A Newe Northen Dittye of Ye Ladye Greene Sleves

Traditional English folk song most commonly known as "Greensleeves." A broadside ballad registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 and William Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (1597) has a reference to the song by that name. Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no proof that Henry VIII was the songwriter. Sources credit John Dowland (1562-1626) with the ballad version familiar to most of us.