Greensleeves

Background

A broadside ballad titled "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationers' Company in September 1580. Six more related ballads followed within a year, including contributions by Edward White, Henry Carr, and William Elderton. The tune appears in late 16th- and early 17th-century sources such as Ballet's MS Lute Book and Het Luitboek van Thysius, as well as manuscripts at the Seeley Historical Library, University of Cambridge.

A common myth holds that King Henry VIII wrote "Greensleeves," but the piece is based on an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until after his death. The lyrics have been interpreted as referring to a promiscuous woman, due to the sexual connotations of the word "green" (e.g., "a green gown"), but the earliest such association dates only to 1675. An alternative interpretation is that the lady's rejection of the singer suggests she is not promiscuous. In Nevill Coghill's translation of The Canterbury Tales, green is described as "the colour of lightness in love."

The melody is compatible with several ground bass progressions, including the romanesca, passamezzo antico, and Andalusian progression. The tune was used as the slow march of the London Trained Bands in the 16th and 17th centuries, and later as the quick march of the 7th (City of London) Battalion London Regiment during World War I.

Did You Know?

• In Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, the character Mistress Ford refers twice to "the tune of 'Greensleeves'".