prime and was regarded as something to
be to be purged.
Of several popular treatments (including
blood-letting!), the most widely embraced was mirth,
readily supplied by cheap pamphlets and song-sheets.
In 1661, the London publisher John Playford
brought out a collection entitled “An Antidote
against Melancholy.” The collection grew in
subsequent editions, culminating in a six-volume
edition edited by the colorful personality of Thomas
d’Urfey, then nearing the end of his life as singer,
songwriter, man about town, and friend and confidant of
royalty from Charles II to Queen Anne. Many of
the songs were taken from previous collections,
although d’Urfey added his own tunes, modified
existing tunes, and added and revised lyrics.
D’Urfey was known chiefly for his ribald
lyrics, as well as a terrible stutter which vanished
only when singing or swearing. His work belongs
to the tradition of English bawdy, which favors texts
rich in double meanings.
Although this work was originally written for Folk
Instruments, I created this arrangement for Flute &
Concert (Pedal) Harp.