ABSTRACT
The commercial world was one from which William Byrd sprang, and to which he remained close. It was most likely a commercial misdemeanor which led Philip Smyth to the Fleet prison. Thomas Smythe was the master of William Byrd's brother Symond. Thomas Morley dedicated his four-voice Canzonets to 'maister Henry tapsfield citizen and grocer of the Cittie of London', he bore further witness to the support which some merchants gave to musicians. Matters are further confused because some musicians relied on trades more secure and better paid than music for a part of their living. Musicians were themselves often members of livery companies, and would in fact have found it hard to practise professionally in the City without company membership. The distinction made by Yonge is rather artificial, since merchants like the Byrds regarded themselves as gentlemen, and a network of family relationships existed between the two classes. What is more, men of both classes were often linked with the nobility.
