_Fal._ He (Shallow) came ever in the rearward of the
fashion, and _sung those tunes_ ... that he heard the
_carmen whistle_, and sware--they were his _fancies_, or his
_goodnights_.... The _case of a treble hautboy_ was a
mansion for him, a court.
The Carman's Whistle was a popular Elizabethan tune, and was arranged
as a virginal lesson by Byrd. This arrangement can be had most readily
in Litolff's publication, 'Les maitres du Clavecin.'
The 'fancies' referred to above are the 'Fantazies' already remarked
on (chest of viols); and the 'Goodnights' are songs _in memoriam_, or
dirges.
'Fortune my foe.' [Appendix]. _Merry Wives_ III, iii, 62. _Falstaff_
(to Mrs Ford). 'I see what thou wert, if _Fortune thy foe_ were not,
Nature thy friend.' This old tune is at latest of Elizabeth's time,
and was sung to the ancient ballad of "Titus Andronicus." The first
verse of 'Fortune my foe' is as follows:--
"Fortune my foe, why dost thou frown on me?
And will thy favour never better be?
Wilt thou, I say, for ever breed my pain,
And wilt thou not restore my joyes again?"
'Ophelia's Songs.' _Hamlet_ IV, v. [Appendix]. 'How should I your
true love know'; 'Good morrow, 'tis St Valentine's day'; 'They bore
him barefaste'; 'Bonny sweet Robin'; 'And will he not come again.'
The one line of 'Bonny sweet Robin' is all that remains of the song,
except the title, which is also the first line--viz.
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