Written in 4/4 time, "Good Morrow, Gossip Joan" or more usually plain "Gossip Joan," is a traditional English folk song that is or was once popular in the school music curriculum, including for descant recorder. According to an official local government source - Wiltshire County Council - it was collected by Alfred Williams from Charles Frederick Hope of Filkins. Alfred Williams (1877-1930) was a folk song collector among his many other talents in his relatively short life. His contemporary note on "Gossip Joan" was "A quaint old song, that depended upon its highest success, on the ability of the singer to observe the proper quantities and modulations."

The British Library holds several copies of what may be the oldest version of a folk song that - unlike many - appears to have changed very little with the passage of time. The earliest is dated c1705. >>