Ah, at last I can make a contribution! Here is a bit of my introduction to "Vacas for Vihuela", a collection of vihuela variations:
Among Spanish villancico texts of the 15th-16th centuries, probably the best known is Guárdame las vacas. To a poem attributed to Crtistóbal de Castillejo (1494-1550), this boy-girl song began: Guárdame las vacas, carillo, y besarte he; si no, bésame tú a mí, que yo te las guardaré.1 Since pastoral love poetry was tremendously popular in the Renaissance and beyond, it is no wonder that the text found its way into an English collection of 1600, translated: I prithee keep my kine for me, Carillo, wilt thou? Tell. First let me have a kiss of thee, And I will keep them well.2 ____________________________________________ 1. Antología poética Crtistóbal de Castillejo, ed. de Rogelio Reyes Cano (Madrid: Cátedra, 2004), p. 157. 2. Englands Helicon (1600), ascribed to John Bodenham. Modern edition: Englands Helicon: A Collection of Lyrical and Pastoral Poems: published in 1600, ed. by Arthur H. Bullen (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970(?). The translation is, of course, not exact, but you get the idea: a classic boy-girl song. There are more verses, but I don't have them handy. You can probably find them in the references mentioned above. The romance Conde Claros is considerably longer. I can't give you anything truly authoritative, but I did find the Spanish in Wikipedia: http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Romance_del_conde_Claros_de_Montalv%C3%A1n If you have the Google toolbar (free download), you could get a rough translation. Hope this helps, Mike ________________________ Michael Fink, PhD michael.f...@notesinc.com ________________________ -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of David van Ooijen Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 2:44 PM To: lutelist Net; Vihuelalist Subject: [VIHUELA] lyrics to Guardama las Vacas and Conde Claros I know it's a recurring question, with recurring answers, but please forgive my inability to work with the archives. And, actually, posing the question anew usually brings forth a plethora of additional information. So, can some kind soul send me the lyrics (in Spanish, and preferably with English translation) of the two songs above found as instrumental pieces with de Narváez? David - grateful as ever -- ******************************* David van Ooijen davidvanooi...@gmail.com www.davidvanooijen.nl ******************************* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
