Henry V (play) – Early Music Muse

Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?

Ian Pittaway Cailín ó Chois tSiúre mé, Calen o Custure me, Caleno custure me, Callin o custure me, Callino Casturame, Callino Custurame, calmie custure me, Henry V (play), renaissance, Shakespeare William 14th April 201712th September 2023 5 Comments

Calen o Custure me was a popular 16^th century love song, published in a printed anthology two years after it was registered as a broadside, arranged multiple times for a range of instruments, and referenced by William Shakespeare in his play, Henry V. The song is something of a mystery: what does its repeated refrain mean, and what language is it? This article examines the claim that the mystery title originates in Irish Gaelic, then traces the use of the melody from the 16^th to the 19^th century; with a performance of the song by Alfred Deller and Desmond Dupré, and three other illustrative videos.

Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology

Ian Pittaway Boleyn Anne, broadside ballads, Chappell William, Dowland John, early music, Flood William H. G., Greensleeves, Henry V (play), Henry VIII, lute, lute manuscripts and books, Merry Wives of Windsor, myths, Poulton Diana, renaissance, Shakespeare William, Tudors (TV series), Twelfth Night 3rd July 201525th December 2023 23 Comments

The remarkable longevity of a 16^th century song and tune

Greensleeves, composed anonymously in 1580, is a song which has been a magnet for fanciful claims. This article examines the claims that Henry VIII wrote it for Anne Boleyn; that Lady Greensleeves was a loose woman or a prostitute; and that the song has Irish origins. This is the first of three articles, looking at the song’s mythology; its true history; and video examples of its musical transformations.