Corydon and Phillis

This licentious song from Restoration England was written by Jeremiah Clarke and published as a single sheet song by T. Cross around 1695 with a number of later issues (T. Taylor 63#371). It was anthologized in Thomas D’Urfey’s Wit and Mirth and was perhaps picked up from that source for the Convivial Songster of 1782 but does not appear in major collections in between these, perhaps because of its openly bawdy subject (D’Urfey 5:126; Convivial Songster 1:98). The verse order is slightly different from the two songbook prints, suggesting that the source of the text for the Thomas broadside was a different one.

The illustration on the broadside complements the text, showing the two well-dressed lovers sitting bolt upright in a wooded grove. A later, different song with the same title is found on Corydon and Phillis.