, 'My Robin is to
the greenwood gone.' The line Shakespeare gives would be the last. One
tune to it is at any rate older than 1597.
Lastly, there are the old catches, 'Hold thy peace,' sung by Toby, Sir
Andrew, and Feste in _Twelfth Night_ II, iii; 'Jack boy, ho boy, news,
The cat is in the well,' etc., referred to by Grumio in _Shrew_ IV, i,
42; besides 'Flout 'em and scout em,' sung by Stephano, Trinculo, and
Caliban in _Tempest_ III, ii; and 'What shall he have that killed the
deer,' for the foresters in _As You Like It_ IV, ii, 5. The original
music of the first two, probably much earlier than Shakespeare, is in
the Appendix. A Round for four voices by John Hilton (flourished 1600)
to 'What shall he have,' is probably the first setting, and may be
seen in Rimbault, p. 19. Purcell (1675) set 'Flout 'em' as a catch for
three voices, which is in Caulfield's Collection of Shakespeare Vocal
Music, 1864. These last two are poor specimens of Catches, so they are
not printed here. [The proper reading of 'Flout 'em,' in the 4tos and
1st Fol. is 'Flout 'em and _cout_ 'em! and _skowt_ 'em, and flout
'em! Thought is free.']
The following passage contains a large quantity of the history of
songs in the 16th century, and is one of the most important to be
found in Shakespeare. Autolycus sells ballads 'of all sizes' among his
wares; the country folk, Mopsa, Dorcas, and the Clown, buy them, and
afterwards sing them; and the rustic servant distinctly prefers the
pedlar's vocalisation to their accustomed 'tabor and pipe,' or even to
the 'bagpipe.
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