Tune of the Day: All in a Garden Green
The earliest known appearance of this melody is in William Ballet's Lute Book (1594). A ballad was registered with the Stationers' Company (an early form of copyrighting, and mandatory at the time) in 1566 called “All in a garden green, between two lovers”, which may or may not have been sung to the tune that later appeared in Ballet's manuscript. A further reference can be found in A Handefull of Pleasant Delites (1584), in which mention is made of “An excellent Song of an outcast Lover, to All in a Garden green”. Whether these early references referred to the same melody is not known, as the opening line is common to many songs of the period.
All in a garden green two lovers sat at ease,
As they could scare be seen among, among the leafy trees.