Robert Cowper
Apparently much of Cowper’s work has been lost or destroyed . . . contemporary writing by Morley and Meres mention his skill, and a 1529 King’s College inventory mentions a book of mass settings by Cornyshe and Cowper, now lost. It was at King’s College, Cambridge that Cowper served as a clerk in the choir in 1493, and received the MusD there in 1507. After his ordination in 1498 he was priest at churches in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Kent. We only have 3 sacred and 7 secular pieces of his that have survived.
I have been a Foster
Commentary places this song at an entertainment at Windsor, 15 June 1522, in which a keeper, three foresters, and four hunters took part. Words by King Henry VIII himself?
Robert Cowper "I have been a Foster"
1. I have been a foster Long and
many a day;
Foster will I be no more, No longer
shoot I may;
Yet have I been a foster.
2. Hang I will my noble bow upon the
greenwood bough,
For I cannot shoot in plain nor yet in
rough;
Yet have I been a foster.
3. Every bow for me is too big; mine
arrow nigh worn is;
The glue is slipp’d from the nick; when I
should shoot I miss;
Yet have I been a foster.
4. Lady Venus hath commanded me out
of her court to go.
Right plainly she sheweth me that beauty
is my foe.
Yet have I been a foster.
6. Now will I take to me my beads for and
my psalter-book,
And pray I will for them that may, for [I]
may nought but look.
Yet have I been a foster.