Greensleeves: a brief history

Believed to be composed in the late 16th/early 17th century, ‘Greensleeves’ never began it’s many incarnations as a Christmas song. It was only until William Chatterton Dix wrote the carol What Child Is This (set to the Greensleeves tune) in 1865 — that this traditional English folk motif became a seasonal song.

There is a legend that Greensleeves was composed by Henry VIII for his lover and future queen Anne Boleyn. Allegedly, she rejected King Henry’s attempts to seduce her, and this rejection is referred to in the…