)
 
 
 a Cbristmas (Barlanfc,
 
 l, nofajell, nofajell, nofoell. 
 JSHtjo gs tfjm tfjat sgngitfj so nofajell, noforll, nofaiell? 
 
 am fjere, sgre Crtstmasse : 
 
 SHcll come, mg lort sgre CHrtstmassf, 
 
 OTelcome to fas all faotfje more & lasse, 
 
 <om r.er, nofoell. 
 
 Qttfas Juous garte, fte&je sgre, tgtigngrs g goit btgng, 
 & magfce Ijatfj born a cfyglUe full gong 
 5Tfjc fajrcfje causetf) geto for to Sgng, 
 
 fiofoell. 
 
 Crt'ste is nofa born of a pure mag&e, 
 In an oie stalle fje gs lagtie, 
 SJEfjer'for sgng be alle atte abragie, 
 
 Befabei bt'en par tutte la compang, 
 iHafte gate cfjere anU be rgQfijt mcrg, 
 SlnU sgng fajttfj fas nofo iogfullg,
 
 THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY TO 
 THE PRESENT TIME 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 A. H. BULLEN, B.A. 
 
 LONDON 
 JOHN C. NIMMO 
 
 14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C. 
 1886 
 
 .
 
 TKIUfe. 
 
 When skies were blue and hearts were gay, 
 We wandered in the prime of May 
 By primrose-banks, and where the breeze 
 Shook snow-bloom from the cherry-trees, 
 And golden gorse stretched leagues away. 
 
 When August eves were cool and sweet, 
 We watched the slant rays gild the wheat, 
 Or far down woodland alleys lone 
 Heard stock-doves make delicious moan, 
 And chid the hours thatjlew so fleet. 
 
 Now, while the twinkling shadows fall 
 Athwart the casement and the wall, 
 Beside thefire-lighfs ruddy gleam, 
 As day goes down, we muse and dream, 
 And all our past delights recall. 
 
 TAo' envious mists usurp the morn, 
 
 And mire lies deep in ways forlorn, 
 
 Sweet Heart, while Love our feet shall guide, 
 
 What ills, forsooth, can us betide 
 
 Who laugh the darkling days to scorn ?
 
 
 fjuLii lit 1 ii ''a ' i iiii*iiMiiiiiiMii>iiiiii
 
 Contents, 
 
 DEDICATION 
 PREFACE 
 
 PAGE 
 V 
 
 Part I. 
 
 CHRISTMAS CHANTS AND CAROLS. 
 
 fn every place I shall tell this (Coventry Mysteries^ . 
 
 Welcome Yule 
 
 I sing of a maiden ....... 
 
 In Excelsis Gloria ...... 
 
 The first Noivell the A ngel did say .... 
 
 In Bethlehem that noble place .... 
 
 A New Carol of our Lady . . . . . . 
 
 The Virgin and Child 
 
 About the field they piped full right .... 
 
 This endnes night I saw a sight .... 
 
 I saw three ships come sailing in .... 
 
 As I sat under a sycamore tree ..... 
 
 My sweet little baby, &*c. ..... 
 
 Joseph was an old man ...... 
 
 Saint Stephen was a Clerk ..... 
 
 Remember, O thou Man ..... 
 
 God rest you, merry gentlemen ..... 
 
 To-morrow shall be my dancing day 
 
 The Holy Well 
 
 The Carnal and the Crane . . . _ . 
 
 Joys Seven ........ 
 
 The moon shines bright ...... 
 
 4 
 6 
 
 7 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 '5 
 '9 
 
 21 
 23 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 29 
 
 33 
 36 
 40 
 
 43 
 
 46 
 
 49 
 55 
 58
 
 I'^^^X^^^^!^^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Virgin most pure 61 
 
 The Saviour of all people 64 
 
 A Christmas Carol {by Robert HerricK) .... 66 
 
 The contest of the Ivy and the Holly 68 
 
 Modryb Mary a (by R. S. Hawker) 71 
 
 The Child Jesus (by R. S. Hawker) 73 
 
 The Shepherds -went their hasty way (by S. T. Coleridge'] . 75 
 In the bleak mid-winter (by Miss Christina G. Rossetti) . 78 
 Masters, in this hall (by Mr. William Morris} ... 80 
 Outlanders, whence come ye last (by Mr. William Morris} 84 
 Three damsels in the Queen's chamber (by Mr. A. C. Swin- 
 burne) ......... 87 
 
 Part H. 
 
 CARMINA SACRA. 
 
 On the morning of Christ's Nativity (by John Milton) . 91 
 Who can forget (by Giles Fletcher) ..... 103 
 
 The Shepherds (by Henry Vaughan) ..... 106 
 
 Christ's Nativity (by Henry Vaughan) .... 109 
 
 New Prince, New Pomp (by Robert Southwell) . . .in 
 Christmas (by George Herbert) ...... 113 
 
 For Christmas Day (by Bishop Hall) . . . .115 
 
 The Shepherd's Song (by E. Bolton) ..... 116 
 
 A Hymn on the Nativity of my Saviour (by Ben Jonson) . 1 18 
 
 A Hymn of the Nativity (by Richard Crashaw). 
 
 A Hymn for the Epiphany (by Richard Crashaw) . 
 
 The Angels (by William Drummond) 
 
 The Shepherds (by William Drummond) . 
 
 Of the Epiphany (by Sir John Beaumont) 
 
 Where is this blessed Babe (by Jeremy Taylor) . 
 
 Awake, my Soul, and come away (by Jeremy Taylor) 
 
 120 
 126 
 128 
 129 
 130 
 132 
 134
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 <ry laid Him in a manger (by Sir Edivard Sher- 
 
 burne) 136 
 
 An ode on the Birth of our Saviour (by Robert Herrick} . 138 
 Rejoice, rejoice, with heart and voice (by Francis Kinwel- 
 
 niersh) ......... 140 
 
 The Virgin's Cradle- Hymn (by S. T. Coleridge'] . .142 
 
 A Christmas Lullaby (by Mr. J. A. Symonds} . . . 143 
 
 A Rocking Hymn (by George Wither) , . . . 145 
 
 ' 
 
 . 
 
 Part HE 
 
 CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND CHRISTMAS CHEER. 
 
 So now is come our joyfulst feast (by George Wither} . . 149 
 Ceremonies for Christmas (by Robert Herrick) . . 154 
 
 The Praise of Christmas 157 
 
 Old Christmas Returned 162 
 
 O you merry, merry souls 168 
 
 A Carol. Bringing in the Boar's Head . . . . 1 70 
 The Boar's Head Carol (as sung at Queen's Colltge, Oxford") 171 
 The Boar's Head Carol (as sung at St. Johns College, 
 
 Oxford, in 1607) 172 
 
 The Wassail (by Robert Herrick) 1 73 
 
 A jolly wassail bowl . . . . . . . . 1 76 
 
 We wish you merry Christmas (Wassailing song) . .180 
 
 Here -we come a whistling 183 
 
 Wassail, wassail, all over the town . . . . .185 
 
 Bring us in good ale . ....... 187 
 
 Come follow, follow me . . . . . . .189 
 
 All you that are good fellows 192 
 
 Come, mad boys . . . . -r - ; . . 1 94 
 
 Come bravely on, my masters . . . . . .196 
 
 My master and dame, I well perceive. .... 197
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 With merry glee and solace 
 
 In honour of Saint John we thus .... 
 The New Year is begun . . . . .' . . 
 The young men and maids on New Year's Day . 
 The Old Year now away is fled f / 
 
 Provide for Christmas .'.... 
 Now thrice welcome, Christmas . . . T . . 
 Now that the time is come wherein .... 
 Now enter Christmas like a man .... 
 Now Christmas comes, ''tis Jit that we . . ' . 
 Maids get tip and bake your pies . . . 
 
 To shorten Winter's sadness 
 
 No news of navies burnt at seas (by Robert HerricK) . 
 Now, now the mirth comes (by Robert HerricK) 
 Christmas in the Olden Time (by Sir Walter Scott] . 
 Christmas Minstrelsy (by William Wordsworth) 
 
 FAREWELL TO CHRISTMAS. 
 
 Mark well my heavy doleful tale 
 Now farewell, good Christmas . 
 Christmas hath made an end 
 
 PACK 
 199 
 202 
 205 
 2O9 
 211 
 2I 4 
 21 5 
 217 
 219 
 221 
 223 
 22 5 
 226 
 229 
 231 
 234 
 
 239 
 2 4 2 
 244 
 
 NOTES 
 
 249
 
 preface. 
 
 T T is a commonplace with poets to lament over the 
 -*- degeneracy of the times. Even Homer thought 
 the world was in a parlous state, for he twits his coun- 
 trymen with their feebleness, protesting that two picked 
 men could hardly lift on to a waggon the stone which 
 Hector brandished with ease. The aged ploughman 
 in Lucretius envies the fortune of his forefathers, who 
 gained a comfortable livelihood from a scanty patch of 
 ground ; and the sorrowful vineplanter wearies Heaven 
 with his complaints, perceiving not (says the poet) that 
 all things little by little are wasting away by length of 
 days and faring towards the grave. Evermore rises the 
 same wail over the poverty of present times, and ever- 
 more we look back wistfully to the past. As one turns 
 the pages of Herrick's " Hesperides," how grey and 
 colourless appears the England of to-day ! We have 
 become so serious, so demure, so respectable ; we are 
 resolved that the game of life is a desperately earnest 
 business ; we read Mr. Shorthouse. " I sing of May- 
 poles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes ! " wrote Herrick. 
 Alack, nous avons change tout cela. Instead of dancing
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 with Julia round a May-pole, he would be expected to 
 attend a May-meeting at Exeter Hall. Flush- cheeked, 
 curly-haired Robin Herrick at a May-meeting ! After 
 such an experience he would never have called Devon- 
 shire " dull." Country life, as depicted in the " Hes- 
 perides," appears to have been one perpetual round of 
 merry-making. Morris dances, Whitsun ale, twelfth-tide 
 kings and queens, stool-ball, shearing-feasts, mummeries, 
 wassailings, shrovings, and the like, are the subjects of 
 the poet's song. It is hard, very hard, in this last 
 quarter of the nineteenth century to realise the life that 
 Herrick led. Perhaps on a closer view much of the 
 brightness of the vision would fade away ; but still we 
 can never banish the feeling that something has been 
 lost of the old delight in life, the old buoyancy and fresh- 
 ness that possessed men's hearts before the Puritans 
 gained the mastery. 
 
 Such reflections forcibly suggest themselves as Christ- 
 mastide draws near. We still twine the holly and we 
 still eat mince-pies. In one or two colleges the boar's 
 head is still served up with mustard. But who now-a- 
 days sets a swan on the Christmas board, or who a 
 sturgeon 1 Where will you find " the carcasses of three 
 fat wethers bruised for gravy to make sauce for a single 
 peacock"? 1 That delightful writer, Nicholas Breton, 
 in his " Fantasticks " (1626), brings vividly home to us 
 the Christmas festivities of the early seventeenth cen- 
 tury : " It is now Christmas, and not a cup of drink 
 
 1 Massinger'sJ' City Madam," ii. i. (Credat Judasus!) 
 
 -
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 must pass without a carol ; the beasts, fowl, and fish 
 come to a general execution, and the corn is ground to 
 dust for the bakehouse and the pastry : cards and dice 
 purge many a purse, and the youth show their agility in 
 shoeing of the wild mare : now, good cheer, and wel- 
 come, and God be with you, and I thank you : and 
 against the New Year provide for the presents : the Lord 
 of Misrule is no mean man for his time, and the guests 
 of the high table must lack no wine : the lusty bloods 
 must look about them like men, and piping and dancing 
 puts away much melancholy : stolen venison is sweet, 
 and a fat coney is worth money : pit-falls are now set 
 for small birds, and a woodcock hangs himself in a gin : 
 a good fire heats all the house, and a full alms-basket 
 makes the beggar's prayers : the maskers and the mum- 
 mers make the merry sport, but if they lose their money 
 their drum goes dead : swearers and swaggerers are 
 sent away to the ale-house, and unruly wenches go in 
 danger of judgment : musicians now make their instru- 
 ments speak out, and a good song is worth the hearing. 
 In sum it is a holy time, a duty in Christians for the 
 remembrance of Christ and custom among friends for 
 the maintenance of good fellowship. In brief I thus 
 conclude it : I hold it a memory of the Heaven's love 
 and the world's peace, the mirth of the honest, and the 
 meeting of the friendly. Farewell." It is pleasant by 
 the fireside to linger over such a description as that ; to 
 try to realise the nut-brown mirth that reigned at Christ- 
 mastide three centuries ago. Sir John Reresby has left
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 MS an interesting account of how he used to observe Christ- 
 mas. " I returned," he writes l in 1684, "to Thrybergh, 
 by God's mercy, in safety, to keep Christmas amongst 
 my neighbours and tenants. I had more company this 
 Christmas than heretofore. The four first days of the 
 new year all my tenants of Thrybergh, Brinsford, Denby, 
 Mexborough, Hooton Roberts, and Rotherham dined with 
 me ; the rest of the time some four-score of gentlemen and 
 yeomen with their wives were invited, besides some that 
 came from York ; so that all the beds in the house and most 
 in the town were taken up. There were seldom less than 
 four-score, counting all sorts of people, that dined in the 
 house every day, and some days many more. On New 
 Year's Day chiefly there dined above three hundred, so 
 that whole sheep were roasted and served up to feed 
 them. For music I had four violins, besides bagpipes, 
 drums, and trumpets." Nobody could grudge broad 
 acres to a landowner who so well understood hospitality. 
 On another occasion, 2 in 1682, the festivities were on 
 a less lavish scale. There assembled on Christmas Eve 
 nineteen of the poorer tenants from Denby and Hooton ; 
 on Christmas Day twenty-six of the poorer tenants from 
 Thrybergh, Brinsford, and Mexborough ; on St. Stephen's 
 Day fanners and better sort of tenants to the number 
 of fifty-four ; on St. John's Day forty-five of the chief 
 tenants ; on the 3Oth of December eighteen gentlemen 
 of the neighbourhood with their wives ; on the ist of 
 January sixteen gentlemen ; on the 4th twelve of the 
 
 1 Memoirs of Sir John Reresby (Camdeu Society), p. 310. 
 
 2 Ibid., pp. 266-7.
 
 neighbouring clergymen ; and on the 6th seven gentle- 
 men and tradesmen. Among the guests who lay at the 
 house were " Mr. Rigden, merchant of York, and his 
 wife, a handsome woman" and " Mr. Belton, an ingeni- 
 ous clergyman, but too much a good fellow." How 
 gentle is the censure conveyed in the words " too much 
 a good fellow ! " Sir John adds : " The expense of 
 liquor, both of wine and others, was considerable, as 
 of other provisions, and my friends appeared well satis- 
 fied." So they ought to have been. But all landlords 
 were not like Sir John Reresby, and he tells us himself 
 that few of the gentry in his part of the country observe4 
 the festival. Complaints of niggardly housekeeping 
 were constantly being made. In the " Roxburghe Col- 
 lection" is a very doleful ballad entitled "Christmas' 
 Lamentation for the loss of his acquaintance, showing 
 how he is forced to leave the country and come to 
 London." Hear how it begins : 
 
 " Christmas is my name ; far have I gone, 
 Have I gone, have I gone, have I gone, 
 
 Without regard ; 
 
 Whereas great men by flocks there be flown, 
 There be flown, there be flown, there be flown, 
 
 To London ward ; 
 
 Where they in pomp and pleasure do waste 
 That which Christmas was wonted to feast, 
 
 Welladay ! 
 
 Houses where music was wont for to ring, 
 Nothing but bats and howlets do sing, 
 
 Welladay, welladay, welladay ! 
 
 Where should I stay ?
 
 J^i523?5*S^i3^^ 
 
 xviii PREFACE. 
 
 Christmas beef and bread is turned to stones, &c. 
 
 And silken rags ; 
 And lady Money sleeps, and makes moans, &c. 
 
 In misers' bags. 
 
 Houses where pleasure once did abound, 
 Nought but a dog and a shepherd is found, 
 
 Welladay ! 
 
