In one or two early collections it is assigned to Thomas Campion, but that means nothing, for editors were flagrantly careless about such things at that period and much later. There is some doubt as to the authorship.

From these facts, it would seem probable that the tune is English and was carried over to Holland by some of ElizabethвЂ™s soldiers who fought in the Low Countries. Furthermore, Herr Daniel de Lange, a distinguished Dutch musician and Director of the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music, informed the writer that Holland had few if any original folk-songs that most of those current there could be traced back to an English, French or German origin. But it is also found in a Dutch publication of 1647 under the name of В«EssexвЂ™s LamentationВ». Here it is a patriotic song of splendid martial vigor. В«What if a dayВ» is well known in Holland under the title of В«Berg op ZoomВ», in which shape it will be found in KremserвЂ™s Altniederlandische Volkslieder. Its origin and its authorship are both in doubt, for it is one of those songs which are found in two countries, and while it has been ascribed to a particular author, there is presumptive evidence that it was popular long before he was born.

There are few English songs which afford more room for speculation than this one.

O cessate di piagarmi sheet music in f