Dear Stuart, "Mr Strangs Gregery hitts" is in only one source - Cambridge University Library, Dd.2.11. There might well be a bar missing from the first strain, but it is impossible to be sure what the missing notes are or where they should be.
The attribution to John Whitfield is incorrect. On folio 9v is a piece called "The Scottish Hunt's Up". The scribe, thought to be Matthew Holmes, couldn't fit all the music for that piece onto the page (9v), so he wrote the last few bars at the very bottom of the next folio (10r), and added the attribution to John Whitfield. On folio 10r Holmes copied Holborne's Ploravit Pavan and Lushier's Almain. He had a little bit of space left on folio 10r, so he copied "Mr Strangs Gregery hitts", with all the letters squashed up close together. Unfortunately he couldn't get to the end of the piece, so he put the last bit after the end of "The Scottish Hunt's Up" in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. These last few notes of "Mr Strangs Gregery hitts" got tangled up with "J. Whitfield", which explains how the false attribution arose. What puzzles me is why Holmes didn't carry on copying "The Scottish Hunt's Up" at the top of folio 10r. Perhaps he copied the Holborne and Lushier pieces before he had finished "The Scottish Hunt's Up". At all events, "Mr Strangs Gregery hitts" was copied last. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stuart Walsh Sent: 12 November 2009 21:45 To: Lute Net Subject: [LUTE] Mr Strange Gregory hitts J. Whitfield Talking of 'Lute News', every issue has a supplement of pieces edited by John H. Robinson. The latest is "Twenty Continental Preludes and Exercises....from CUL MS 3056." He must have edited hundreds and hundreds of pieces over the years. Anyway, in 2000 Lute News no56, "Lute Music Ascribed or Dedicated to John Whitfield, Greene and Southwell", the second piece has this very strange title: "Mr Strange Gregory hitts J. Whitfield". And it's a nice little piece (a galliard?) - and it's not too difficult. A lot of the music in these supplements is tough going. In the scholarly notes, it is explained that this isn't really the title. It's not by (or for?) J. Whitfield. The title just is: "Mr Strange Gregery hitts" (Or "Mr Strange Gregery hills"). So (?) this might mean a man called Gregory Strange from a place abbreviated as hitts or hills? Anyway again, the first strain (of three) has only seven 'bars'. Is this likely in English lute music of this period? I just wonder if after bar 5 there could be a bar missing? I do try all the pieces in these supplements and I'm amazed at John H. Robinson's achievement. Stuart To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
