Sheet Music: O Dear! What Can the Matter Be?

TitleO Dear! What Can the Matter Be?
Alternate titlesJohnny's So Long at the Fair
Seven Old Ladies
ComposerTraditional English
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyG major
RangeE4–G5
Time signature6/8
Tempo76 BPM
Performance time0:50
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (53 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (415 kB)
Date added2018-02-06
Last updated2018-02-06
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.2 (relatively unpopular)
Categories
Nursery rhymes, Traditional/Folk

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Tuesday 6 February 2018

Tune of the Day: O Dear! What Can the Matter Be?

Traditional English nursery rhyme

This popular nursery rhyme, also known as “Johnny's So Long at the Fair”, can be traced back as far as the 1770s in England, when it was published as part of the Mansfield manuscript, a collection of Scots songs.

O Dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the Fair.
He promised he'd bring me a basket of posies,
A garland of lilies, a garland of roses,
A little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons
That tie up my bonny brown hair.