Talk:Songs for the Philologists

Lazy Sheep

Composer was Mantle Childe, a british pianist. Music after an old French air, published in Childe, M.: Child's play: nine little pieces for piano, Oxford University Press, 1947, which is for sale at a price of £1. A reprint is mentioned in this large PDF (search for "childe" in both of them). The link you gave already gives a 1986 fake book that should contain the score. According to the index of Fielding, Ch., Ibbs and Tillett: the rise and fall of a musical empire, ISBN 1-840-14290-1, the composer's full name was "George Mantle Childe". I also found another brief mention of the composer. That's all I was able to find on-line on either the song (which seems to be entitled "Lazy Sheep, pray tell why"; text from an old nursery rhyme) or the composer. Lupo 29 June 2005 08:34 (UTC)

"Lazy sheep, pray tell me why
In the pleasant fields you lie,
Eating grass, and daisies white,
From the morning till the night?
Everything can something do,
But what kind of use are you?"

"Nay, my little master, nay,
Do not serve me so, I pray;
Don't you see the wool that grows
On my back, to make you clothes?
Cold, and very cold, you'd be
If you had not wool from me.

True, it seems a pleasant thing,
To nip the daisies in the spring;
But many chilly nights I pass
On the cold and dewy grass,
Or pick a scanty dinner, where
All the common's brown and bare.

Then the farmer comes at last,
When the merry spring is past,
And cuts my woolly coat away,
To warm you in the winter's day:
Little master, this is why
In the pleasant fields I lie."

the meter seems compatible with "Bagme Bloma",

Brunaim bairiþ bairka bogum
laubans liubans liudandei,
gilwagroni, glitmunjandei,
bagme bloma, blauandei,
fagrafahsa, liþulinþi,
fraujinondei fairguni.

Wopjand windos, wagjand lindos,
lutiþ limam laikandei;
slaihta, raihta, hweitarinda,
razda rodeiþ reirandei,
bandwa bairhta, runa goda,
þiuda meina þiuþjandei.

Andanahti milhmam neipiþ,
liuhteiþ liuhmam lauhmuni;
laubos liubai fliugand lausai,
tulgus, triggwa, standandei.
Bairka baza beidiþ blaika
fraujinondei fairguni.

dab (ᛏ) 29 June 2005 08:46 (UTC)

Availability

Is the poems from this book available in reprints or online? 惑乱 分からん 21:40, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Images

Is it possible to get an image of the cover of Songs for the Philologists? I found one on TolkienBooks.net, but that was it. BKalesti 20:29, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 13:47, 9 November 2007 (UTC)