Secret History X

Cher Almoustine,

Last night as I was going to sleep, I was thinking of my Dad. As I drifted off I heard his voice in my head singing that strange tuneless version of Froggy went a Courtin‘. He sang that song to me often as I was growing up. More so when I was a little kid than when I was older. But when I had children of my own he would sing it to them.

I don’t remember hearing anyone else sing that song quite like he did… Thinking about it, I remember little turns of phrases that I never heard anyone else use (“Tweedle twino” and “fo fum fairo”. I asked him about it once and he said that it was something he heard as a kid. Unfortunately he didn’t remember all of the song, but enough of it to make it identifiable as a regionalized rendition of the Thomas Ravenscroft version from 1611. In reviewing the history of the song… I noticed that a note is included that claims that Ravenscroft’s original version refers to the wooing of Elizabeth I of England by François de Berry, Duke of Anjou. Indeed there are possible references in the song to various political figures of the time (“Gib, our cat [Sir Humphrey Gilbert]” and “Dick, our Drake. [Richard Drake of Morchard.”)

Additional Family information for Richard Drake can be found at the following places:

• 1500-1700 Drake Wills UK (Additional source: Drake Wills Index)
• GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives
• Genuki Cruwys Morchard

Francois du Berry, the earstwhile suitor, was successor to his brother Henri III, but died prematurely leaving Henri IV the Huguenot as the successor to the throne of France. Henri IV’s son Cesar du Vendome was one of the first landholders in Occitan(Axacan), Wingandacoa (Virginia, named by Elizabeth I in honor of  Wingina, the native chieftain) overseeing crown estates on the York river near the Iron Mill at Falling Creek prior to its transfer of ownership to management by the Virgina Company in 1609. Both Cesar and his son Francois (ancestors of my father) served as the French Admiral of the High Seas and lived abroad for much of their lives in England, Ireland, Haiti, Martinique and Virginia. Their descendants were also active in the East India trade between Jamaica, Barbados, and the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion, Mauritius, and Madagascar.

About Ravenscroft himself… He earned his batchelor’s degree from Cambridge om 1605. This at a time when many of the Hugenot nobility had removed themselves to England to escape the Inquisition. In addition to songs in English and Latin, Ravenscroft also set several French poems to melody; preserving them in such works as:
* Pammelia
* Deuteromelia
* Melismata (The volume containing a version of Froggy as well as the pirate ditty Heigh ho, away the Mare.)
* Brief
* Psalter

I could not help but wonder if this song were a clue that could somehow link our two families?

Best Regards to You,
Pamela Bradford.