 Places where Christmas revels did keep, 
 Is now become habitations for sheep, 
 
 Welladay ! " 
 
 Poor Robin's Almanac harps perpetually on the same 
 theme. Against such curmudgeons was directed the 
 old carol of Dives and Lazarus, which must have been 
 sung at many a rich churl's door to the gratification of 
 a knot of shivering wretches. I give it from an old 
 broadside l in the Bodleian. 
 
 " As it fell out upon a day 
 
 Rich Dives made a feast, 
 And he invited all his friends 
 And gentry of the best. 
 
 Then Lazarus laid him down and down, 
 
 E'en down at Dives' door ; 
 Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, 
 
 Bestow upon the poor. 
 
 Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, 
 
 That lies begging at the door. 
 No meat nor drink will I give to thee, 
 
 Nor bestow upon the poor. 
 
 1 Printed in the last century by T. Bloomer, 53 Edgbaston 
 Street, Birmingham.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Then Lazarus laid him down and down, 
 
 E'en down at Dives' wall; 
 Some meat, some drink, brother Dive?, 
 
 Or with hunger starve I shall. 
 
 Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, 
 That lies begging at my wall ; 
 
 For neither meat nor drink will I give, 
 But with hunger starve you shall. 
 
 Then Lazarus laid him down and down 
 
 E'en down at Dives' gate ; 
 Some meat, some drink, brother Dives, 
 
 For Jesus Christ His sake. 
 
 Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus, 
 That lies begging at my gate ; 
 
 No meat nor drink will I give to thee 
 For Jesus Christ His sake. 
 
 Then Dives sent out his merry men, 
 To whip poor Lazarus away, 
 
 They had no power to strike one stroke, 
 But flung their whips away. 
 
 Then Dives sent out his hungry dogs 
 
 To bite him as he lay ; 
 They had no power to bite at all, 
 
 But licked his sores away. 
 
 As it fell out upon a day, 
 
 Poor Lazarus sickened and died ; 
 There came two angels out of heaven, 
 
 His soul therein to guide.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus, 
 
 And go along with me, 
 For you've a place prepared in heaven 
 
 Upon an angel's knee. 1 
 
 As it fell out upon a day, 
 
 Rich Dives sickened and died ; 
 There came two serpents out of hell, 
 
 His soul therein to guide. 
 
 Rise up, rise up, brother Dives, 
 
 And go along with me ; 
 There is prepared a place in hell 
 
 From which thou ne'er can flee. 
 
 Then Dives looked up with his eyes, 
 
 And saw poor Lazarus blest ; 
 Give a drop of water, brother Lazarus, 
 
 To quench my burning thirst. 
 
 O had I as many years to abide, 
 
 As there are blades of grass, 
 Then there would be an end, but now 
 
 Hell's pains will never pass. 
 
 O was I now but alive again, 
 
 The space of one half hour ; 
 O that I'd made my peace secure, 
 
 Then the devil should have no power ! " 
 
 Churls of the class of Dives will always exist, but one 
 likes to think that there are fewer of them now than 
 formerly. Truly, there is every need to-day for sympathy 
 and charity towards the poor and the afflicted. 
 
 1 Another copy reads : 
 
 " In angels' company." 

 
 PREFACE. xxi 
 
 Very pleasant is the obsolete practice of combining 
 devotion and good fellowship. Fancy a modern 
 rhymester hailing the arrival of Christmas after this 
 style ! 
 
 " Now that the time is come wherein 
 
 Our Saviour Christ was born, 
 The larders full of beef and pork, 
 The garners filled with corn," &c. 
 
 Finding these verses in Poor Robin's Almanac for 1700, 
 we are charmed by their quaint sincerity. Ah that 
 homely piety and simple-hearted mirth might be re- 
 vived ! These are dull times. Where are the mummers 
 and the maskers ? Where the Lord of Misrule and the 
 Twelfth-tide kings and queens ? What a poor business 
 is a country-fair to-day ! Smock-races, 1 hot-hasty- 
 pudding contests, and grinning through a horse-collar 
 have been abolished. Merry-go-rounds and shooting- 
 galleries are well-nigh the only attractions. But we 
 must remember that, with many innocent diversions, 
 not a few barbarous sports have been swept away. 
 Cock-fighting still has its supporters in the Black 
 Country, but it is to be hoped that nobody is anxious 
 to revive cock-throwing or goose-riding. In remote 
 districts many good old customs still linger. The 
 wassailers still sing their cheery song, and the Christmas 
 play, with its odd medley of characters, St. George, 
 
 & - _ - - 
 
 \ 
 
 1 So called because the successful girl was presented with a 
 holland smock.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the Turk, the Doctor, Beelzebub l (sometimes with the 
 addition of Oliver Cromwell and the Duke of Welling- 
 ton), still delights bucolic audiences. Hone, writing more 
 than half a century ago, anticipated that the practice 
 of singing Christmas caTrols would be abolished in the 
 course of a few years. His lugubrious prophecy has 
 happily not been fulfilled. " As I sat on a sunny bank," 
 " I saw three ships come sailing in," " God rest you, 
 merry gentlemen," " Remember, O thou man," " The first 
 Nowell the Angel did say," and others, are still sung year 
 after year. But the more fantastic carols seem to be losing 
 ground. " Cherry-tree carol," the finest of all carols, 
 has been shorn of half its beauty by modern prudishness. 
 Every girl and boy should be taught the lovely stanzas 
 beginning, "As Joseph was a-walking" (p. 31). Never 
 were Christ's praises chanted in sweeter, clearer tones. 
 At the present day people are too refined (or should we 
 say stolid ? ) to appreciate such strange pieces of com- 
 position as " Holy Well," " The moon shines bright," 
 and "The Carnal and the Crane." In the most 
 characteristic carols there is a pathetic wistful melody, 
 as though the singer were yearning to give utterance to 
 the thoughts that crowd his soul. Sometimes, as in the 
 carol beginning " I sing of a maiden " (p. 4), the accents 
 ring clear and sweet, without a flaw. At other times 
 
 1 " Here come I, Beelzebub ; 
 
 Under my arm I carry a club, 
 Under my chin I carry a pan, 
 Don't I look a nice young man ? " 
 
 
 I
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the language is semi-articulate, woven of cloud-fancies, 
 dim as a half-remembered dream. He must have had 
 true poetic feeling who wrote the following strange carol 
 of The Seven Virgins : l 
 
 " All under the leaves, and the leaves of life, 
 
 I met with virgins seven, 
 And one of them was Mary mild, 
 Our Lord's mother of Heaven. 
 
 ' O what are you seeking, you seven fair maids, 
 
 All under the leaves of life ; 
 Come tell, come tell, what seek you 
 
 All under the leaves of life ? ' 
 
 ' We're seeking for no leaves, Thomas, 
 
 But for a friend of thine, 
 We're seeking for sweet Jesus Christ 
 
 To be our guide and thine. ' 
 
 ' Go down, go down to yonder town 
 
 And sit in the gallery, 
 And there you'll see sweet Jesus Christ, 
 
 Nailed to a big yew-tree.' 
 
 So down they went to yonder town 
 
 As fast as foot could fall, 
 And many a grievous bitter tear 
 
 From the Virgin's eye did fall 
 
 ' O peace, Mother, O peace, Mother, 
 
 Your weeping doth me grieve ; 
 I must suffer this,' he said, 
 'For Adam and for Eve.' 
 
 1 I have not been able to see an old copy of this piece, which 
 I have taken from an excellent collection of Christmas Carols 
 edited a few years ago by "Joshua Sylvester."
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ' O Mother, take you John Evangelist 
 
 All for to be your son, 
 And he will comfort you sometimes 
 
 Mother, as I have done.' 
 
 ' O come thou, John Evangelist, 
 
 Thou'rt welcome unto me, 
 But more welcome my own dear Son 
 
 Whom I nursed on my knee.' 
 
 Then he laid his head on his right shoulder, 
 
 Seeing death it struck him nigh, 
 ' The holy Mother be with your soul, 
 
 I die, Mother dear, I die.' 
 
 O the rose, the gentle rose, 
 
 And the fennel that grows so green, 
 God give us grace in every place 
 
 To pray for our king and queen. 
 
 Furthermore for our enemies all 
 
 Our prayers they should be strong : 
 Amen, good Lord ; your charity 
 
 Is the ending of my song." 
 
 Sung on the crisp frosty road beneath the flying moon, 
 that pathetic and fantastic strain might well stir the 
 hearers' hearts with far-off wonder and awe. But for 
 some time past it has been a growing practice to sing 
 carols in churches instead of in the open air. Only the 
 less poetical carols are in use, and the element of 
 picturesqueness is fast vanishing. One of the most 
 popular carols is the piece beginning " Good King 
 Wenceslas looked out," written by the Rev. Dr. Neale. 
 The language is poor and commonplace to the last 
 degree.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Much has been written about the history of Christmas 
 Carols, and I have no intention in this brief preface of 
 minutely traversing the well-trodden ground. In Eng- 
 land the practice of carol-singing appears to have first 
 become widely spread in the ifth century. Many of 
 the pieces collected from MSS. by the labour of Ritson, 
 Wright, and Sandys belong to this early date. We are 
 fortunate in possessing an ancient MS. copy of the 
 Carol of St. Stephen (p. 33). Doubtless (in a somewhat 
 altered shape) The Carnal and the Crane, The Holy 
 Well, and The Seven Virgins belong to the I5th cen- 
 tury ; but no early copies of these pieces, whether in 
 print or MS., are known to exist. The earliest printed 
 collection was issued by Wynkyn de Worde in 1521. 
 Only a fragment of it has descended ; and in this frag- 
 ment Hearne the antiquary found the original version 
 of the famous Boar's Head Carol. A later collection, 
 printed by Richard Kele, was issued about 1550. 
 Specimens from this unique volume were printed in 
 "Bibliographical Miscellanies," 1813, whence I have 
 drawn the pieces beginning, " In Bethlehem that noble 
 place" (p. 10). and "Lords and Ladies all by dene" 
 (p. 12). Other books of so-called Christmas Carols were 
 licensed for printing in the latter part of the 1 6th century ; 
 but the pieces in these collections appear to have been 
 hymns rather than carols. Early in the next century we 
 find a genuine example of a carol, with music, (" Re- 
 member, O thou man ") in Ravenscroft's " Melismata," 
 1611. A few years afterwards an attempt to supplant 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 *i 
 
 I
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the old carols was made by William Slaty er in " Cer- 
 taine of David's Psalmes intended for Christmas Carols." 
 At a somewhat later date a few carols, though not of the 
 best kind, are found among the Roxburghe Ballads. In 
 the second half of the last centry T. Bloomer, a Birming- 
 ham printer, did good service by printing in broadside 
 form all the traditional carols he could find. Jemmy 
 Catnach, of Great Monmouth Street, Seven Dials, in the 
 second quarter of the present century, was zealous in 
 diffusing the knowledge of Christmas Carols. As the 
 season comes round hawkers still call at villagers' doors 
 with wretchedly-printed slips ; but only a few of the old 
 traditional carols continue to circulate. 
 
 Alongside of the sacred carols sung in the open air, 
 flourished the jovial carols sung at Christmas feasts. A 
 small black-letter collection of these pieces was published 
 in 1642 ; another appeared in 1661 ; a small undated 
 collection belongs probably to the same time ; a fourth 
 is dated 1688. These tracts, belonging to the class of 
 books that are most easily thumbed out of existence, are 
 of the rarest possible occurrence. The library of the 
 British Museum does not possess a copy of any of them ; 
 but luckily they are all in the Bodleian, bound together 
 in a small duodecimo volume which once belonged to that 
 " facete " (to use the term he applies to Democritus 
 Junior) and ingenious scholar, Antony-a-Wood, the 
 never-to-be-forgotten author of " Athenae Oxonienses." 
 In the Long Vacation I spent some delightful hours in 
 making copious extracts from these curious tracts, 

 
 
 which few previous collectors appear to have examined. 
 It may be that the reader will not find the same 
 pleasure in these old rustic songs as I found. For in 
 truth I was in the mood to enjoy everything. Return- 
 ing after long absence to Oxford, I thought the old spires 
 and domes had never looked so beautiful before. The 
 studious hush of the Bodleian was charming after the 
 noise of London streets. Before me lay the MS. cata- 
 logue, in a lyth-century hand, of the books which 
 Robert Burton bequeathed to the library he loved so 
 well ; and as with reverence I turned the pages, the 
 air seemed filling with the ghosts of grand old Oxford 
 scholars, men who lived before the days of competitive 
 examinations and pretentious sciolism ; men who loved 
 learning for its own sake, and whose whole life passed 
 as a summer's day. Then the walk in the mellow 
 evening-air with an old fellow student to Foxcomb Hill, 
 and the draught of foaming ale in the inn parlour where 
 I had spent so many jovial hours ! But I return 
 to Antony-k- Wood's collection of carols. The reader 
 will perceive that they are genuine specimens of the 
 songs that were sung in farm-houses by shepherds and 
 ploughmen at Christmas feasts in the I7th century. 
 Very touching is the gratitude of the poor fellows for 
 being allowed the run of their teeth : 
 
 " Of delicates so dainty 
 I see now here is plenty, 
 Upon this table ready here prepared ; 
 Then let us now give thanks to those
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 
 That all things friendly thus bestows, 
 Esteeming not this world that is so hard. 
 
 For of the same my master 
 
 Hath made me here a taster ; 
 
 The Lord above requite him for the same ! 
 
 And so to all within this house 
 
 I will drink a full carouse, 
 
 With leave of my good master and my dame. 
 
 And the Lord be praised 
 
 My stomach is well eased, 
 
 My bones at quiet may go take their rest ; 
 
 Good fortune surely followed me 
 
 To bring me thus so luckily 
 
 To eat and drink so freely of the best." 
 
 Their stomachs were sharp-set, and we may be sure 
 they played a nimble knife and fork throughout the 
 whole twelve days. Christmas comes but once a year, 
 so they made the best of their time and lustily trolled 
 the nut-brown bowl in honour of St. Stephen and St. 
 John. One of the most interesting pieces is the New 
 Year's Carol (p. 205), sung by the shepherd, who conies 
 bringing mellow pippins as presents for his master's 
 children, points l for the farm-labourers, and pins for the 
 maids. The verses bidding Farewell to Christmas are 
 lugubrious indeed ; but the honest fellows doubtless 
 found consolation in the thought that they would feast 
 again next year. 
 
 Tagged laces that held up the breeches.
 
 PREFACE. xxix 
 
 Those who spent their Christmas at their own fireside 
 had also carols, but of a soberer sort. The following 
 verses, which evidently cannot boast of a high antiquity, 
 I heard in Berkshire : 
 
 " When I'm at school my father 
 
 Is working on the farm, 
 The harvest he must gather 
 To keep us all from harm. 
 
 My brother is at sea, 
 
 My sister's gone from home, 
 She must in service be 
 
 Till merry Christmas come. 
 
 We all shall meet together 
 
 On merry Christmas Eve ; 
 We reck not wind or weather 
 
 While we our Christmas keep. 
 
 All round the rodded (?) earth 
 Each one might chance to say, 
 
 Since last we met in mirth 
 'Twas merry Christmas Day." 
 
 Rather a doleful ditty that ; no mention of goose or 
 mince pies. At the same time I took down the follow- 
 ing slight but pretty rhymes : 
 
 ' Sing we all merrily, 
 Christmas is here, 
 The day that we love best 
 Of days in the year.
 
 xxx PREFACE. 
 
 
 
 Bring forth the holly, 
 
 The box and the bay, 
 Deck out our cottage 
 
 For glad Christmas Day. 
 
 Sing we all merrily, 
 
 Draw round the fire, 
 Sister and brother, 
 
 Grandson and sire." 
 
