"Can She Excuse My Wrongs" is a late 16th-century song by the English Renaissance composer John Dowland, the fifth song in his First Booke of Songes or Ayres (Peter Short, London 1597). The words are set to a dance-tune, a galliard.
The song is associated with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who was executed for treason in 1601 after he rebelled against Elizabeth I. The song is sometimes referred to as "The Earl of Essex Galliard", although that title normally refers to an instrumental version, "The Earl of Essex, his galiard", scored for viol consort and lute.
PERFORMANCE
Performed by Anna Nuytten (mezzosoprano) and Thomas Langlois (lute)
Composer: John Dowland (1563-1628)
Source: First Booke of Songes or Ayres (London, 1597)