d for the exigencies of the music,
accounts for the chorus, in the form in which it has descended to modern
times.

"_Fal, lal, la_," a chorus even more familiar to the readers of old
songs, is from the same source. Lord Bathurst, afterwards Earl of
Dorset, wrote, in 1665, the well-known ballad, commencing:--

To all you ladies now on land,
We men at sea indite,
But first would have you understand
How hard it is to write.
With _a fal, lal, la_, and _a fal lal, la_,
_And a fal, lal, lal, lal, la_.

_Fal_ is an abbreviation of _Failte!_ welcome! and _la_ as already noted
signifies a day. The words should be properly written Failte! la! la!
The chorus appears in the "Invitation to May," by Thomas Morley, 1595:--

Now is the month of Maying,
When merry lads are playing,
_Fal, la, la!_
Each with his bonnie lass,
Upon the greeny grass,
_Fal, la, la!_

The Celtic or Druidical interpretation of these syllables is, "Welcome
the day."

"_Fal, lero, loo_," appears as a chorus in a song by George Wither
(1588-1667):--

There was a lass--a fair one
As fair as e'er was seen,
She was indeed a rare one,
Another Sheba queen.
But fool, as I then was,
I thought she loved me true,
But now alas! she's left me,
_Fal, lero, lero, loo_.

Here _Failte_, as in the previous instance, means welcome; _lear_
(corrupted into _lero_), the sea; and _luaidh_ (the d silent), praise;
the chorus of a song of praise to the sun when seen rising above the
ocean.

The song of Sir Eglamour, in Mr Chappell's collection, has another
variety of the _Failte_ or _Fal, la_, of a much more composite
character:--

Sir Eglamour that valiant knight,
_Fal, la, lanky down dilly!_
He took his sword and went to fight,
_Fal, la, lanky down dilly!_

In another song, called "The Friar in the Well," this chorus appears in
a slightly different form:--

Listen awhile and I will tell
Of a Friar that loved a bonnie lass well,
_Fal la! lal, lal, lal, la! Fal la, langtre down dilly!_

_Lan_ is the Gaelic for full, and _dile_ for rain. The one version has
_lanky_, the other _langtre_, both of which are corruptions of the
Celtic. The true reading is _Failte la, lan, ri, dun, dile_, which
signifies "Welcome to the full or complete day! let us go to the hill of
rain."

_Hey, nonnie, nonnie._ "Such unmea