 It would be easy to write a long dissertation about 
 Christmas ceremonies, for the materials are all to our 
 hand. But as I have no desire to make a parade of 
 cheap learning, I refer the reader to that elaborate and 
 easy accessible work, Brand's " Popular Antiquities." 
 For one who has neither the learning of Brand nor the 
 light touch of Leigh Hunt, it would be impertinent to 
 write at length on so trite a theme. The present 
 volume lays little claim to research. It has been put 
 together in idle moments, and is intended rather for the 
 general reader than for scholars. The orthography of 
 the older pieces has been modernised, but I have en- 
 deavoured in all cases to give, as far as possible, a ( / 
 correct text. It may perhaps be thought that a few more 
 old carols should have been included in the First Part. 
 I omitted without hesitation such pieces as " When 
 Jesus Christ was twelve years old " (popular though it 
 is), "The Lord at first had Adam made," "When 
 Caesar Augustus had rais'd a taxation," " When old 
 father Jacob was ready to die," &c. ; but I parted re- 
 luctantly from " Blessed be that maid Mary," " Mary 
 
 ^
 
 SSJSSJSSJSB 5 *^'-^ 3 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 mother, meek and mild," " Marvel not, Joseph, on Mary 
 mild," and others. Some readers may be vexed at finding 
 in the Second Part so well-known a poem as Milton's 
 " Ode on the Nativity." I have no particular affec- 
 tion for the poem as a whole, though I greatly admire 
 certain stanzas, and am not blind to the marvellous 
 metrical skill displayed throughout. With the sacred 
 text of Milton I dared not tamper. I felt that I must 
 print the Ode in its integrity or not at all ; and I chose 
 the first course. In regard to Crashaw, whose tran- 
 scendent merits I should be the last to dispute, I had 
 less hesitation. His Hymn of the Nativity I give entire, 
 but of the Hymn for the Epiphany I quote only the 
 opening lines, for the latter part abounds with the most 
 violent conceits. At the end of the volume I have added 
 a few notes. There is a striking poem by Frederick 
 Tennyson, "The Holy Tide," which I should like to 
 have included ; but it is far too long. With two stanzas 
 from it I take leave of the reader : 
 
 " The days are sad, it is the Holy tide : 
 
 The Wintermorn is short, the Night is long ; 
 So let the lifeless Hours be glorified 
 
 With deathless thoughts, and echoed in sweet song : 
 And through the sunset of this purple cup 
 
 They will resume the roses of their prime, 
 And the old Dead will hear us and wake up, 
 
 Pass with dim smiles and make our hearts sublime ! 
 
 The days are sad, it is the Holytide ; 
 Be dusky mistletoes and hollies strown,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Sharp as the spear that pierced his sacred side, 
 Red as the drops upon his thorny crown ; 
 
 No haggard Passion and no lawless Mirth 
 
 Fright off the sombre Muse, tell sweet old tales, 
 
 Sing songs as we sit bending o'er the hearth, 
 Till the lamp flickers, and the memory fails."
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHRISTMAS CHANTS AND CAROLS. 
 
 From the Coventry Mysteries. 
 
 n evers flMace 3 sball tell tbfs* 
 
 T N every place I shall tell this, 
 
 Of a clean maid that God is born, 
 And in our likeness God now clad is, 
 
 Mankind to save that was forlorn ; 
 His mother a maid as she was beforn, 
 
 Not foul-polluted as other women be, 
 But fair and fresh as rose on thorn, 
 
 Lily-white, clean with pure virginity. 
 
 9
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Printed in Ritson's Ancient Songs, 
 Sandys' Carols, etc. (from Sloane 
 MS., 2593, temp. Henry VI.) 
 
 Welcome 3ule, 
 
 Welcome Yule, thou merry man, 
 In worship of this holy day. 
 
 'IWELCOME be thou, heaven-king, 
 Welcome born in one morning, 
 
 Welcome for whom we shall sing, 
 Welcome Yule. 
 
 Welcome be ye, Stephen and John, 
 Welcome Innocents every one, 
 Welcome Thomas Martyr one, 
 Welcome Yule. 
 
 Welcome be ye, good New Year, 
 Welcome Twelfth Day, both in fere, 1 
 Welcome saintes lef 2 and dear, 
 Welcome Yule. 
 
 1 In fere = in company. 
 
 2 Lef = loved.
 
 Welcome be ye, Candlemas, 
 Welcome be ye, Queen of Bliss, 
 Welcome both to more and less, 
 Welcome Yule. 
 
 Welcome be ye that are here, 
 Welcome all and make good cheer ; 
 Welcome all, another year, 
 Welcome Yule. ,
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Wright's Songs and Carols, 
 (Warton Society. A collection 
 printed from Sloane MS. 2593, 
 temp. Henry VI.) 
 
 Sing ot a flfcatoen. 
 
 T SING of a maiden 
 
 That is makeless ; x 
 King of all kings 
 
 To her son she ches ; 2 
 He came also 3 still 
 
 There his mother was, 
 As dew in April 
 
 That falleth on the grass. 
 He came also still 
 
 To his mother's bower, 
 As dew in April 
 
 That falleth on the flower. 
 He came also still 
 
 There his mother lay, 
 
 
 3 As.
 
 ?&X*S&>&Sz2=J^^ 
 '.'. 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 5 
 
 As dew in April 
 
 That falleth on the spray. 
 
 Mother and maiden 
 
 Was never none but she ; 
 
 Well may such a lady 
 God's mother be. 
 
 I
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Harleian 3fS. 5396 (date circ. 
 1500). Printed in Sandys' Christ- 
 mas Carols, and other collections. 
 
 3n Bjcelsfs Gloria. 
 
 *\ 1 7HEN Christ was born of Mary free 
 
 In Bethlehem in that fair citie, 
 Angels sungen with mirth and glee, 
 In Excehis Gloria ! 
 
 Herdsmen beheld these angels bright 
 To them appeared with great light, 
 And said, God's son is born this night, 
 In Excelsis Gloria ! 
 
 This King is comen to save kind 
 [Even] in Scripture as we find, 
 [There] fore this song have we in mind, 
 In Excelsis Gloria ! 
 
 [Then, dear] Lord, for thy great grace 
 [Grant us] in bliss to see thy face, 
 Where we may sing to thee solace, 
 In Excelsis Gloria !
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 II 
 
 Printed in Sandys' Christmas Carols, 
 and other collections. 
 
 Ube ffirst IFlowell tbe angel 
 
 T^ HE first Nowell the Angel did say 
 
 Was to three poor Shepherds in the fields as 
 
 they lay ; 
 
 In fields where they lay keeping their sheep 
 In a cold winter's night that was so deep. 
 Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, 
 Born is the King of Israel. 
 
 They looked up and saw a Star 
 Shining in the East beyond them far ; 
 And to the earth it gave great light, 
 And so it continued both day and night. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 And by the light of that same Star 
 Three Wise Men came from country far ; 
 To seek for a King was their intent, 
 And to follow the Star wherever it went 
 
 Ncnt'ell, etc. 
 t 
 
 _ _ _ __ L 
 
 <gg=??tfrtffgte^?rg^^
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The Star drew nigh to the North- West, 
 O'er Bethlehem it took its rest, 
 And there it did both stop and stay 
 Right over the place where Jesus lay. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Then did they know assuredly 
 Within that house the King did lie : 
 One enter'd in then for to see, 
 And found the Babe in poverty. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Then enter'd in those Wise Men three 
 Most reverently upon their knee, 
 And offer'd there in his presence 
 Both gold, and myrrh, and frankincense. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Between an ox-stall and an ass 
 This Child truly there, born he was ; 
 For want of clothing they did him lay 
 All in the manger among the hay. 
 
 Newell, etc.
 
 Then let us all with one accord 
 Sing praises to our heavenly Lord, 
 That hath made heaven and earth of nought, 
 And with his blood mankind hath bought. 
 
 etc. 
 
 If we in our time shall do well, 
 We shall be free from death and hell ; 
 For God hath prepared for us all 
 A resting-place in general. 
 
 Nowell, etc.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 This and the next Carol are from Chritt- 
 mas Carolles neicely imprinted 
 (circ. 1550), of which only a frag- 
 ment has come down. Our text is 
 taken from Bibliographical Miscel- 
 lanies (Oxford, 1813). 
 
 3n Betblebem tbat noble place* 
 
 T N Bethlehem that noble place, 
 As by prophecy said it was, 
 
 Of the Virgin Mary full of grace, 
 
 Salvator mundi natus est. 
 
 Be we merry in this feast, 
 In quo salvator natus est. 
 
 On Christmas night an angel it told 
 To the shepherds, keeping their fold, 
 That into Bethlehem with beasts wold 
 Salvator mundi natus est. 
 
 Be we merry, etc. 
 
 The shepherdes were compassed right, 
 About them was a great light ; 
 Dread ye nought, said the angel bright, 
 Salvator mundi natus est. 
 
 Be we merry, etc.
 
 ^^ 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. n 
 
 Behold to you we bring great joy ; 
 For why ? Jesus is born this day ; 
 To us, of Mary, that mild may, 
 Salvator mundi natus est. 
 
 Be we merry ) etc. 
 
 And thus in faith find it ye shall, 
 Lying poorly in an ox-stall. 
 The shepherds then lauded God all, 
 Quia Salvator mundi natus est. 
 
 Be we merry, etc.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 
 
 H new Carol ot our 
 
 T ORDS and ladies all by dene * 
 
 For your goodness and honour, 
 I will you sing all of a queen ; 
 Of all women she is the flower. 
 
 Nowdl, Nowell, Newell, Newell, 
 This said the angel Gabriel. 
 
 Of Jesse there sprang a wight, 
 Isay said by prophecy, 
 Of whom shall come a man of might, 
 From death to life he will us buy. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 There came an angel bright of face, 
 Flying from heaven with full great light, 
 And said, Hail ! Mary, full of grace, 
 For thou shalt bear a man of might. 
 
 Nowdl, etc.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Astonied was that lady free, 
 And had marvell of that greeting ; 
 Angel, she said, how may that be, 
 For never of man I had knowing ? 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Dread thou nothing, Mary mild, 
 Thou art fulfilled with great virtue, 
 Thou shalt conceive and bear a child 
 That shall be named sweet Jesu. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 She kneeled down upon her knee ; 
 As thou hast said, so may it be, 
 With heart, thought and mild cheer, 
 God's hand-maid I am here. 
 
 Newell, etc. 
 
 Then began her womb to spring, 
 She went with child without man, 
 He that is lord over all thing, 
 His flesh and blood of her had than. 1 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 1 Then. 
 
 ft&0 as -"-- --
 
 Of her was born our heaven-king, 
 And she a maid never the less ; 
 Therefore be merry and let us sing, 
 For this new lord of Christmas. 
 
 Nowell, Nowdl, etc. 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Songs and Carols, now firxt 
 printed from a manuscript of the 
 fifteenth century; Edited by Thoma* 
 Wright, 1847. (Percy Society Pub- 
 lications.) 
 
 tmrgin anfc Cbilfc. 
 
 T^HISendris night 1 
 I saw a sight, 
 
 A star as bright as day ; 
 And ever among 
 A maiden sung, 
 
 Lullay, by by, lullay. 
 
 This lovely lady sat and sang, and to her child [she] 
 
 said 
 
 " My son, my brother, my father dear, why liest thou 
 thus in hayd ? 
 
 My sweet bird, 2 
 Thus it is betide 
 
 Though thou be king veray ; 
 But, nevertheless, 
 I will not cease 
 
 To sing, by by, lullay." 
 
 1 " Endris night "=:last night. 
 
 2 Often used as a term of endearment. In the former line 
 " hayd " = hay.
 
 16 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The child then spake ; in his talking he to his mother 
 
 said 
 
 " I bekid 1 am king, in crib though I be laid ; 
 For angels bright 
 Down to me light, 
 
 Thou knowest it is no nay, 
 And of that sight 
 Thou mayest be light 
 
 To sing, by by, lullay." 
 
 " Now, sweet Son, since thou art king, why art thou 
 
 laid in stall ? 
 
 Why not thou ordain thy bedding in some great king's 
 hall? 
 
 Methinketh it is right 
 That king or knight 
 
 Should be in good array ; 
 And them among 
 It were no wrong 
 
 To sing, by by, lullay." 
 
 " Mary, mother, I am thy child, though I be laid in 
 
 stall, 
 Lords and dukes shall worship me and so shall kinges 
 
 all. 
 
 1 i.e. it happens that I am king.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Ye shall well see 
 That kinges three 
 
 Shall come on the twelfth day ; 
 For this behest 
 Give me thy breast, 
 
 And sing, by by, lullay." 
 
 " Now tell me, sweet Son, I thee pray, thou art my 
 
 love and dear, 
 
 How should I keep thee to thy pay l and make thee 
 glad of cheer ? 
 
 For all thy will 
 I would fulfil 
 
 Thou weet'st 2 full well in fay, 
 And for all this 
 I will thee kiss, 
 
 And sing, by by, lullay." 
 
 " My dear mother, when time it be, take thou me up 
 
 aloft, 
 
 And set me upon thy knee and handle me full soft 
 And in thy arm 
 Thou wilt me warm, 
 
 And keep [me] night and day ; 
 
 Content. 
 
 2 Knowest.
 
 i8 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 If I weep 
 
 And may not sleep 
 
 Thou sing, by by, lullay." 
 
 " Now, sweet Son, since it is so, all things are at thy 
 
 will, 
 
 I pray thee grant to me a boon if it be right and skill, 1 
 That child or man, 
 That will or can, 
 
 Be merry upon my day ; 
 To bliss them bring, 
 And I shall sing, 
 
 Lullay, by by, lullay." 
 
 1 Fitting, reasonable.
 
 UP HUH I^WP * -' pi ww " ." - - ' ' - 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Wright's Songs and Carols 
 (Percy Society). 
 
 Hbout tbe ffielfc tbes pipes full rfgbt 
 
 , (yr/<?, merrily the shepherds began to blow. 
 
 A BOUT the field they piped full right, 
 Even about the midst of the night ; 
 Adown from heaven they saw come a light. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle. 
 
 Of angels there came a company 
 With merry songs and melody. 
 The shepherds anon gan them espy. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle. 
 
 Gloria in excelsis the angels sung, 
 And said who [how ?] peace was present among 
 To every man that to the faith would long. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle. 
 
 The shepherds hied them to Bethlehem 
 To see that blessed sun's beam ; 
 And there they found that glorious stream. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle.
 
 20 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Now pray we to that meek child, 
 And to his mother that is so mild, 
 The which was never defiled. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle. 
 
 That we may come unto his bliss, 
 Where joy shall never miss ; 
 That we may sing in Paradise. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle. 
 
 I pray you all that be here 
 
 For to sing and make good cheer, 
 
 In the worship of God this year. 
 
 Tyrle, tyrle.
 
 - 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 21 
 
 Printed in Sandys' Christmas Carols 
 from Add. MS. 5165 (ancient 
 sonys temp. Henry VII. and VIII.) 
 
 TTbis Entmes 1KU0bt 3 saw a 
 
 A H, my dear Son, said Mary, ah, my dear, 
 
 Kiss thy mother, Jesu, with a laughing cheer. 
 
 This endnes 1 night I saw a sight 
 
 All in my sleep, 
 Mary, that may, she sang lullay 
 
 And sore did weep ; 
 To keep she sought full fast about 
 
 Her Son from cold. 
 Joseph said, Wife, my joy, my life, 
 
 Say what ye would. 
 Nothing, my spouse, is in this house 
 
 Unto my pay ; 2 
 My Son a king, that made all thing, 
 
 Lieth in hay. 
 
 Ah, my dear Son ! &c. 
 
 1 Last. 
 
 2 Content. 
 
 ^
 
 My mother dear, amend your cheer 
 
 And now be still ; 
 Thus for to lie it is soothly 
 
 My Father's will. 
 Derision, great passion, 
 
 Infinitely, 
 As it is found many a wound 
 
 Suffer shall I ; 
 On Calvary that is so high 
 
 There shall I be, 
 Man to restore, nailed.full sore 
 
 Upon a tree. 
 
 Ah, my dear Son ! &c.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 A very popular Carol, printed in many 
 collections. 
 
 5 saw Ubree Sbips come Sailing in. 
 
 T SAW three ships come sailing in 
 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day; 
 I saw three ships come sailing in 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 And what was in those ships all three 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 
 And what was in those ships all three 
 On Christmas day in the morning ? 
 
