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I care not for these Ladies
Philip Rosseter's Book of Ayres, 1601

I care not for these Ladies

That must be woode and prade. [woode-wooed; prade:praised]

Give me kind Amarillis

The wanton country maide. [See note 2]

 

Nature art distaineth,

Her beauty is her own. [See note 2]

Her when we court and kisse,

She cries forsooth let go,

But when we come where comfort is

She never will say no.

 

If I love Amarillis,

She brings me fruit and flowers,

But if I love these Ladies,

We must give golden showers,

 

Give them gold that sell love,

Give me the nutbrown lasse,

Who when we court, etc.

 

These Ladies must have pillows,

And beds by strangers wrought,

Give me a bower of willowes,

Of mosse and leaves unbought,

 

And fresh Amarillis,

With milk and honey fed,

Who when we court, etc.

 

(Greenberg, Noah, ed., An Elizabethan Songbook, Doubleday Anchor, 1955, pp 18-9)

Note 1: When this was written, wanton probably meant merely wild or undisciplined.
Note 2: I.e., she doesn't use makeup.

Two contemporary dances have been written with this name, the first, a longways by Robert Hider (Pinewoods Fund Dance Collection) is not done very much any more. The second, a circle for three couples by Kitty Skrobela is very popular. Although both are to the same tune the first in in waltz tempo, the second a jig.