This air bears some resemblance to "The Faithful Shepherd" in Thompson's "Complete Collection of Country Dances" (circa 1775), which is reprinted in Mr. Kidson's "Old English Country Dances," p. 10.
"CONSTANT BILLY."
This is a variant of the "Constant Billy" printed in Playford's "Dancing Master" (1726), p. 170, and also in one of Walsh's dancing books. It is also in Gay's "Beggars' Opera," where it is set to the words, "Cease your funning." Mr. Kidson tells us that the air is known in old books as "Over hills and lofty mountains" or "Lofty mountains."
The well-known Welsh air "The Ash Grove" is but another version of the same tune; but whether the Welsh derived the air from England or vice versa is a moot point. The matter is discussed, at some length, in Chappell's "Popular Music of the Olden Time," p. 665, to which the reader is referred.
The air that we print is as the Headington Morris-men played it; but we also recovered a variant of it from the Bidford dancers. The "Constant Billy" of the Bampton men, already mentioned, is yet another variant, but in the Æolian mode.
The words of the first verse of the Headington version were as follows:
O Constant Billy,
Shall I go with 'ee?
O when shall I see
My Billy again?