 Our Saviour Christ and his lady, 
 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day; 
 
 Our Saviour Christ and his lady, 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 Pray whither sailed those ships all three 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 
 Pray whither sailed those ships all three 
 On Christmas day in the morning ?
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 O they sailed into Bethlehem 
 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 O they sailed into Bethlehem 
 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 And all the bells on earth shall ring 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 
 And all the bells on earth shall ring 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 And all the angels in heaven shall sing 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 
 And all the angels in heaven shall sing 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 And all the souls on earth shall sing 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 
 And all the souls on earth shall sing 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 Then let us all rejoice amain 
 
 On Christmas day, on Christmas day ; 
 Then let us all rejoice amain 
 
 On Christmas day in the morning.
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 2 S $ 
 
 A more modern version of the preceding 
 Carol. Communicated by A. A. to 
 "Notes and Queries," 3d series, in. 
 7. It used to be sung in Mid-Kent. 
 
 Hs 3 sat un&er a Sycamore Uree. 
 
 A S I sat under a sycamore tree, a sycamore tree, a 
 
 sycamore tree, 
 I looked me out upon the sea, 
 
 A Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 I saw three ships a-sailing there, a-sailing there, a-sail- 
 
 ing there, 
 
 The Virgin Mary and Christ they bare, 
 A Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 He did whistle, and she did sing, she did sing, she did 
 
 sing, 
 And all the bells on earth did ring, 
 
 A Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 I 
 
 And now we hope to taste your cheer, taste your cheer, 
 
 taste your cheer, 
 And wish you all a happy new year, 
 
 A Christmas day in the morning. 

 
 26 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 FromByrd'sPsalmes, Sonets, etc., 1588. 
 
 sweet little Babs, wbat meanest 
 tbou to 
 
 Y sweet little baby, what meanest thou to cry ? 
 Be still, my blessed babe, though cause thou 
 
 hast to mourn, 
 Whose blood most innocent to shed the cruel king hath 
 
 sworn ; 
 
 And lo, alas ! behold what slaughter he doth make, 
 Shedding the blood of infants all, sweet Saviour, for 
 
 thy sake. 
 A King, a King is born, they say, which King this 
 
 king would kill : 
 O woe and woeful heavy day when wretches have their 
 
 will! 
 
 Lulla, la lulla, lulla lullaby. 
 
 Three kings this King of kings to see are come from 
 
 far, 
 To each unknown, with offerings great, by guiding of 
 
 a star ; 

 
 ' . - v :',' .- -r- 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And shepherds heard the song, which angels bright 
 
 did sing, 
 
 Giving all glory unto God for coming of this King, 
 Which must be made away King Herod would him 
 
 kill; 
 O woe and woeful heavy day when wretches have their 
 
 will! 
 
 Lulla, &c. 
 
 Lo, lo, my little babe, be still, lament no more ; 
 From fury thou shalt step aside, help have we still in 
 
 store : 
 
 We heavenly warning have some other soil to seek ; 
 From death must fly the Lord of life, as lamb both 
 
 mild and meek : 
 Thus must my babe obey the king that would him 
 
 kill; 
 O woe and woeful heavy day when wretches have their 
 
 will ! 
 
 Lulla, &c. 
 
 But thou shalt live and reign, as sibyls hath foresaid, 
 As all the prophets prophecy, whose mother, yet a 
 maid
 
 28 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And perfect virgin pure, with her breasts shall up- 
 
 breed 
 Both God and man that all hath made, the son of 
 
 heavenly seed : 
 Whom caitives none can tray, whom tyrants none can 
 
 kill: 
 O joy and joyful happy day when wretches want their 
 
 will ! 
 
 Lulla, &c.
 
 yz^mte&v&z 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Known 03 Cherry Tree Carol. Con- 
 cerning the text see notes. 
 
 3osepb was an It) /IDan. 
 i. 
 
 T OSEPH was an old man, 
 * And an old man was he, 
 
 When he wedded Mary 
 In the land of Galilee. 
 
 Joseph and Mary walked 
 Through an orchard good, 
 
 Where was cherries and berries 
 So red as any blood. 
 
 Joseph and Mary walked 
 Through an orchard green, 
 
 Where was berries and cherries 
 As thick as might be seen. 
 
 O then bespoke Mary, 
 So meek and so mild, 
 
 Pluck me one cherry, Joseph, 
 For I am with child.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 O then bespoke Joseph, 
 With words most unkind, 
 
 Let him pluck thee a cherry 
 That brought thee with child. 
 
 O then bespoke the babe 
 Within his mother's womb 
 
 Bow down then the tallest tree 
 For my mother to have some. 
 
 Then bowed down the highest tree 
 Unto his mother's hand : 
 
 Then she cried, See, Joseph, 
 I have cherries at command. 
 
 O then bespake Joseph, 
 I have done Mary wrong ; 
 
 But cheer up, my dearest, 
 And be not cast down. 
 
 O eat your cherries, Mary, 
 O eat your cherries now, 
 
 O eat your cherries, Mary, 
 That grow upon the bough.
 
 Then Mary plucked a cherry 
 As red as the blood ; 
 
 Then Mary went home 
 With her heavy load. 
 
 II. 
 
 As Joseph was a-walking 
 He heard an angel sing : 
 
 " This night shall be born 
 Our Heavenly King ; 
 
 " He neither shall be born 
 In housen nor in hall, 
 
 Nor in the place of Paradise, 
 But in an ox's stall ; 
 
 " He neither shall be clothed 
 In purple nor in pall, 
 
 But all in fair linen 
 As were babies all. 
 
 " He neither shall be rocked 
 In silver nor in gold, 
 
 But in a wooden cradle 
 That rocks on the mould. 
 
 IfcilfWlBHhXiJrt 'I" - - '
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 " He neither shall be christened 
 
 In white wine nor red, 
 But with fair spring water 
 
 With which we were christened." 
 
 III. 
 
 Then Mary took her young son 
 And set him on her knee : 
 
 I pray thee now, dear child, 
 Tell how this world shall be. 
 
 O I shall be as dead, mother, 
 As the stones in the wall ; 
 
 O the stones in the streets, mother, 
 Shall mourn for me all. 
 
 Upon Easter-day, mother, 
 
 My uprising shall be ; 
 O the sun and the moon, mother, 
 
 Shall both rise with me.
 
 From Sloane MS. 2593. The MS. teas 
 printed in 1856 by Thomas Wright 
 for the Warton Society. 
 
 Stephen was a Glerfe, 
 
 AINT STEPHEN was a clerk 
 
 In King Herod's hall, 
 And served him of bread and cloth 
 As ever king befall. 
 
 Stephen out of kitchen came, 
 With boar's head on hand, 
 
 He saw a star was fair and bright 
 Over Bethlehem stand. 
 
 He kist l adown the boar's head 
 And went into the hall : 
 
 " I forsake thee, King Herod, 
 And thy workes all. 
 
 1 Cast.
 
 34 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 
 " I forsake thee, King Herod, 
 
 And thy workes all ; 
 There is a child in Bethlehem born 
 
 Is better than we all." 
 
 " What aileth thee, Stephen ? 
 
 What is thee befall ? 
 Lacketh thee either meat or drink 
 
 In King Herod's hall?" 
 
 " Lacketh me neither meat ne drink 
 
 In King Herod's hall ; 
 There is a child in Bethlehem born 
 
 Is better than we all." 
 
 " What aileth thee, Stephen ? 
 
 Art thou wode l or thou ginnest to breed ? 2 
 Lacketh thee either gold or fee 
 
 Or any rich weed ?" 3 
 
 " Lacketh me neither gold nor fee, 
 
 Ne none rich weed ; 
 There is a child in Bethlehem born 
 
 Shall helpen us at our need." 
 
 1 Mad. 
 
 Upbraid. 
 
 3 Dress.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 " That is also sooth, 1 Stephen, 
 
 Also sooth i-wis 2 
 As this capon crowe shall 
 
 That lieth here in my dish." 
 
 That word was not so soon said, 
 
 That word in that hall, 
 The capon crew Christus natus est 
 
 Among the lordes all. 
 
 " Riseth up, my tormentors, 
 
 By two and all by one, 
 And leadeth Stephen out of this town, 
 
 And stoneth him with stone." 
 
 Tooken they Stephen 
 
 And stoned him in the way, 
 
 And therefore is his even 
 On Christes own day. 
 
 1 " Also sooth " = as true. a Assuredly. 
 
 --;.- .. .. .. , '-, .
 
 36 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 First printed in Raven scroft's Melismata, 
 Musical Phansies fitting the court, citi; 
 and country humours (1611). 
 
 IRemember, tbou 
 
 Remember, O thou Man, 
 
 Thy time is spent. 
 Remember, O thou Man, 
 How thou earnest to me than, 1 
 And I did what I can, 
 
 Therefore repent. 
 
 Remember Adam's fall, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 Remember Adam's fall 
 
 From Heaven to Hell. 
 Remember Adam's fall, 
 How we were condemned all 
 To Hell perpetual, 
 
 There for to dwell. 
 
 Old form of then.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 37 
 
 Remember God's goodness, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 Remember God's goodness 
 
 And promise made. 
 Remember God's goodness, 
 How his only Son he sent 
 Our sins for to redress, 
 
 Be not afraid. 
 
 The Angels all did sing, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 The Angels all did sing 
 
 On Sion hill. 
 The Angels all did sing 
 Praises to our heavenly king, 
 And peace to man living, 
 
 With right good will. 
 
 The Shepherds amazed was, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 The Shepherds amazed was 
 
 To hear the Angels sing. 
 The Shepherds amazed was 
 How this should come to pass, 
 That Christ our Messias 
 
 Should be our King.
 
 - - 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 To Bethlehem did they go, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 To Bethlehem did they go, 
 
 This thing to see. 
 To Bethlehem did they go 
 To see whether it was so, 
 Whether Christ was born or no, 
 
 To set us free. 
 
 As the Angels before did say, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 As the Angels before did say, 
 
 So it came to pass. 
 As the Angels before did say, 
 They found him wrapt in hay 
 In a manger where he lay, 
 
 So poor he was. 
 
 In Bethlehem was he born, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 In Bethlehem was he born 
 
 For mankind dear. 
 In Bethlehem was he born 
 For us that were forlorn, 
 And therefore took no scorn 
 
 Our sins to bear.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 39 
 
 In a manger laid he was, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man; 
 In a manger laid he was 
 
 At this time present. 
 In a manger laid he was, 
 Between an ox and an ass, 
 And all for our trespass, 
 
 Therefore repent 
 
 Give thanks to God always, 
 O thou Man, O thou Man ; 
 Give thanks to God always 
 
 With hearts most jolly. 
 Give thanks to God always 
 Upon this blessed day, 
 Let all men sing and say, 
 
 Holy, Holy.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The most popular of Chrlstmas'jCarols. 
 
 <Bo& rest sou merrs, Gentlemen. 
 
 f~* OD rest you merry, gentlemen, 
 
 Let nothing you dismay, 
 For Jesus Christ our Saviour 
 
 Was born upon this day 
 To save us all from Satan's power 
 When we were gone astray. 
 O tidings of comfort and joy, 
 For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on 
 Christmas day. 
 
 In Bethlehem in Jewry 
 
 This blessed babe was born, 
 And laid within a manger 
 
 Upon this blessed morn ; 
 The which his mother Mary 
 
 Nothing did take in scorn. 
 
 O tidings, &c.
 
 From God our Heavenly Father 
 
 A blessed angel came, 
 And unto certain shepherds 
 
 Brought tidings of the same, 
 How that in Bethlehem was born 
 
 The Son of God by name. 
 
 O tidings, &c. 
 
 Fear not, then said the angel, 
 
 Let nothing you affright, 
 This day is born a Saviour 
 
 Of virtue, power, and might ; 
 So frequently to vanquish all 
 
 The friends of Satan quite. 
 
 O tidings, &c. 
 
 The shepherds at those tidings 
 
 Rejoiced much in mind, 
 And left their flocks a feeding 
 
 In tempest, storm, and wind, 
 And went to Bethlehem straightway, 
 
 This blessed babe to find. 
 
 O tidings, &c
 
 4 2 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But when to Bethlehem they came, 
 
 Whereat this infant lay, 
 They found him in a manger 
 
 Where oxen feed on hay ; 
 His mother Mary kneeling 
 
 Unto the Lord did pray. 
 
 O tidings, &c. 
 
 Now to the Lord sing praises, 
 
 All you within this place, 
 And with true love and brotherhood 
 
 Each other now embrace ; 
 This holy tide of Christmas 
 
 All others doth deface. 
 
 O tidings, &c.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 43 
 
 This and the six follmuing pieces have 
 been frequently printed in broad- 
 side form, and in collections of 
 Carols. 
 
 tomorrow sball be ms H>ancincj 
 
 T^O-MORROW shall be my dancing day, 
 
 I would my true love did so chance 
 To see the legend of my play, 
 
 To call my true love to my dance. 
 Sing, oh ! my love, oh ! my love, my love, my love, 
 This have I done for my true love. 
 
 Then was I born of a Virgin pure, 
 
 Of her I took fleshly substance ; 
 Thus was I knit to man's nature, 
 
 To call my true love to my dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 In a manger laid and wrapped I was, 
 So very poor, this was my chance, 
 
 Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass, 
 To call my true love to my dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c.
 
 44 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Then afterwards baptized I was, 
 The Holy Ghost on me did glance, 
 
 My Father's voice heard from above, 
 To call my true love to my dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 Into the desert I was led, 
 
 Where I fasted without substance ; 
 The Devil bade me make stones my bread, 
 
 To have me break my true love's dance. 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 The Jews on me they make great suit, 
 And with me made great variance, 
 
 Because they lov'd darkness rather than light, 
 To call my true love to my dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 For thirty pence Judas me sold, 
 His covetousness for to advance ; 
 
 Mark whom I kiss, the same do hold, 
 The same is he shall lead the dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c.
 
 . 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 
 45 
 
 Before Pilate the Jews me brought, 
 Where Barabbas had deliverance ; 
 
 They scourg'd me and set me at nought, 
 Judged me to die to lead the dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 Then on the cross hanged I was, 
 
 Where a spear to my heart did glance ; 
 
 There issued forth both water and blood, 
 To call my true love to my dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 Then down to hell I took my way 
 For my true love's deliverance, 
 
 And rose again on the third day 
 Up to my true love and the dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c. 
 
 Then up to heaven I did ascend, 
 Where now I dwell in sure substance, 
 
 On the right hand of God, that man 
 May come unto the general dance. 
 
 Sing, oh ! &c.
 
 46 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Ube 1bol Well. 
 
 A S it fell out one May morning, 
 
 And upon one bright holiday, 
 Sweet Jesus asked of his dear mother, 
 If he might go to play. 
 
 To play, to play, sweet Jesus shall go, 
 And to play pray get you gone ; 
 
 And let me hear of no complaint 
 At night when you come home. 
 
 Sweet Jesus went down to yonder town, 
 
 As far as the Holy Well, 
 And there did see as fine children 
 
 As any tongue can tell. 
 
 He said, God bless you every one, 
 And your bodies Christ save and see : 
 
 Little children, shall I play with you, 
 And you shall play with me ?
 
 i 
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But they made answer to him, No : 
 
 They were lords' and ladies' sons ; 
 
 And he, the meanest of them all, 
 
 Was but a maiden's child, born in an ox's stall. 
 
 Sweet Jesus turned him around, 
 And he neither laughed hor smiled, 
 But the tears came trickling from his eyes 
 Like water from the skies. 
 
 Sweet Jesus turned him about, 
 
 To his mother's dear home went he, 
 
 And said, I have been in yonder town, 
 As far as you can see. 
 
 I have been down in yonder town 
 
 As far as the Holy Well, 
 There did I meet as fine children 
 
 As any tongue can tell. 
 
 I bid God bless them every one, 
 
 And their bodies Christ save and see 
 
 Little children, shall I play with you, 
 And you shall play with me ?
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But they made answer to me, No : 
 
 They were lords' and ladies' sons ; 
 
 And I, the meanest of them all, 
 
 Was but a maiden's child, born in an ox's stall. 
 
