"My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home" is a traditional English

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

of the sixteenth century. A

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

version was composed by the composer

John Dowland John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...

.Wade p.104 It celebrates the return of Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby to England after he had led an expeditionary force to assist the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

in its war for independence from Spain. Willoughby was regarded as a popular

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

hero, and the lyrics commemorate his exploits in battle.

References

Bibliography

* Graham Wade. ''A Concise Guide to Understanding Music''. Mel Bay Publications, 2011. English songs Year of song unknown Compositions by John Dowland Lute songs {{song-stub