Beaumont and Fletcher's Coxcomb has

"Where were the watch the while? good sober gentlemen,
They were, like careful members of the city,
Drawing in diligent ale, and singing catches."

Also in B. and F.'s Faithful Friends—

"Bell.—Shall's have a catch, my hearts?

Calve.—Aye, good lieutenant.

Black.—Methinks a soldier[3] should sing nothing else; catch, that catch may is all our life, you know."

[In Bonduca, a play of B. and F's., altered for operatic setting by Purcell in 1695, there is a catch in three parts, sung by the Roman soldiers.]

In Sir William Davenant's (Davenant flourished 1635) comedy The Wits, Snore, one of the characters, says—

"It must be late, for gossip Nock, the nailman,
Had catechized his maids, and sung three catches
And a song, ere we set forth."