 Though you are but a maiden's child, 
 
 Born in an ox's stall, 
 Thou art the Christ, the King of heaven, 
 
 And the Saviour of them all. 
 
 Sweet Jesus, go down to yonder town 
 
 As far as the Holy Well, 
 And take away those sinful souls, 
 
 And dip them deep in hell. 
 
 Nay, nay, sweet Jesus said, 
 
 Nay, nay, that may not be; 
 For there are too many sinful souls 
 
 Crying out for the help of me.
 
 jjiPM^^pfe^^^^ 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 49 
 
 Carnal anfc tbe Crane. 
 
 A S I pass'd by a river side, 
 
 And there as I did reign, 1 
 In argument I chanced to hear 
 A Carnal 2 and a Crane. 
 
 The Carnal said unto the Crane, 
 If all the world should turn, 
 
 Before we had the Father, 
 But now we have the Son ! 
 
 From whence does the Son come ? 
 
 From where and from what place ? 
 He said, In a manger, 
 
 Between an ox and ass ! 
 
 I pray thee, said the Carnal, 
 
 Tell me before thou go, 
 Was not the mother of Jesus 
 
 Conceived by the Holy Ghost ? 
 
 A corruption of ra' = run. 2 Crow? 
 
 D
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 She was the purest Virgin, 
 And the cleanest from sin ; 
 
 She was the handmaid of our Lord, 
 And mother of our King. 
 
 Where is the golden cradle 
 That Christ was rocked in? 
 
 Where are the silken sheets 
 That Jesus was wrapt in ? 
 
 A manger was the cradle 
 That Christ was rocked in ; 
 
 The provender the asses left 
 So sweetly he slept on. 
 
 There was a star in the West land, 
 
 So bright did it appear 
 Into King Herod's chamber, 
 
 And where King Herod were. 
 
 The Wise Men soon espied it, 
 And told the king on high, 
 
 A princely babe was born that night 
 No king could e'er destroy. 
 
 If this be true, King Herod said, 
 As thou tellest unto me,
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 This roasted cock that lies in the dish 
 Shall crow full fences l three. 
 
 The cock soon freshly feathered was 
 By the work of God's own hand, 
 
 And then three fences crowed he 
 In the dish where he did stand. 
 
 Rise up, rise up, you merry men all, 
 
 See that you ready be, 
 All children under two years old 
 
 Now slain they all shall be. 
 
 Then Jesus, ah ! and Joseph, 
 
 And Mary, that was so pure, 
 They travelled into Egypt, 
 
 As you shall find it sure. 
 
 And when they came to Egypt's land, 
 Amongst those fierce wild beasts, 
 
 Mary, she being weary, 
 
 Must needs sit down to rest. 
 
 Come sit thee down, says Jesus, 
 
 Come sit thee down by me, 
 And thou shalt see how these wild beasts 
 
 Do come and worship me. 
 
 1 Rounds.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 First came the lovely lion, 
 
 Which Jesu's grace did spring, 
 
 And of the wild beasts in the field, 
 The lion shall be the king. 
 
 We'll choose our virtuous princes, 
 Of birth and high degree, 
 
 In every sundry nation, 
 Where'er we come and see. 
 
 Then Jesus, ah ! and Joseph, 
 And Mary, that was unknown, 
 
 They travelled by a husbandman, 
 Just while his seed was sown. 
 
 God speed thee, man ! said Jesus, 
 Go fetch thy ox and wain, 
 
 And carry home thy corn again, 
 Which thou this day hast sown. 
 
 The husbandman fell on his knees, 
 
 Even before his face ; 
 Long time hast thou been looked for, 
 
 But now thou art come at last. 

 
 'CAROLS AND POEMS.' 
 
 And I myself do now believe 
 Thy name is Jesus called ; 
 
 Redeemer of mankind thou art, 
 Though undeserving all. 
 
 The truth, man, thou hast spoken, 
 Of it thou may'st be sure, 
 
 For I must lose my precious blood 
 For thee and thousands more. 
 
 If any one should come this way, 
 And inquire for me alone, 
 
 Tell them that Jesus passed by, 
 As thou thy seed did sow. 
 
 After that there came King Herod, 
 With his train so furiously, 
 
 Inquiring of the husbandman, 
 Whether Jesus passed by. 
 
 Why, the truth it must be spoke, 
 And the truth it must be known, 
 
 For Jesus passed by this way 
 When my seed was sown. 

 
 54 
 
 ^%^^ 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But now I have it reapen, 
 And some laid on my wain, 
 
 Ready to fetch and carry 
 Into my barn again. 
 
 Turn back, says the Captain, 
 Your labour and mine's in vain, 
 
 It's full three quarters of a year 
 Since he his seed has sown. 
 
 So Herod was deceived 
 
 By the work of God's own hand, 
 And further he proceeded 
 
 Into the Holy Land. 
 
 There's thousands of children young, 
 Which for his sake did die, 
 
 Do not forbid those little ones, 
 And do not them deny. 
 
 The truth now I have spoken, 
 And the truth now I have shown 
 
 Even the blessed Virgin, 
 
 She's now brought forth a Son.
 
 WWMWPWWspi!^^ 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 55 
 
 Seven, 
 
 T^HE first good joy our Mary had, 
 
 It was the joy of one, 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 
 To suck at her breast bone ; 
 To suck at her breast bone, 
 
 Good man, and blessed may he be, 
 Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 
 And Christ to eternity. 
 
 The next good joy our Mary had, 
 
 It was the joy of two, 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 
 To make the lame to go ; 
 To make the lame to go, 
 
 Good man, &c. 
 
 The next good joy our Mary had, 
 It was the joy of three,
 
 fes=^=*i*^^ 
 56 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 
 To make the blind to see ; 
 To make the blind to see, 
 
 Good man, &c. 
 
 The next good joy our Mary had, 
 It was the joy of four, 
 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 To read the Bible o'er ; 
 
 To read the Bible o'er, 
 
 Good man, &c. 
 
 The next good joy our Mary had, 
 It was the joy of five, 
 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 To raise the dead alive ; 
 
 To raise the dead alive, 
 
 Good man, &c. 
 
 The next good joy our Mary had, 
 
 It was the joy of six, 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 
 To wear the crucifix ; 
 To wear the crucifix, 
 
 Good man, &c. 
 
 t^fe^v'fi^i^g^^
 
 The next good joy our Mary had, 
 
 It was the joy of seven, 
 To see her own Son Jesus 
 
 To wear the crown of Heaven ; 
 To wear the crown of Heaven, 
 
 Good man, and blessed may he be, 
 Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 
 And Christ to eternity.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 flDoon Sbines Brfgbt 
 
 HPHE 'moon shines bright, and the stars give a light 
 
 A little before it was day, 
 Our Lord, our God, he called on us, 
 And bid us awake and pray. 
 
 Awake, awake, good people all, 
 
 Awake, and you shall hear, 
 Our Lord, our God, died on the'cross, 
 
 For us whom he loved so dear. 
 
 O fair, O fair Jerusalem, 
 
 When shall I come to thee ? 
 When shall my sorrows have an end, 
 
 Thy joy that I may see ? 
 
 The fields were green as green could be, 
 
 When from his glorious seat 
 Our Lord, our God, he watered us, 
 
 With his heavenly dew so sweet.
 
 And for the saving of our souls 
 Christ died upon the cross ; 
 
 We ne'er shall do for Jesus Christ 
 As he has done for us. 
 
 The life of man is but a span, 
 
 And cut down in its flower ; 
 We are here to-day and to-morrow are gone, 
 
 We are all dead in an hour. 
 
 O pray teach your children, man, 
 
 The while that you are here ; 
 It will be better for your souls 
 
 When your corpse lies on the bier. 
 
 To-day you may be alive, dear man, 
 
 Worth many a thousand pound ; 
 To-morrow may be dead, dear man, 
 
 And your body be laid under ground. 
 
 With one turf at your head, O man, 
 
 And another at your feet, 
 Thy good deeds and thy bad, O man, 
 
 Will all together meet. 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 SB:fc^
 
 6o 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 My song is done, I must be gone, 
 
 I can stay no longer here. 
 God bless you all, both great and small, 
 
 And send you a happy new year ! 

 
 A VIRGIN most pure, as the Prophets do tell, 
 Hath brought forth a Babe, as it hath befell, 
 To be our Redeemer from death, hell, and sin, 
 Which by Adam's transgression hath wrapt us all in. 
 Rejoice, and be you merry, set sorrow aside, 
 Christ Jesus our Saviour was born on this tide. 
 
 In Bethlehem city, in Jewry it was, 
 Where Joseph and Mary together did pass, 
 And there to be taxed, with many one mo, 1 
 For Caesar commanded the same should be so. 
 
 Rejoice, and be you merry, &c. 
 
 But when they had entered the city so fair, 
 The number of people so mighty was there, 
 That Joseph and Mary, whose substance was small, 
 Could get in the city no lodging at all. 
 
 Rejoice, &c. 
 
 1 More.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Then they were constrained in a stable to lie, 
 Where oxen and asses they used to tie ; 
 Their lodging so simple, they held it no scorn, 
 But against the next morning our Saviour was 
 born. 
 
 Rejoice, &c. 
 
 The King of all glory to the world being brought, 
 Small store of fine linen to wrap him was brought ; 
 When Mary had swaddled her young Son so sweet, 
 Within an ox manger she laid him to sleep. 
 
 Rejoice, &c. 
 
 Then God sent an angel from heaven so high, 
 To certain poor shepherds in fields where they lie, 
 And bid them no longer in sorrow to stay, 
 Because that our Saviour was born on this day. 
 
 Rejoice, &c. 
 
 Then presently after, the shepherds did spy 
 A number of angels appear in the sky, 
 Who joyfully talked, and sweetly did sing, 
 To God be all glory, our Heavenly King. 
 
 Rejoice, &c.
 
 Three certain wise princes, they thought it most meet 
 To lay their rich offerings at our Saviour's feet ; 
 Then the shepherds consented, and to Bethlehem did 
 
 go, 
 
 And when they came thither, they found it was so. 
 
 Rejoice, &c.
 
 64 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 ZTbe Saviour of all people. 
 
 f~~* OD bless the master of this house, 
 
 And all that are therein, 
 And to begin this Christmas tide 
 With mirth now let us sing. 
 For the Saviour of all people 
 
 Upon this time was born, 
 
 Who did from death deliver us, 
 
 When we were left forlorn. 
 
 Then let us all most merry be, 
 And sing with cheerful voice, 
 
 For we have good occasion now 
 This time for to rejoice. 
 
 For, &c. 
 
 Then put away contention all, 
 And fall no more at strife, 
 
 Let every man with cheerfulness 
 Embrace his loving wife. 
 
 For, &c.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 65 
 
 With plenteous food your houses store, 
 
 Provide some wholesome cheer, 
 And call your friends together 
 
 That live both far and near. 
 
 For, &c. 
 
 Then let us all most merry be, 
 
 Since that we are come here, 
 And we do hope before we part 
 
 To taste some of your beer. 
 
 For, &c. 
 
 Your beer, your beer, your Christmas 'beer, 
 
 That seems to be so strong, 
 And we do wish that Christmas tide 
 
 Was twenty times so long. 
 
 For, &c. 
 
 Then sing with voices cheerfully, 
 
 For Christ this time was born, 
 Who did from death deliver us, 
 
 When we were left forlorn. 
 
 For, &c. 

 
 66 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Robert Serrick. 
 
 H Cbristmas Carol, 
 
 SUNG TO THE KING IN THE PRESENCE AT 
 WHITEHALL. 
 
 Chor. \ \ /"HAT sweeter music can we bring, 
 
 Than a carol, for to sing 
 The birth of this our heavenly King ? 
 Awake the voice ! awake the string ! 
 Heart, ear, and eye, and everything 
 Awake ! the while the active finger 
 Runs divisions with the singer. 
 
 From the flourish they come to the song. 
 
 Dark and dull night, fly hence away, 
 And give the honour to this day, 
 That sees December turn'd to May. 
 
 If we may ask the reason, say 
 
 The why and wherefore all things here 
 
 Seem like the spring-time of the year ?
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Why does the chilling winter's morn 
 Smile like a field beset with corn ? 
 Or smell like to a mead new-shorn, 
 Thus on the sudden ? Come and see 
 The cause why things thus fragrant be : 
 'Tis he is born whose quickening birth 
 Gives life and lustre public mirth 
 To heaven and the under-earth. 
 
 Chor. We see him come, and know him ours, 
 Who with his sunshine and his showers 
 Turns all the patient ground to flowers. 
 
 The darling of the world is come, 
 And fit it is we find a room 
 To welcome him. The nobler part 
 Of all the house here, is the heart. 
 
 Chor. Which we will give him ; and bequeath 
 This holly and this ivy wreath, 
 To do him honour ; who's our King, 
 And Lord of all this revelling.
 
 - : 
 
 68 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Printed in Ritson'e Ancient Songs and 
 Ballads, Sandys' Christmas Carols, 
 etc. (from Harl. MS. 5396, temp. 
 Henry VI.) 
 
 ZTbe Contest ot tfoe 
 
 ant) tfoe 
 
 j\J AY, ivy, nay, 
 
 It shall not be, i-wis l ; 
 Let holly have the mastery 
 As the manner is. 
 
 Holly stand in the hall, 
 
 Fair to behold ; 
 Ivy stand without the door 
 
 She is full sore a-cold. 
 
 Nay, ivy, nay, &c. 
 
 Holly and his merry men, 
 They dancen and they sing ; 
 
 Ivy and her maidens, 
 
 They weepen and they wring. 
 
 Nay, ivy, nay, c. 
 
 1 Assuredly.
 
 ^^^S^S^ss^Sj*?^^ 
 . -,1 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Ivy hath a kybe, 1 
 
 She caught it with the cold ; 
 So mot 2 they all have ae, 3 
 
 That with ivy hold. 
 
 Nay, ivy, nay, &c. 
 
 Holly hath berries 
 
 As red as any rose, 
 The foster 4 [and] the hunters 
 
 Keep them from the doe[s]. 
 Nay, ivy, nay, &c. 
 
 Ivy hath berries 
 As black as any sloe ; 
 
 There come the owl 
 And eat him as she go. 
 
 Nay, ivy, nay, &c. 
 
 Holly hath birdes, 
 
 A full fair flock, 
 The nightingale, the popinjay, 
 
 The gentle laverock. 
 
 Nay, ivy, nay, &c. 
 
 1 The MS. has " lybe." " Kybe " = chapped skin. 
 
 2 May. 3 Each, severally. 4 Forester.
 
 7o 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Good ivy, 
 
 What birdes hast thou ? 
 None but the howlet 
 
 That krey 1 "how, how." 
 
 Nay, ivy, nay, 
 
 It shall not be, i-wis ; 
 Let holly have the mastery 
 
 As the manner is. ... 
 
 1 Cries-
 
 Bunt 
 
 A CHRISTMAS CHANT. 
 
 In old and simple-hearted Cornwall, the household names " Uncle " 
 and " Aunt " were uttered and used as they are to this day in 
 many countries of the East, not only as phrases of kindred, but 
 as words of kindly greeting and tender respect. It was in the 
 spirit, therefore, of this touching and graphic usage, that they 
 were wont on the Tamar side to call the Mother of God in their 
 loyal language Modryb Marya, or Aunt Mary. 
 
 1\J OW of all the trees by the king's highway, 
 
 Which do you love the best ? 
 O ! the one that is green upon Christmas Day, 
 
 The bush with the bleeding breast. 
 Now the holly with her drops of blood for me : 
 For that is our dear Aunt Mary's tree. 
 
 Its leaves are sweet with our Saviour's Name, 
 
 'Tis a plant that loves the poor : 
 Summer and winter it shines the same 
 
 Beside the cottage door. 
 O ! the holly with her drops of blood for me : 
 For that is our kind Aunt MaryV tree. 

 
 KSsd^ 
 
 POEMS. 
 
