This a rare historical survival: it's the tune for a very long mediaeval Scottish epic ballad about wandering knights, castles and magicians. No other epic from western Europe has a surviving tune. This one was played for James IV of Scotland on the lute in 1497 (we know because we have the record of how much the lutenist who sang it was paid). The tune was written in a lute manuscript of 100 years later.
The tune needs a lot of variation. The epic would have taken a few hours to perform, and it has to be said it is not a very gripping story. It has been recorded once, in part, in a rather dull performance.
ABC:
X:0
T:Greysteil
Z:Jack Campin, http://www.campin.me.uk
F:http://octunes.blogspot.com
S:Straloch MS, 1627; probably as sung to James IV in 1497
B:Robert Chambers, Book of Days, for April 17
M:C
L:1/4
Q:1/4=120
K:G
E>E E c |B>A G E|D>D D c |B A G2:|
c C G(A/B/)|c B A G|c C G(A/B/)|c B A G|
e>e e e |e e e e|d>d d c |B A G2 |
c C G A/B/ |c B A G|c C G(A/B/)|c B A G|
|:E>E E c |B>A G E|D>D D c |B A G2:|
