"To the Tune of Greensleeves"
Popular Music and Its Uses in The Beggar's Opera

a sample archive by Tonya Howe
English 333
for Professor Howe
Washington and Lee University

John Gay's revision, in 1728, of the famous courtly love song "Greensleeves" places him and his work in a tradition of popular balladry that frequently set new songs to old tunes. The earliest versions of "Greensleeves" were typically associated with courtly and aristocratic notions of romance. In the song, a nameless lover recites a long litany of gifts he has given to and services he has performed for his "Ladie Greensleeues." Despite these gifts, the Lady "yet...wouldst not loue" him. Gay's revision becomes burlesque, transforming the denied courtly lover into the virile highwayman. This archive represents a collection of materials related to the use of balladry in The Beggar's Opera. By collecting these materials, I create a contextual repository for the analysis of traditional and modern uses of "Greensleeves." I am interested in the lyrical revisions of "Greensleeves" especially as they shed light on the self-consciously and aesthetically modern Beggar's Opera.

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