Wednesday 26 January 2022
Tune of the Day: Oh It Was Not for Me that I Heard the Bells
arranged for two flutes
This air was originally composed by British organist John Whitaker for the 1815 operatical farce My Spouse and I.
I went to the fair with a heart all so merry,
Sing hey down, ho down, derry down dee;
And I bought a gay ribbon as red as a cherry,
For the girl I lov'd best and who vow'd to love me.
I return'd from the fair gaily whistling and singing,
My true lover's knot I in triumph was bringing;
0! it wasn't for me that I heard the bells ringing;
Sing hey down, ho down, derry down dee.
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.