> On May 25, 2019, at 12:39 PM, guy_and_liz Smith <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. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
