On HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee today…I thought it appropriate to post this Old English traditional folk song which over the centuries rumours have persisted that her ancestor Henry VIII had a hand in writing. However much music detectorists and historians have debunked this theory, it still manages to have a resonance with some people who believe the words refer to Henry’s wooing of Anne Boleyn. I am referring to the ballad Greensleeves of course, a song first registered at The Stationer’s Company, London in 1580 by Richard Jones - placing it firmly in the reign of Elizabeth I.

I’ve chosen two versions …first a modern interpretation of this Elizabethan song by Peter Hollens and Tim Faust, two singers from her majesty’s former colony America…who stand singing on the Pacific shore in Oregon. The second is perhaps closer to the original instrumental style by Baltimore Consort.