A Little Bird told me...

It's nice, if a little disorienting, to be able to leave a cold February morning for a balmy July evening in the city of London. Children are playing in the streets, dogs are barking (and playing with the children in some cases), one or two couples are strolling and the taverns are doing a brisk trade. So what, you ask, is the difference between a tavern and an inn? Simply put, inns offer accommodation while pubs and taverns offer only drinks and outdoor games.
Since we're in the vicinity of Fleet Street how about dropping in for a couple of drinks at the Red Lion and spend a while eavesdropping on conversations? I'm not a beer drinker myself, but I'm sure they'll have cider on tap.
The interior of the Red Lion is whitewashed, and sweet with the smell of clean sawdust on the floor, and not long after we settle ourselves in a comfortable corner, a ballad-seller starts making the rounds. I doubt he'll find much business in here though; on a warm evening like this most folks prefer the benches outside, or the shade behind the building where I think I hear the sound of a game of bowls in progress.
Here comes our cider; a generous stoneware jug and two sturdy pottery tankards with the sign of the Lion impressed into the clay.One of the songs the ballad-seller is offering is an appeal by a lover to a robin - a bird often identified with the English character, and particularly that of the cockney Londoner. I like the fancy of the song, and the name William Cornyshe rings a bell so I part with a farthing for one of the printed sheets and invite the ballad-seller to join us for a drink. The printing is fresh enough that it still leaves a slight black stain on my fingers.
The imprint on the sheet confirms that the year is 1504 and I half-remember something about Cornyshe being jailed that year.
Master Whitesmith, our ballad-seller knows the story. It seems that Master Cornyshe was accused (probably falsely) by a party or parties unnamed, to the King, of lewd and unseemly practices with some of the boys charged to his care as Master of the Children of the Royal Chapel. There is a rumour to the effect that Cornyshe wrote a poem intended to win him back to the King's favour, and that is the reason he is no longer in the ward of the Fleet Prison.
Moreover, Master Whitesmith tells us of his own experience of the Fleet Prison when fortune turned her face from him and he was imprisoned for his debt. Had it not been for the generosity of his brother, he might have been there still.
X:18                         % number
T:Ah Robin, gentle Robin     % title
C:William Cornyshe           % composer
O:Http://arenai.free.fr      % origin.
M:4/2                        % meter
N:The original meter for this piece was "imperfect time", or
N:Four beats in the bar.
L:1/4                        % length of shortest note
Q:                           % tempo
K:F                          % key
V:1 name="Descant" sname="D." % voice 1
V:2 name="1st Tenor" sname="T.1"
V:3 name="2nd Tenor" sname="T.2"
%==================2===============3=================4===============5
[V:1] B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2 |
w:Ah Robin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:2] Z4 |
[V:3] Z4 |
%==================6===============7=================8===============9
[V:1] Z4 |
[V:2] G2 _E2 D2 z2 | G2 F _E D2 z2 | D D D D F F G G | A A D D G2 z2 |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:3] B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2 |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
%=================10===============11================12================13
[V:1] d2 g2 f2 z2  | d2 d g f2 z2   | F>F B B A A d d | f e d c =B2 z G |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine. My
[V:2] B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2   | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2   |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:3] G2 _E2 D2 z2 | G2 F _E D2 z2  | D D D D F F G G | A A D D G2 z2   |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
%====================14===============15====================16
[V:1] d>d c B f>e d c | _e d d c d2 z2 | F>F B B A A/ A/ d d |
w:La-dy is un-kind y-wis, A-lack why is she so? lov'th a-no-ther bet-ter than me and
[V:2] G2 _E2 D2 z2    | G2 F _E D2 z2  | D D D D F F G G     |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
[V:3] B2 G2 A2 z2     | B2 A G A2 z2   | A>A d d c>c B B     |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
%===================17=============18==============19================20
[V:1] F E D C =B2 z2 | d2 g2 f2 z2  |d2 d g f2 z    | F>F B B A A d d |
w:yet she will say no. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin, tell me how thy le-man doth and
[V:2] A A D D G2 z2  | B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
[V:3] c c A A G2 z2  | G2 _E2 D2 z2 | G2 F _E D2 z2 | D D D D F F G G |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
%====================21================22==============23
[V:1] F E D C =B2 z G | d>d c B d>d G G | d>d d c d z G |
w:thou shalt know of mine. I can-not think such dou-ble-ness for I find wo-men true, in
[V:2] c c A A G2 z2   | G2 _E2 D2 z2    | G2 F _E D2 z2 |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin,
[V:3] A A D D G2 z2   | B2 G2 A2 z2     | B2 A G A2 z2  |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin,
%====================24===============25=============26
[V:1] d>d B B A>A d d | f e d c =B2 z2 | d2 g2 f2 z2  |
w:faith my la-dy lov'th me well; she will change for no new. Ah, Ro-bin,
[V:2] D D D D F F G G | A A D D G2 z2  | B2 G2 A2 z2  |
w:Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin,
[V:3] A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2  | G2 _E2 D2 z2 |
w:Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin,
%==================27================28=============|]
[V:1] d2 d g f2 z2  | F>F B B A A d d | f e d c =B4 |]
w:gen-tle Ro-bin, Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:2] B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G4  |]
w:gen-tle Ro-bin, Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:3] G2 F _E D2 z2 | D D D D F F G G | A A D D G4  |]
w:gen-tle Ro-bin, Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
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