The Lyrics of Henry VIII/I am a joly foster (Unattributed)

[ff. 69v-71r]

I am a Ioly foster I am a Ioly foster and haue ben many a day and foster will I be styll for shote ryght well I may                                      5 for shot ryght well I may

Wherfor shuld I hang vp my bow vpon the gren wod bough I cane bend and draw a bow and shot well enough. 10 I am a Ioly foster

wherfor shuld I hang vp myne arrow opon the gren wode lynde I haue strength to mak it fle and kyll bothe hart and hynd                               15 I am a Ioly foster

wherfor shuld I hang vp my horne vpon the gren wod tre I can blow the deth of a dere as well as any that euer I see. 20 I am a Ioly foster

wherfor shuld I tye vp my hownd vnto the gren wod spray I can luge and make a sute as well as any in may. 25 I am. a foster

Textual Commentary
This lyric, as with other forester songs in H, draws upon the double-entendre of the forester songs in their courtly-love application. Unlike the others, though, it is much less explicit; it does not, for example, draw attention to its “construccyon,” as does Cornish’s “Blow thi hornne hunter” (H 29), nor does it shift its frame of reference to address directly issues of courtly love, as does Cooper’s “I haue bene a foster” (H 47.16–25). As such, this lyric is a more implicit engagement of the forester-song tradition, and is as much a clear and immediate answer to Cooper’s “I haue bene a foster” (some parallels are noted below; see Greene 314 n.) as Cooper’s song is an adaptation and elaboration of the unattributed “y haue ben afoster long and meney day” in LRit (f. 53v). In “I am a joly foster,” a younger forester proclaims his virility and ability. As an answer to Cooper’s lyric, it likely also has associations with the play presented by Cornish at Windsor, 15 June 1522 (see the commentary and notes to Cooper’s “I haue bene a foster” [H 47], as well as to Cornish’s “Yow and I and amyas” [H 35] and “Blow thi hornne hunter” [H 29]).


 * 1   foster  Forester.


 * 3–5, 7–8 Cf. Cooper’s “I haue bene a foster” (H 47.2–4, 6–7), to which this is a direct answer


 * 13 lynde  Lime or linden tree; in Middle English poetry often used to denote a tree of any kind (OED 1).


 * 19 blow the death of a dere   Cf. Cornish’s “Blow thi hornne hunter” (H 29), first stanza.


 * 24 luge  Throw something so that it lodges or is caught in its fall (OED “lodge” v 3.g; earliest date 1606, but see the activity noted in Medwall’s Fulgens and Lucres [circa 1497] 2.202 ff.).     sute   Pursuit and chase, but also in the sense of “sew” as seen earlier; cf. similar action associated with love in Henry’s lyrics; see the note to “Thow that men do call it dotage” (H 44.17).

The first two stanzas are through-set for three voices, with the remaining text underlaid. There is no authorial ascription for “I am a joly foster.”

This piece is indexed in Robbins Index & Suppl. 4068.6 and Ringler MS TM1929. It is reprinted in Flügel Anglia 245–46, Flügel Neuengl 151, Chambers Lyrics 246, Greene 314, Stevens M&P 410–11, and Stevens MCH8 50–51.

Texts Collated
H1,2,3 (ff. 69v–71r, ll. 2–11 H2,3).


 * 5   I may] omit H2