The song "Nymphs and shepherds, come away" occurs in a pastoral interlude at the beginning of Act IV, after an orchestral introduction – a "Symphony of Rustick Musick".
[2] In the nineteenth century it became a popular concert piece, generally for soprano voice,[1] and a second stanza, by William Hayman Cummings, was added to Shadwell's original verse.
[3] In or around 1765 a new version was published as "sung by Miss Brent, at Ranelagh, and by Mrs Vincent, at Vaux-Hall Gardens," and set by Thomas Arne: The song was made famous when in June 1929, a choir of 250 schoolchildren from 52 local schools was recorded singing it in the Free Trade Hall, accompanied by the Hallé Orchestra under the direction of Sir Hamilton Harty.
Grammar school pupils were assumed to have no time to spare for non-academic endeavours such as this, which required two evenings a week rehearsal throughout the whole academic year.
They were trained by Carroll's assistant, Gertrude Riall, who put phonetic spellings such as "darnce" on a board to ensure words such as "dance" were not sung with the local accent.