Written by Bach for Thomas Linley the younger to perform in his role as Puck in "The Fairy Favour", a masque loosely based upon the characters from "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Linley was aged 10 at the time of his appearance, which was reported in the Lloyds Evening Post: "Nor can enough be said of the little boy, who plays the part of Puck; his singing, playing on the violin, and dancing the hornpipe, are all beyond expectation, and discover extraordinary abilities in one, who must be considered as a child". Linley had formed a friendship with the coæval Wolfgang Mozart, when the latter had visited London a couple of years earlier (each recognising in the other a precocious talent, exploited by an ambitious father). Mozart had also met Johann Bach, and acknowledged in later years that his education from "The English Bach" had been formative.