I’d just finished the scatty and bouncy ‘A Playful Piece’ all about our dog Brig and was looking for something completely different for a contrasting piece. (I ought to do a 3rd one as well!) I soon came across the poem ‘Cradle Song’ (Golden Slumbers) by Thomas Dekker in about 1599. Reading it through, it instantly suggested a gentle rocking 3-in-a-bar. Experimenting with a few unusual chords, the melody emerged quite easily (hooray!). Rather than going for the song straight away, I set it for solo Flute and Piano. Please click on the MP3 file below to listen to the instrumental version.