 'Tis a bush that the birds will never leave : 
 
 They sing in it all day long ; 
 But sweetest of all upon Christmas Eve 
 
 Is to hear the robin's song. 
 'Tis the merriest sound upon earth and sea : 
 For it comes from our own Aunt Mary's tree. 
 
 So, of all that grow by the king's highway, 
 
 I love that tree the best ; 
 'Tis a bower for the birds upon Christmas Day, 
 
 The bush of the bleeding breast. 
 O ! the holly with her drops of blood for me : 
 For that is our sweet Aunt Mary's tree. 
 
 1838.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 73 
 
 1 
 
 By Robert Stephen Hawker. 
 
 Ube 
 
 Jesus* 
 
 A CORNISH CAROL. 
 
 "IITELCOME that star in Judah's sky, 
 
 That voice o'er Bethlehem's palmy glen 
 The lamp far sages hailed on high, 
 
 The tones that thrilled the shepherd men : 
 Glory to God in loftiest heaven ! 
 
 Thus angels smote the echoing chord ; 
 Glad tidings unto man forgiven, 
 
 Peace from the presence of the Lord. 
 
 ' 
 
 '> 
 
 The Shepherds sought that birth divine, 
 
 The Wise Men traced their guided way ; 
 There, by strange light and mystic sign, 
 
 The God they came to worship lay. 
 A human Babe in beauty smiled, 
 
 Where lowing oxen round him trod : 
 A maiden clasped her Awful Child, 
 
 Pure offspring of the breath of God.
 
 74 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Those voices from on high are mute, 
 
 The star the Wise Men saw is dim ; 
 But hope still guides the wanderer's foot, 
 
 And faith renews the angel hymn : 
 Glory to God in loftiest heaven ! 
 
 Touch with glad hand the ancient chord ; 
 Good tidings unto man forgiven, 
 
 Peace from the presence of the Lord. 
 
 1840.
 
 , BHd^ 
 
 ! 
 
 ^^SWS^^^^^ 1 ^^^^' 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 75 
 
 By S. T. Coleridge. 
 
 ZTbe Sbepber&s went tbeii* basts 
 
 
 / T^HE shepherds went their hasty way, 
 
 And found the lowly stable-shed 
 Where the Virgin-Mother lay ; 
 
 And now they checked their eager tread, 
 For to the Babe that at her bosom clung, 
 A mother's song the Virgin-Mother sung. 
 
 They told her how a glorious light, 
 Streaming from a heavenly throng, 
 
 Around them shone, suspending night ! 
 While sweeter than a mother's song, 
 
 Blest angels heralded the Saviour's birth, 
 
 Glory to God on high ! and peace on earth 
 
 She listened to the tale divine, 
 
 And closer still the Babe she prest ; 
 
 And while she cried, the Babe is mine ! 
 The milk rushed faster to her breast :
 
 Joy rose within her like a summer's morn ; 
 Peace, peace on earth ! the Prince of peace is 
 born. 
 
 Thou Mother of the Prince of peace, 
 
 Poor, simple, and of low estate ! 
 That strife should vanish, battle cease, 
 
 O why should this thy soul elate ? 
 Sweet music's loudest note, the poet's story, 
 Didst thou ne'er love to hear of fame and glory ? 
 
 And is not War a youthful king, 
 
 A stately hero clad in mail ? 
 Beneath his footsteps laurels spring ; 
 
 Him earth's majestic monarchs hail 
 Their friend, their playmate ! and his bold bright eye 
 Compels the maiden's love-confessing sigh. 
 
 " Tell this in some more courtly scene, 
 To maids and youths in robes of state ! 
 
 I am a woman poor and mean, 
 And therefore is my soul elate : 
 
 War is a ruffian all with guilt defiled, 
 
 That from the aged father tears his child.
 
 " A murderous fiend by fiends adored, 
 He kills the sire and starves the son ; 
 
 The husband kills and from her board 
 Steals all his widow's toil had won ; 
 
 Plunders God's world of beauty ; rends away 
 
 All safety from the night, all comfort from the day. 
 
 " Then wisely is my soul elate, 
 That strife should vanish, battle cease ; 
 
 I'm poor and of a low estate, 
 The Mother of the Prince of peace. 
 
 Joy rises in me, like a summer's morn : 
 
 Peace, peace on earth ! the Prince of peace is 
 born ! "
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 H Cbrfstmas Carol. 
 
 T N the bleak mid-winter 
 
 Frosty wind made moan, 
 Earth stood hard as. iron, 
 
 Water like a stone ; 
 Snow had fallen, snow on snow, 
 
 Snow on snow, 
 In the bleak mid-winter 
 
 Long ago. 
 
 Our God, heaven cannot hold him, 
 
 Nor earth sustain ; 
 Heaven and earth shall flee away 
 
 When he comes to reign : 
 In the bleak mid-winter 
 
 A stable-place sufficed 
 The Lord God Almighty, 
 
 Jesus Christ.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 79 
 
 Enough for him whom cherubim 
 
 Worship night and day, 
 A breastful of milk 
 
 And a mangerful of hay ; 
 Enough for him whom angels 
 
 Fall down before, 
 The ox and ass and camel 
 
 Which adore. 
 
 Angels and archangels 
 
 May have gathered there, 
 Cherubim and seraphim 
 
 Thronged the air ; . 
 But only his mother, 
 
 In her maiden bliss, 
 Worshipped the Beloved 
 
 With a kiss. 
 
 What can I give him, 
 
 Poor as I am ? 
 If I were a shepherd 
 
 I would bring a lamb, 
 If I were a wise man 
 
 I would do my part, 
 Yet what I can I give him, 
 
 Give my heart.
 
 - ' '.7--V "- 
 
 So 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Mr. William Morris (from Seddiny's 
 Antient Christmas Carols, 1860). 
 
 T^ 
 
 Masters, in tbfs ibaH. 
 
 Bethlem did they go, the shepherds three; 
 To Bethlem did they go to see whe'r it were so 
 
 or no, 
 
 Whether Christ were born or no 
 To set men free." 
 
 Masters, in this hall, 
 
 Hear ye news to-day 
 Brought over sea, 
 And ever I you pray. 
 Nowell! Nowell! Now ell ! Now ell I 
 
 Sing we clear ! 
 Holpen are all folk on earf/i, 
 Born is God's Son so dear. 
 
 Going over the hills, 
 
 Through the milk-white snow, 
 Heard I ewes bleat 
 
 While the wind did blow. 
 
 Nowell, etc.
 
 PTTTfTr ii i iin ii ffT 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 81 
 
 Shepherds many an one 
 
 Sat among the sheep ; 
 No man spake more word 
 
 Than they had been asleep. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Quoth I " Fellows mine, 
 
 Why this guise sit ye ? 
 Making but dull cheer, 
 
 Shepherds though ye be ? 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 " Shepherds should of right 
 
 Leap and dance and sing ; 
 Thus to see ye sit 
 
 Is a right strange thing." 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Quoth these fellows then, 
 
 " To Bethlem town we go, 
 To see a Mighty Lord 
 
 Lie in manger low." 
 
 Noivell, etc.
 
 82 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 " How name ye this Lord, 
 
 Shepherds ? " then said I. 
 " Very God," they said, 
 
 " Come from Heaven high." 
 
 JVowell, etc. 
 
 Then to Bethlem town 
 We went two and two, 
 
 And in a sorry place 
 Heard the oxen low. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 Therein did we see 
 
 A sweet and goodly May, 
 And a fair old man ; 
 
 Upon the straw she lay. 
 
 And a little CHILD 
 On her arm had she ; 
 
 " Wot ye who this is ? " 
 Said the hinds to me. 
 
 No-well^ etc.
 
 Ox and ass him know, 
 
 Kneeling on their knee : 
 Wondrous joy had I 
 
 This little BABE to see. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 This is CHRIST the Lord, 
 
 Masters, be ye glad ! 
 Christmas is come in, 
 
 And no folk should be sad. 
 
 Nowell, etc. 
 
 1 
 fl 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Mr. William Morris's Land 
 East of the Sun and West of the 
 Moon (Earthly Paradise, vol. tit.) 
 
 utlan&ers, wbence come se last? 
 
 /^vUTLANDERS, whence come ye last? 
 ^^^ The snow in the street and the wind on the door, 
 Through what green sea and great have ye past ? 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 From far away, O masters mine, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 We come to bear you goodly wine : 
 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 From far away we come to you, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 To tell of great tidings strange and true : 
 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 85 
 
 News, news of the Trinity, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 And Mary and Joseph from over the sea : 
 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 For as we wandered far and wide, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 What hap do ye deem there should us betide ? 
 
 Minstrels and maids } stand forth on the floor. 
 
 Under a bent when the night was deep, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 
 There lay three shepherds tending their sheep : 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 11 ye shepherds, what have ye seen, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 
 To slay your sorrow and heal your teen ? " 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 " In an ox-stall this night we saw, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 A Babe and a maid without a flaw. 
 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.
 
 86 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 " There was an old man there beside, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 
 His hair was white, and his hood was wide. 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 "And as we gazed this thing upon, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 Those twain knelt down to the Little One. 
 
 Minstrels and maids ; stand forth on the floor. 
 
 " And a marvellous song we straight did hear, 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 
 That slew our sorrow and healed our care." 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor. 
 
 News of a fair and a marvellous thing, 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 
 Nowell, nowell, nowell, we sing ! 
 
 Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 from Mr. A. C. Surinburne's Poems 
 and Ballads (first series). 
 
 Ubree 2>amsels in tbe (Queen's Cbamber. 1 
 
 HPHREE damsels in the queen's chamber, 
 
 The queen's mouth was most fair ; 
 She spake a word of God's mother 
 As the combs went in her hair. 
 Mary that is of might, 
 Bring us to thy Son's sight. 
 
 They held the gold combs out from her 
 
 A span's length off her head ; 
 She sang this song of God's mother 
 And of her bearing-bed. 
 
 Mary most full of grace, 
 Bring us to thy Son's face. 
 
 When she sat at Joseph's hand, 
 She looked against her side ; 
 
 1 Suggested by a drawing of Mr. D. G. Rossetti's.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And either way from the short silk band 
 Her girdle was all wried. 
 
 Mary that all good may, 
 Bring us to thy Son's way. 
 
 Mary had three women for her bed, 
 
 The twain were maidens clean ; 
 The first of them had white and red, 
 The third had riven green. 
 
 Mary that is so sweet, 
 Bring us to thy Son's feet. 
 
 She had three women for her hair, 
 Two were gloved soft and shod ; 
 The third had feet and fingers bare, 
 She was the likest God. 
 
 Mary that wieldeth land, 
 Bring us to thy Son's hand. 
 
 
 She had three women for her ease, 
 
 The twain were good women ; 
 The first two were the two Maries, 
 The third was Magdalen. 
 
 Mary that perfect is, 
 Bring us to thy Son's kiss.
 
 Joseph had three workmen in his stall, 
 
 To serve him well upon ; 
 The first of them were Peter and Paul, 
 The third of them was John. 
 
 Mary, God's handmaiden, 
 Bring us to thy Son's ken. 
 
 " If your child be none other man's, 
 
 But if it be very mine, 
 The bedstead shall be gold two spans, 
 The bed-foot silver fine." 
 
 Mary that made God mirth, 
 Bring us to thy Son's birth. 
 
 " If the child be some other man's, 
 
 And if it be none of mine, 
 The manger shall be straw two spans, 
 Betwixen kine and kine." 
 
 Mary that made sin cease, 
 Bring us to thy Son's peace. 
 
 Christ was born upon this wise, 
 
 It fell on such a night, 
 Neither with sounds of psalteries, 
 Nor with fire for light. 
 
 Mary that is God's spouse, 
 Bring us to thy Son's house.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The star came out upon the east 
 With a great sound and sweet : 
 Kings gave gold to make him feast 
 And myrrh for him to eat. 
 
 Mary, of thy sweet mood, 
 Bring us to thy Son's good. 
 
 He had two handmaids at his head, 
 
 One handmaid at his feet ; 
 The twain of them were fair and red, 
 The third one was right sweet. 
 Mary that is most wise, 
 Bring us to thy Son's eyes. Amen.
 
 PART II. 
 
 CARMINA SACRA. 
 
 By John Milton. 
 
 n tbe /l&ornfnQ of Cbrist's Bativftg. 
 
 HPHIS is the month, and this the happy morn, 
 
 Wherein the Son of Heaven's eternal King, 
 Of wedded maid and virgin-mother born, 
 Our great redemption from above did bring ; 
 For so the holy sages once did sing, 
 
 That he our deadly forfeit should release, 
 And with his Father work us a perpetual peace. 
 
 That glorious form, that light insufferable, 
 And that far-beaming blaze of majesty, 
 Wherewith he wont at heaven's high council-table 
 To sit the midst of Trinal Unity, 
 He laid aside ; and, here with us to be, 
 Forsook the courts of everlasting day, 
 And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.
 
 B^gP^^flBBEW^Efrgab^ai^^ i i 
 
 -- ' 
 
 92 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Say, heavenly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein 
 
 Afford a present to the Infant-God ? 
 
 Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain, 
 
 To welcome him to this his new abode, 
 
 Now while the heaven, by the sun's team untrod, 
 
 Hath took no print of the approaching light, 
 And all the spangled host kept watch in squadron 
 bright ? 
 
 See, how from far, upon the eastern road, 
 The star-led wizards haste with odours sweet ; 
 O run, prevent them with thy humble ode, 
 And lay it lowly at his blessed feet ; 
 Have thou the honour first thy Lord to greet, 
 
 And join thy voice unto the angel-quire, 
 cl From out his secret altar touch'd with hallow'd fire. 
 
 It was the winter wild, 
 While the heaven-born Child 
 
 All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies ; 
 Nature in awe to him, 
 Had dofFd her gaudy trim, 
 
 With her great Master so to sympathise : 
 It was no season then for her 
 To wanton with the sun, her lusty paramour. 

 
 Only with speeches fair 
 She woos the gentle air 
 
 To hide her guilty front with innocent snow ; 
 And on her naked shame, 
 Pollute with sinful blame, 
 
 The saintly veil of maiden-white to throw ; 
 Confounded, that her Maker's eyes 
 Should look so near upon her foul deformities. 
 
 But he, her fears to cease, 
 
 Sent down the meek-eyed Peace ; 
 
 She, crown'd with olive green, came softly sliding 
 : Down through the turning sphere, 
 His ready Harbinger, 
 
 With turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing ; 
 And, waving wide her myrtle wand, 
 She strikes an universal peace through sea and land. 
 
 No war, or battle's sound, 
 Was heard the world around : 
 
 The idle spear and shield were high up-hung ; 
 The hooked chariot stood 
 Unstain'd with hostile blood ; 
 
 The trumpet spake not to the armed throng ; 
 And kings sat still with awful eye, 
 As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by.
 
 94 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But peaceful was the night 
 Wherein the Prince of Light 
 
 His reign of peace upon the earth began : 
 The winds with wonder whist, 1 
 Smoothly the waters kist, 
 
 Whispering new joys to the mild ocean, 
 Who now hath quite forgot to rave, 
 While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave. 
 
 The stars, with deep amaze, 
 Stand fix'd in steadfast gaze, 
 
 Bending one way their precious influence ; 
 And will not take their flight, 
 For all the morning light, 
 
 Or Lucifer that often warn'd them thence ; 
 But in their glimmering orbs did glow, 
 Until their Lord himself bespake, and bid them go. 
 
 And, though the shady gloom 
 Had given day her room, 
 
 The sun himself withheld his wonted speed, 
 And hid his head for shame, 
 As his inferior flame 
 
 The new-enlighten'd world no more should need. 
 He saw a greater Sun appear 
 Than his bright throne, or burning axletree, could bear. 
 
 1 Hushed. 
 
 ^^^g-FSA"
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 95 
 
 I 
 
 The shepherds on the lawn, 
 Or ere the point of dawn, 
 
 Sat simply chatting in a rustic row ; 
 Full little thought they than l 
 That the mighty Pan 
 
 Was kindly come to live with them below ; 
 Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep, 
 Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep. 
 
