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unusual facts about Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy



Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy

The collection started as a single book compiled and published by Henry Playford who had succeeded his father John Playford as the leading music publisher of the period.

In 1956 Ed McCurdy recorded When Dalliance Was In Flower (and Maidens Lost Their Heads) Vol. 1 for Elektra Records.

This was a more folky treatment than the one by Will Holt, who published an album of 10 songs entitled Pills to Purge Melancholy (Stinson SLP78).

Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems.


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