I Have Been a Foster (The Old Forester)

DESCRIPTION: "I have been a foster (forester), long and many a day," but now he is laying down his bow. He will leave it on the greenwood bough, for he cannot shoot as he once did. Venus has left him behind; he can only watch as others find pleasure
AUTHOR: unknown (musical setting by Robert Cooper)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1700 (British Library, MS. Additional 31922)
KEYWORDS: age disability sex MiddleEnglish
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Greene-TheEarlyEnglishCarols, #465, pp. 313-314, "(Hange I wyl my nobyl bow vpon the grenewod bough)" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge-OldEnglishPopularMusic I, p. 50, "I Have Been a Foster" (1 partial text, 1 tune -- the chorus only; it is not clear if it is this or the version that says the forester will not retire)
Brown/Robbins-IndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse, #1303.5
DigitalIndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse #2176
MANUSCRIPT: London, British Library, MS. Additional 31922, folio 65
MANUSCRIPT: London, British Library, MS. Additional 6556, folio 53 (a short text, probably this)
Roud #V50090
NOTES [228 words]: This occurs complete in only one manuscript, which would ordinarily not be sufficient reason to include it in the Index -- especially as the manuscript containing it does not seem to contain any other demonstrably folk material. The manuscript is clearly of the sixteenth century (Greene says the first half of that century), containing as it does several pieces by Henry VIII. It also has several holly-and-ivy and greenwood pieces -- it almost makes me wonder if it isn't an attempt to fake a collection of rustic songs. (It includes musical notation as well as texts.)
But Wooldridge decided to include this piece in his collection (though I don't find it in Chappell), and Greene thinks the chorus, at least, is borrowed, perhaps from a folk song. It sounds that way to me, too. Plus Greene's #466/DIMEV #2175 (from the same manuscript) seems to be an answer, or perhaps a preface. And Greene's notes record another poem, not a carol but just as folky-looking, "I haue been a foster long and meney day."
So there is a lot going on here. I don't really think this is a folk song, but it's just folky enough that I decided to include it to let you make your own decisions
To this compare: Sidgwick/Chambers-EarlyEnglishLyrics CXVI, p. 247, "(no title)" (1 short text that looks like an abbreviation of this; it is found in British Library MS. Additional 5665). - RBW
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