An examination of Elizabethan part songs published in current anthologies reveals the prominent use of alliteration requiring the rapid repetition of the consonant [f]. The recurrent use of [f] alliteration may be attributed in part to the names of the principal female subjects of the English verse: Phyllis, Flora, Philomela, Phoebe, etc. However, another, more humorous hypothesis should be considered: the poets and composers could simply have been making a little mischief, teasing themselves and other singers of these part songs who could not articulate an [f] without dental difficulty.
In sixteenth century England, the principal treatment for a patient’s toothache was extraction. As Woodforde noted, “The need for extraction was undoubtedly great. The diet of the well-to-do included a preponderance of sugary cakes and marzipan sweetments; and even meatpies would be topped with a mixture that included a mass of sugar and rosewater.”
Regardless of the remedy, the extraction of the upper front teeth would have caused speech impediments, particularly with the consonant [f]. To articulate this labiodental consonant, the lower lip must extend upward and make contact with the bottom of the upper set of teeth. Then, the exhalation of air through the mouth is stopped momentarily-causing outward pressure against the back of the upper set of teeth-and an explosion of air upon the release of the lower lip.
Certainly, a person with missing upper teeth could not articulate an [f] distinctly. Further, since dental adhesives were not available, a person with transplanted teeth or dentures would have also risked dislodging, or expelling the teeth with this plosive sound.
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