 When such music sweet 
 Their hearts and ears did greet, 
 
 As never was by mortal finger strook ; 
 Divinely-warbled voice 
 Answering the stringed noise, 
 
 As all their souls in blissful rapture took : 
 The air such pleasure loth to lose, 
 With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly 
 close. 
 
 Nature, that heard such sound, 
 Beneath the hollow round 
 
 Of Cynthia's seat, the airy region thrilling, 
 Now was almost won 
 To think her part was done, 
 
 And that her reign had here its last fulfilling ;
 
 96 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 She knew such harmony alone 
 
 Could hold all heaven and earth in happier union. 
 
 At last surrounds their sight 
 A globe of circular light, 
 
 That with long beams the shamefaced night array'd ; 
 The helmed cherubim, 
 And sworded seraphim, 
 
 Are seen in glittering ranks with wings display'd, 
 Harping in loud and solemn quire, 
 With unexpressive notes, to Heaven's new-born Heir. 
 
 Such music (as 'tis said) 
 Before was never made, 
 
 But when of old the sons of morning sung, 
 While the Creator great 
 His constellations set, 
 
 And the well-balanced world on hinges hung ; 
 And cast the dark foundations deep, 
 And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep. 
 
 Ring out, ye crystal spheres, 
 Once bless our human ears, 
 
 If ye have power to touch our senses so ;
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 97 
 
 And let your silver chime 
 Move in melodious time ; 
 
 And let the base of Heaven's deep organ blow ; 
 And, with your ninefold harmony, 
 Make up full consort to the angelic symphony. 
 
 For, if such holy song, 
 Enwrap our fancy long, 
 
 Time will run back and fetch the age of gold ; 
 And speckled Vanity 
 Will sicken soon and die, 
 
 And leprous Sin will melt from earthly mould ; 
 And Hell itself will pass away, 
 
 And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering 
 day. 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 Yea, Truth and Justice then 
 Will down return to men. 
 
 Orb'd in a rainbow ; and, like glories wearing, 
 Mercy will sit between, 
 Throned in celestial sheen, 
 
 With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering ; 
 And Heaven, as at some festival, 
 Will open wide the gates of her high palace-hall.
 
 98 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But wisest Fate says No, 
 This must not yet be so, 
 
 The Babe yet lies in smiling infancy, 
 That on the bitter cross 
 Must redeem our loss ; 
 
 So both himself and us to glorify : 
 Yet first, to those ychain'd in sleep, 
 The wakeful trump of doom must thunder through the 
 deep; 
 
 With such a horrid clang 
 As on Mount Sinai rang, 
 
 While the red fire and smouldering clouds outbrake : 
 The aged earth aghast 
 With terror of that blast, 
 
 Shall from the surface to the centre shake ; 
 When at the world's last session, 
 The dreadful Judge in middle air shall spread his 
 throne. 
 
 And then at last our bliss 
 Full and perfect is, 
 
 But now begins ; for, from this happy day, 
 The Old Dragon, under ground 
 In straiter limits bound, 
 
 Not half so far casts his usurped sway ;
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 99 
 
 And, wroth to see his kingdom fail, 
 Swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail. 
 
 The oracles are dumb, 
 No voice or hideous hum 
 
 Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving. 
 Apollo from his shrine 
 Can no more divine, 
 
 With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving. 
 No nightly trance, or breathed spell, 
 Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell. 
 
 The lonely mountains o'er, 
 And the resounding shore, 
 
 A voice of weeping heard and loud lament ; 
 From haunted spring and dale, 
 Edged with poplar pale, 
 
 The parting Genius is with sighing sent ; 
 With flower-inwoven tresses torn, 
 The Nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets 
 mourn. 
 
 In consecrated earth, 
 And on the holy hearth 
 
 The Lars, and Lemures, moan with midnight plaint :
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 In urns, and altars round, 
 A drear and dying sound 
 
 Affrights the Flamens at their service quaint ; 
 And the chill marble seems to sweat, 
 While each peculiar power foregoes his wonted seat. 
 
 Peor and Baalim 
 Forsake their temples dim 
 
 With that twice-batter'd god of Palestine ; 
 And mooned Ashtaroth, 
 Heaven's queen and mother both, 
 
 Now sits not girt with tapers' holy shrine ; 
 The Libyc Hammon shrinks his horn, 
 In vain the Tyrian maids their wounded Thammuz 
 mourn. 
 
 And sullen Moloch, fled, 
 Hath left in shadows dread 
 
 His burning idol all of blackest hue ; 
 In vain with cymbals' ring 
 They call the grisly king, 
 
 In dismal dance about the furnace blue ; 
 The brutish gods of Nile as fast, 
 Isis, and Orus, and the dog Anubis, haste.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 101 
 
 Nor is Osiris seen 
 
 In Memphian grove or green, 
 
 Trampling the unshower'd grass with lowings loud 
 Nor can he be at rest 
 Within his sacred chest ; 
 
 Nought but profoundest hell can be his shroud ; 
 In vain with timbrell'd anthems dark 
 The sable-stoled sorcerers bear his worshipt ark. 
 
 He feels from Judah's land 
 The dreaded Infant's hand, 
 
 The rays of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyn ; 
 Nor all the gods beside 
 Longer dare abide, 
 
 Nor Typhon huge ending in snaky twine : 
 Our Babe, to show his Godhead true, 
 Can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew. 
 
 So, when the sun in bed, 
 Curtain'd with cloudy red, 
 
 Pillows his chin upon an orient wave, 
 The flocking shadows pale 
 Troop to the infernal jail, 
 
 Each fetter'd ghost slips to his several grave ;
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And the yellow-skirted fays 
 
 Fly after the night-steeds, leaving their moon-loved 
 maze. 
 
 But see, the Virgin blest 
 Hath laid her Babe to rest ; 
 
 Time is our tedious song should here have ending 
 Heaven's youngest-teemed star 
 Hath fix'd her polish'd car, 
 
 Her sleeping Lord, with handmaid-lamp attending ; 
 And all about the courtly stable 
 Bright-harness'd l angels sit in order serviceable. 
 
 1 In bright armour.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 103 
 
 By Giles Fletcher. 
 
 can forget never to be forgot. 
 
 TIT" HO can forget never to be forgot 
 
 The time, that all the world in slumber lies, 
 
 When, like the stars, the singing angels shot 
 
 To earth, and heaven awaked all his eyes, 
 
 To see another sun at midnight rise 
 
 On earth ? Was never sight of pareil 1 fame 
 For God before, man like himself did frame, 
 
 But God himself now like a mortal man became. 
 
 A Child he was, and had not learnt to speak, 
 That with his word the world before did make ; 
 His mother's arms him bore, he was so weak, 
 That with one hand the vaults of heaven could shake ; 
 See how small room my infant Lord doth take 
 
 Whom all the world is not enough to hold ! 
 
 Who of his years, or of his age hath told ? 
 Never such age so young, never a child so old. 
 
 1 Equal.
 
 JJSPHH^^ 
 
 104 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And yet but newly he was infanted, 
 
 And yet already he was sought to die ; 
 
 Yet scarcely born, already banished ; 
 
 Not able yet to go, and forced to fly : 
 
 But scarcely fled away, when by and by, 
 
 The tyran's l sword with blood is all denied, 
 And Rachel, for her sons, with fury wild, 
 
 Cries, "O thou cruel king, and O my sweetest 
 Child!" 
 
 Egypt his nurse became, where Nilus springs, 
 Who, straight to entertain the rising sun, 
 The hasty harvest in his bosom brings ; 
 But now for drought the fields were all undone, 
 And now with waters all is overrun : 
 
 So fast the Cynthian mountains pour'd their 
 
 snow, 
 When once they felt the sun so near them 
 
 glow, 
 That Nilus Egypt lost, and to a sea did grow. 
 
 The angels carolled loud their song of peace ; 
 
 The cursed oracles were strucken dumb ; 
 
 To see their Shepherd, the poor shepherds press ; 
 
 1 Tyran is the old form of Tyrant.
 
 To see their King, the kingly sophies l come ; 
 
 And them to guide unto his Master's home, 
 A star comes dancing up the Orient, 
 That springs for joy over the strawy tent, 
 
 Where gold, to make their prince a crown, they all 
 present. 
 
 1 Wise men.
 
 io6 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Henry Vauyhan's Silex 
 Scintillans. 
 
 Sbepberfcs. 
 
 O WEET, harmless livers ! on whose holy leisure 
 
 Waits innocence and pleasure ; 
 Whose leaders to those pastures and clear springs 
 
 Were patriarchs, saints and kings ; 
 How happened it that in the dead of night 
 
 You only saw true light, 
 While Palestine was fast asleep and lay 
 
 Without one thought of day ? 
 Was it because those first and blessed swains 
 
 Were pilgrims on those plains 
 When they received the promise, for which now 
 
 'Twas there first shown to you ? 
 'Tis true he loves that dust whereon they go 
 
 That serve him here below, 
 And therefore might for memory of those 
 
 His love there first disclose ; 
 But wretched Salem, once his love, must now 
 
 No voice nor vision know ;
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 107 
 
 Her stately piles with all their height and pride 
 
 Now languished and died, 
 And Bethlem's humble cots above them stept 
 
 While all her seers slept ; 
 Her cedar fir, hewed stones, and gold were all 
 
 Polluted through their fall ; 
 And those once sacred mansions were now 
 
 Mere emptiness and show. 
 This made the angel call at reeds and thatch, 
 
 Yet where the shepherds watch, 
 And God's own lodging, though he could not lack, 
 
 To be a common rack. 
 No costly pride, no soft-clothed luxury 
 
 In those thin cells could lie ; 
 Each stirring wind and storm blew through their cots, 
 
 Which never harboured plots ; 
 Only content and love and humble joys 
 
 Lived there without all noise ; 
 Perhaps some harmless cares for the next day 
 
 Did in their bosoms play, 
 As where to lead their sheep, what silent nook, 
 
 What springs or shades to look ; 
 But that was all ; and now with gladsome care 
 
 They for the town prepare ; 
 They leave their flock, and in a busy talk 
 
 All towards Bethlem walk,
 
 io8 
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 To seek their soul's great Shepherd who was come 
 
 To bring all stragglers home ; 
 Where now they find him out, and, taught before, 
 
 That Lamb of God adore, 
 
 That Lamb, whose days great kings and prophets 
 wished 
 
 And longed to see, but missed. 
 The first light they beheld was bright and gay, 
 
 And turned their night to day ; 
 But to this later light they saw in him 
 
 Their day was dark and dim.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 log 
 
 From Henry Vaugliaris Silex 
 Scintillans. 
 
 Cbrist's 
 
 A WAKE, glad heart ! get up and sing ! 
 It is the Birthday of thy King. 
 Awake ! awake ! 
 The sun doth shake 
 Light from his locks, and, all the way 
 Breathing perfumes, doth spice the day. 
 
 2. 
 
 Awake ! awake ! hark how th' wood rings, 
 Winds whisper, and the busy springs 
 
 A concert make ! 
 
 Awake ! awake ! 
 
 Man is their high-priest, and should rise 
 To offer up the sacrifice. 
 
 ,.-.... .,-,.,.-.-
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 I would I were some bird, or star, 
 Fluttering in woods, or lifted far 
 Above this inn, 
 And road of sin ! 
 
 Then either star or bird should be 
 Shining or singing still to thee. 
 
 I would I had in my best part 
 
 Fit rooms for thee ! or that my heart 
 
 Were so clean as 
 
 Thy manger was ! 
 But I am all filth, and obscene ; 
 Yet, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean. 
 
 Sweet Jesu ! will then. Let no more 
 This leper haunt and soil thy door ! 
 
 Cure him, ease him, 
 
 O release him ! 
 
 And let once more, by mystic birth, 
 The Lord of life be born in earth.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Robert Southwell. 
 
 IRew jprfnce, Bew pomp, 
 
 "D EHOLD a silly tender Babe, 
 
 In freezing winter night, 
 In homely manger trembling lies ; 
 Alas ! a piteous sight. 
 
 The inns are full, no man will yield 
 
 This little pilgrim bed ; 
 But forced he is with silly beasts 
 
 In crib to shroud his head. 
 
 Despise him not for lying there, 
 
 First what he is inquire ; 
 An orient pearl is often found 
 
 In depth of dirty mire. 
 
 Weigh not his crib, his wooden dish, 
 Nor beast that by him feed ; 
 
 Weigh not his mother's poor attire, 
 Nor Joseph's simple weed. 1
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 This stable is a prince's court, 
 
 This crib his chair of state ; 
 The beasts are parcel of his pomp, 
 
 The wooden dish his plate. 
 
 The persons in that poor attire 
 
 His royal liveries wear ; 
 The Prince himself is come from heaven, 
 
 This pomp is praised there. 
 
 With joy approach, O Christian wight ! 
 
 Do homage to thy King ; 
 And highly praise this humble pomp 
 
 Which he from heaven doth bring.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From George Herbert's Temple. 
 
 Cbristmas. 
 
 A LL after pleasures as I rid one day, 
 
 My horse and I both tired, body and mind, 
 With full cry of affections quite astray, 
 I took up in the next inn I could find. 
 
 There, when I came, whom found I but my dear 
 My dearest Lord ; expecting till the grief 
 Of pleasures brought me to him ; ready there 
 
 To be all passengers' most sweet relief? 
 
 O thou, whose glorious, yet contracted, light, 
 Wrapt in night's mantle, stole into a manger ; 
 Since my dark soul and brutish is thy right, 
 
 To man, of all beasts be not thou a stranger ; 
 
 Furnish and deck my soul, that thou may'st have 
 A better lodging than a rack or grave.
 
 H4 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The shepherds sing ; and shall I silent be ? 
 
 My God, no hymn for thee ? 
 My soul's a shepherd too ; a flock it feeds 
 
 Of thoughts and words and deeds. 
 The pasture is thy word, the streams thy grace, 
 
 Enriching every place. 
 
 Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers 
 
 Outsing the daylight hours. 
 Then we will chide the sun for letting night 
 
 Take up his place and right : 
 We sing one common Lord ; wherefore he should 
 
 Himself the candle hold. 
 
 I will go searching till I find a sun 
 
 Shall stay till we have done ; 
 A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly 
 
 As frost-nipt suns look sadly. 
 Then we will sing and shine all our own day, 
 
 And one another pay. 
 
 His beams shall cheer my breast ; and both so twine, 
 Till ev'n his beams sing and my music shine.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Bishop Hall. 
 
 Cbrfstmas 
 
 T MMORTAL Babe, who this dear day 
 
 Didst change thine heaven for our clay, 
 And didst with flesh thy godhead veil, 
 Eternal Son of God, all hail ! 
 
 Shine, happy star ; ye angels, sing 
 
 Glory on high to heaven's King : 
 
 Run, shepherds, leave your nightly watch, 
 
 See heaven come down to Bethlehem's cratch. 
 
 Worship, ye sages of the east, 
 
 The King of gods in meanness dressed. 
 
 O blessed maid, smile and adore 
 
 The God thy womb and arms have bore. 
 
 Star, angels, shepherds, and wise sages, 
 Thou virgin glory of all ages, 
 Restored frame of heaven and earth, 
 Joy in your dear Redeemer's birth ! 
 
 AMttMBBMH4MMMMMBAftMAn^^"::^^^fii
 
 116 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Edmund Bolton. From England's 
 Helicon, 1600. 
 
 Ube Sbepber&'s Song, 
 
 A CAROL OR HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS. 
 
 O WEET music, sweeter far 
 Than any song is sweet : 
 Sweet music, heavenly rare, 
 
 Mine ears, O peers, doth greet. 
 You gentle flocks, whose fleeces, pearled with dew, 
 
 Resemble heaven, whom golden drops make bright, 
 Listen, O listen, now, O not to you 
 Our pipes make sport to shorten weary night : 
 But voices most divine 
 
 Make blissful harmony : 
 Voices that seem to shine, 
 
 For what else clears the sky ? 
 Tunes can we hear, but not the singers see, 
 The tunes divine, and so the singers be. 
 
