The negociations for Elizabeth to marry Francis finally failed in 1582,
15 years before the First book of songes was published. There is no
mention in "Now o Now" of how ugly Francis was (dwarfish, with severe
scars from the small pox). I don't see how English poets of the time
could have skipped over the opportunity to revile a French suitor to
their queen based on his physical appearance. If the Frog galliard were
entitled the Toad galliard, your theory might hold some water...
Jokes aside, 15 years is a long time in politics (even in those days),
and the complete absence of satirical content in the lyrics of the song
cast a doubt on that theory in my opinion.
At the time Dowland published the First book of songs, Queen Elizabeth
would have been 64, a ripe old age beyond any sort of romantic
inclination and possibly touchy if anyone dared harp on it ... Having
said that, English people still refer to French people as frogs - even
if we find no evidence of that in the Beatles song catalog...
Dowland spent time in France, where he is supposed to have converted to
Catholicism, and he had some very good reasons to stay well away from
hot political matters at the English court.
There is an interesting Dowland song in the Musical banquet that seems
to contradict my assumption that Dowland cared little for the court -
though note necessarily the court of England. I think the Goddess he
refers to is more likely Fame than Queen Elizabeth. That poem seems to
refer to several of Dowland's own songs, in a very post-modern sort of
way, while having the same clarity as a quatrain by Nostradamus :
Farre from triumphing Court and wonted glory,
He dwelt in shadie unfrequented places,
Times prisoner now he made his pastime story,
Gladly forgets Courts erst afforded graces,
That Goddesse whom hee servde to heav’n is gone,
And hee one earth, In darknesse left to moane.
But loe a glorious light from his darke rest
Shone from the place where erst this Goddesse dwelt
A light whose beames the world with fruit hath blest
Blest was the Knight while hee that light beheld:
Since then a starre fixed on his head hath shinde,
And a Saints Image in his hart is shrinde.
Ravisht with joy so grac’t by such a Saint,
He quite forgat his Cell and selfe denaid,
He thought it shame in thankfulnesse to faint,
Debts due to Princes must be duely paid:
Nothing so hatefull to a noble minde,
As finding kindnesse for to prove unkinde.
But ah poore Knight though thus in dreame he ranged,
Hoping to serve this Saint in sort most meete,
Tyme with his golden locks to silver changed
Hath with age-fetters bound him hands and feete,
Aye mee, hee cryes, Goddesse my limbs grow faint,
Though I times prisoner be, be you my Saint.
On 5/25/19 11:56 PM, Jacob Johnson wrote:
Has anyone suggested that "Now O Now" and the Frogg Galliard might be
in reference to Elizabeth's "on again, off again" courtship with
Francis, Duke of Anjou? After all, she called him her "frog".
Warmest Regards,
Jacob Johnson
On Sun, May 26, 2019, 1:38 AM howard posner <[1]howardpos...@ca.rr.com>
wrote:
> On May 25, 2019, at 12:39 PM, guy_and_liz Smith
<[2]guy_and_...@msn.com> wrote:
>
> At a seminar I attended some years ago, Pat O'Brien made a
plausible case that Can She Excuse (which is based on the Earl of
Essex galliard) is a veiled reference to the relationship between
Elizabeth and Robert, Earl of Essex.
The idea that Essex wrote the words (and those Bacheler's To Plead
My Faith) has been discussed for decades. Poulton goes through the
subject on pages 225-330 of the 1982 edition of John Dowland (I
imagine it was in the 1972 edition as well, but don't have it).
> They were widely believed to be lovers early on, but it didn't
last and there's apparently a letter from him to Elizabeth sent
during his tenure as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (which was less than
successful), complaining of ill treatment by her. Robert ultimately
was accused of treason
It probably had something to do with the rebellion he led in London
in February 1601. For some reason, this was considered a sign of
disloyalty.
> and executed.
Well, his head was cut off. To be fair, Essex behaved so
brainlessly sometimes that Elizabeth may have just been trying to
find out if he could do without it.
Poulton points out that Dowland did not use the title "Earl of Essex
Galliard" until 1604 (in Lachrimae or Seven Teares), when Elizabeth
and Essex had been dead for one and three years, respectively.
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