Page:Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age (1896).djvu/15

Rh Ferrabosco, but is not found in that composer's printed "Airs."

The earliest of the Elizabethan song-writers was William Byrd. In the year of the Spanish Armada, 1588, he published "Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Piety," the first Elizabethan song-book of importance. He was probably a native of Lincoln, and was born in, or about, 1538. From 1563 to 1569 he was organist of Lincoln Cathedral, and on 22 February, 1569-70, he was appointed Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. In 1598 he became possessed of Stondon Place, Essex. He adhered to the Roman Catholic faith; and his wife, Ellen Birley (by whom he had five children), was also a zealous Romanist. His last work was published in 1611, and he died at a ripe old age on 24 July, 1623. The "Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs" are dedicated to Sir Christopher Hatton. From the title one would gather that the collection was mainly of a sacred character, but in