Henry VIII

Henry VIII (1491–1547) was King of England from 1509 until his death. A skilled musician and a patron of court music, he is credited with a number of songs and ballads, most of them preserved in the manuscript known as the Henry VIII Book (British Library, Additional MS 31922), compiled about 1518.

The pieces given here are the lyrics printed under his name in Early English Lyrics (1907): the holly-and-ivy song, the farewell lyric "Whereto should I express", and the famous "Pastime with Good Company". The attribution of individual songs to the king rests on the manuscript and on tradition.