 Lo, how the firmament 
 
 Within an azure fold 
 The flock of stars hath pent, 
 
 That we might them behold
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 117 
 
 Yet from their beams proceedeth not this light, 
 
 Nor can their christals such reflection give. 
 What then doth make the element so bright ? 
 The heavens are come down upon earth to live. 
 But hearken to the song, 
 
 Glory to glory's king, 
 And peace all men among, 
 These quiristers do sing. 
 Angels they are, as also (Shepherds) he 
 Whom in our fear we do admire to see. 
 
 Let not amazement blind 
 
 Your souls, said he, annoy : 
 To you and all mankind 
 
 My message bringeth joy. 
 For lo, the world's great Shepherd now is born, 
 
 A blessed babe, an infant full of power : 
 After long night uprisen is the morn, 
 Renowning Bethl'em in the Saviour. 
 Sprung is the perfect day, 
 By prophets seen afar : 
 Sprung is the mirthful May, 
 
 Which winter cannot mar. 
 In David's city doth this sun appear 
 Clouded in flesh, yet, shepherds, sit we here ?
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 :- 
 
 By Ben Jonson. I 
 
 H IfoEtnn on tbe mativfts of m Saviour* 
 
 T SING the birth was born to-night, 
 The author both of life and light ; 
 
 The angels so did sound it. 
 And like the ravished shepherds said, 
 Who saw the light, and were afraid, 
 
 Yet searched, and true they found it. 
 
 The Son of God, th' eternal king, 
 That did us all salvation bring, 
 
 And freed the soul from danger ; 
 He whom the whole world could not take, 
 The Word, which heaven and earth did make, 
 
 Was now laid in a manger. 
 
 The Father's wisdom willed it so, 
 The Son's obedience knew no No, 
 
 Both wills were in one stature ; 
 And as that wisdom had decreed, 
 The Word was now made flesh indeed, 
 
 And took on him our nature.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 119 
 
 What comfort by him do we win, 
 Who made himself the price of sin, 
 
 To make us heirs of glory ! 
 To see this babe all innocence ; 
 A martyr born in our defence : 
 
 Can man forget the story ?
 
 120 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 from Richard Crashaw's Steps to the 
 Temple. The text of ed. 1648 is fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 H 
 
 of tbe 
 
 SUNG AS BY THE SHEPHERDS. 
 
 Chorus. /^OME we shepherds whose blest sight 
 
 Hath met Love's noon in Nature's night; 
 Come, lift we up our loftier song, 
 And wake the sun that lies too long. 
 
 To all our world of well-stol'n joy, 
 
 He slept and dreamt of no such thing, 
 
 While we found out heaven's fairer eye 
 And kist the cradle of our King ; 
 
 Tell him he rises now too late 
 
 To show us ought worth looking at 
 
 Tell him we now can show him more 
 Than e'er he showed to mortal sight, 
 
 Than he himself e'er saw before, 
 
 Which to be seen needs not his light. 
 
 Tell him, Tityrus, where th' hast been, 
 
 Tell him, Thyrsis, what th' hast seen.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Tit. Gloomy night embraced the place 
 
 Where the noble Infant lay, 
 The Babe looked up and showed his face ; 
 
 In spite of darkness it was day. 
 It was thy day, Sweet, and did rise 
 Not from the East but from thine eyes. 
 Chorus. It was thy day, Sweet, &c. 
 
 Thyrs. Winter chid aloud and sent 
 
 The angry North to wage his wars ; 
 The North forgot his fierce intent, 
 
 And left perfumes instead of scars ; 
 By those sweet eyes' persuasive powers, 
 Where he meant frost he scattered flowers. 
 Chorus. By those sweet eyes, &c. 
 
 Both. We saw thee in thy balmy nest, 
 
 Bright dawn of our eternal day ! 
 We saw thine eyes break from their East 
 And chase the trembling shades away ; 
 We saw thee, and we blest the sight, 
 We saw thee by thine own sweet light. 
 
 Tit. Poor world (said I), what wilt thou do 
 
 To entertain this starry stranger ? 
 Is this the best thou canst bestow, 
 A cold and not too cleanly manger ?
 
 Contend, ye powers of heaven and earth, 
 To fit a bed for this huge birth. 
 
 Chorus. Contend, ye powers, &c. 
 
 Thyrs. Proud world (said I), cease your contest, 
 
 And let the mighty Babe alone, 
 The Phoenix builds the Phoenix nest, 
 
 Love's architecture is all one. 
 The Babe whose birth embraves this morn 
 Made his own bed ere he was born. 
 
 Chorus. The Babe whose birth, &c. 
 
 lit. I saw the curl'd drops, soft and slow, 
 
 Come hovering o'er the place's head, 
 Offering their whitest sheets of snow 
 To furnish the fair Infant's bed : 
 Forbear (said I), be not too bold ; 
 Your fleece is white, but 'tis too cold. 
 Chorus. Forbear (said I), &c. 
 
 Thyrs. I saw the obsequious seraphins 
 
 Their rosy fleece of fire bestow ; 
 For well they now can spare their wings, 
 
 Since heaven itself lies here below : 
 Well done (said I), but are you sure 
 Your down so warm will pass for pure. 
 Chorus. Well done (said I), &c.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Tit. No, no, your king's not yet to seek 
 Where to repose his royal head, 
 See, see, how soon his new-bloom'd cheek 
 
 Twixt 's mother's breasts is gone to bed : 
 Sweet choice (said I), no way but so, 
 Not to lie cold, yet sleep in snow. 
 
 Chorus. Sweet choice (said I), &c. 
 
 Both. We saw thee in thy balmy nest, 
 
 Bright dawn of our eternal day ! 
 We saw thine eyes break from their East 
 And chase the trembling shades away ; 
 We saw thee, and we blest the sight, 
 We saw thee by thine own sweet light. 
 Chorus. We saw thee, &c. 
 
 Full Chorus. Welcome all wonder in one sight, 
 
 Eternity shut in a span, 
 Summer in winter, day in night, 
 
 Heaven in earth and God in man ! 
 Great little One ! whose all-embracing birth 
 Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth. 
 
 Welcome, though not to gold nor silk, 
 To more than Caesar's birthright is, 
 
 Two Sister Seas of Virgin milk 
 With many a rarely-tempered kiss,
 
 124 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 That breathes at once both Maid and Mother, 
 Warms in the one and cools in the other. 
 
 She sings thy tears asleep, and dips 
 Her kisses in thy weeping eye ; 
 
 She spreads the red leaves of thy lips 
 That in their buds yet blushing lie : 
 
 She 'gainst those mother-diamonds tries 
 
 The points of her young eagle's eyes. 
 
 Welcome, though not to those gay flies 
 Gilded i' the beams of earthly kings, 
 
 Slippery souls in smiling eyes, 
 
 But to poor shepherds' home-spun things ; 
 
 Whose wealth's their flock, whose wit to be 
 
 Well read in their simplicity. 
 
 Yet when young April's husband-showers 
 Shall bless the fruitful Maia's bed, 
 
 We'll bring the first-born of her flowers 
 To kiss thy feet and crown thy head : 
 
 To thee, dread Lamb, whose love must keep 
 
 The shepherds more than they their sheep.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 To thee, meek Majesty ! soft King 
 Of simple graces and sweet loves, 
 
 Each of us his lamb will bring, 
 Each his pair of silver doves, 
 
 Till burnt at last in fire of thy fair eyes 
 
 Ourselves become our own best sacrifice. 
 
 125
 
 126 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Richard Crashaw'g Steps to the 
 Temple. Only the opening linet 
 are here given. 
 
 H 1bsmn for tbe Epipbans. 
 
 SUNG AS BY THE THREE KINGS. 
 
 1 King. T) RIGHT Babe ! whose awful beauties make 
 
 The morn incur a sweet mistake ; 
 
 2 King. For whom the officious heavens devise 
 
 To disinherit the sun's rise ; 
 
 3 King. Delicately to displace 
 
 The day, and plant it fairer in thy face ; 
 
 1 King. O thou born King of loves ! 
 
 2 King. Of lights ! 
 
 3 King. Of joys ! 
 
 Chorus. Look up, sweet Babe, look up and see ! 
 For love of thee, 
 Thus far from home 
 The East is come 
 To seek herself in thy sweet eyes. 
 
 i King. We who strangely went astray, 
 Lost in a bright 
 Meridian night ;
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 127 
 
 2 King. A darkness made of too much day ; 
 
 3 King. Beckoned from far 
 
 By thy fair star, 
 
 Lo, at last have found our way. 
 Chorus. To thee, thou Day of Night ! thou East of 
 
 West! 
 
 Lo, we at last have found the way 
 To thee, the world's great universal East, 
 The general and indifferent day. 
 
 1 King. All-circling point ! all-centring sphere ! 
 
 The world's one round eternal year : 
 
 2 King. Whose full and all-unwrinkled face 
 
 Nor sinks nor swells with time or place ; 
 
 3 King. But every where and every while 
 
 Is one consistent solid smile. 
 
 1 King. Not vexed and tost, 
 
 2 King. 'Twixt spring and frost ; 
 
 3 King. Nor by alternate shreds of light, 
 
 Sordidly shifting hands with shades and night. 
 Chorus. O little All, in Thy embrace, 
 
 The world lies warm and likes his place ; 
 
 Nor does his full globe fail to be 
 
 Kissed on both his cheeks by Thee ; 
 
 Time is too narrow for Thy year, 
 
 Nor makes the whole world Thy half- sphere. 

 
 By William Drummond 
 of Hawthornden. 
 
 ~D UN, shepherds, run where Bethlehem blest 
 appears. 
 
 We bring the best of news ; be not dismayed ; 
 A Saviour there is born more old than years, 
 
 Amidst heaven's rolling height this earth who stayed. 
 
 In a poor cottage inned, a virgin maid 
 A weakling did him bear, who all upbears ; 
 
 There is he poorly swaddled, in manger laid, 
 To whom too narrow swaddlings are our spheres : 
 Run, shepherds, run and solemnise his birth. 
 
 This is that night no, day, grown great with bliss, 
 
 In which the power of Satan broken is : 
 In Heaven be glory, peace unto the earth ! 
 
 Thus singing, through the air the angels swam, 
 
 And cope of stars re-echoed the same.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 120 
 
 By William Drummond 
 of Hawthornden. 
 
 S~\ THAN the fairest day, thrice fairer night ! 
 
 Night to blest days in which a sun doth rise 
 
 Of which that golden eye which clears the skies 
 Is but a sparkling ray, a shadow-light ! 
 And blessed ye, in silly pastors' sight, 
 
 Mild creatures, in whose warm crib now lies 
 That heaven-sent youngling, holy-maid-born wight, 
 
 Midst, end, beginning of our prophecies ! 
 Blest cottage that hath flowers in winter spread, 
 
 Though withered blessed grass that hath the grace 
 
 To deck and be a carpet to that place ! 
 Thus sang, unto the sounds of oaten reed, 
 
 Before the Babe, the shepherds bowed on knees ; 
 
 And springs ran nectar, honey dropped from trees. 
 
 '
 
 1 3 o 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Sir John Beaumont. 
 
 f tbe 
 
 eastern star, that art ordained to run 
 Before the sages, to the rising sun, 
 Here cease thy course, and wonder that the cloud 
 Of this poor stable can thy Maker shroud : 
 Ye heavenly bodies glory to be bright, 
 And are esteemed as ye are rich in light ; 
 But here on earth is taught a different way, 
 Since under this low roof the Highest lay. 
 Jerusalem erects her stately towers, 
 Displays her windows and adorns her bowers ; 
 Yet there thou must not cast a trembling spark, 
 Let Herod's palace still continue dark ; 
 Each school and synagogue thy force repels, 
 There Pride enthroned in misty error dwells ; 
 The temple, where the priests maintain their quire, 
 Shall taste no beam of thy celestial fire, 
 While this weak cottage all thy splendour takes : 
 A joyful gate of every chink it makes.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 
 Here shines no golden roof, no ivory stair, 
 
 No king exalted in a stately chair, 
 
 Girt with attendants, or by heralds styled, 
 
 But straw and hay enwrap a speechless child. 
 
 Yet Sabae's lords before this babe unfold 
 
 Their treasures, offering incense, myrrh and gold. 
 
 The crib becomes an altar : therefore dies 
 
 No ox nor sheep ; for in their fodder lies 
 
 The Prince of Peace, who, thankful for his bed, 
 
 Destroys those rites in which their blood was shed : 
 
 The quintessence of earth he takes, and fees, 
 
 And precious gums distilled from weeping trees ; 
 
 Rich metals and sweet odours now declare 
 
 The glorious blessings which his laws prepare, 
 
 To clear us from the base and loathsome flood 
 
 Of sense and make us fit for angels' food, 
 
 Who lift to God for us the holy smoke 
 
 Of fervent prayers with which we him invoke, 
 
 And try our actions in the searching fire 
 
 By which the seraphims our lips inspire : 
 
 No muddy dross pure minerals shall infect, 
 
 We shall exhale our vapours up direct : 
 
 No storm shall cross, nor glittering lights deface 
 
 Perpetual sighs which seek a happy place. 

 
 ii&is^^ 
 
 132 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Jertmy Taylors Festival 
 Hymns. 
 
 for 
 
 BEING A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THREE SHEPHERDS. 
 
 i. A17HERE is this blessed Babe 
 That hath made 
 
 All the world so full of joy 
 
 And expectation ; 
 That glorious boy 
 That crowns each nation 
 
 With a triumphant wreath of blessedness ? 
 
 2. Where should he be but in the throng, 
 And among 
 
 His angel ministers, that sing 
 
 And take wing 
 
 Just as may echo to his voice, 
 And rejoice, 
 
 When wing and tongue and all.' 
 
 May so procure their happiness ?
 
 :-;.-...,.,,...-..., 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 133 
 
 3. But he hath other waiters now : 
 
 A poor cow, 
 An ox and mule, stand and behold, 
 
 And wonder 
 That a stable should enfold 
 
 Him that can thunder. 
 
 Chorus. O what a gracious God have we, 
 
 How good ! how great ! even as our misery. 
 
 SfrifcgiSte^
 
 134 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Jeremy Taylor's Festival 
 Hymns. 
 
 H Ifopmn for Cbristmas 
 
 A WAKE, my soul, and come away : 
 Put on thy best array ; 
 Lest if thou longer stay 
 Thou lose some minutes of so blest a day. 
 
 Go run 
 
 And bid good-morrow to the sun ; 
 Welcome his safe return 
 
 To Capricorn, 
 And that great morn 
 Wherein a God was born, 
 Whose story none can tell 
 But he whose every word's a miracle. 
 
 To-day Almightiness grew weak ; 
 
 The Word itself was mute and could not speak. 
 
 That Jacob's star which made the sun 
 To dazzle if he durst look on, 
 Now mantled o'er in Bethlehem's night, 
 Borrowed a star to show him light. 

 
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 135 
 
 He that begirt each zone, 
 
 To whom both poles are one, 
 
 Who grasped the Zodiac in his hand 
 
 And made it move or stand, 
 
 Is now by nature man, 
 
 By stature but a span ; 
 
 Eternity is now grown short ; 
 
 A King is born without a court ; 
 
 The water thirsts ; the fountain's dry ; 
 
 And life, being born, made apt to die. 
 
 Chorus. Then let our praises emulate and vie 
 
 With his humility ! 
 Since he's exiled from skies 
 
 That we might rise, 
 From low estate of men 
 Let's sing him up again ! 
 Each man wind up his heart 
 To bear a part 
 
 In that angelic choir and show 
 His glory high as he was low. 
 Let's sing towards men goodwill and charity, 
 Peace upon earth, glory to God on high ! 
 Hallelujah ! Hallelujah ! 
 
 -- -,
 
 By Sir Edward, Sherburne. 
 
 Hnt> 
 
 lait> Ifofm fn a 
 
 IT APPY crib, that wert alone 
 
 To my God, bed, cradle, throne ! 
 Whilst thy glorious vileness I 
 View with divine fancy's eye, 
 Sordid filth seems all the cost, 
 State, and splendour, crowns do boast. 
 
 See heaven's sacred majesty 
 Humbled beneath poverty ; 
 Swaddled up in homely rags 
 On a bed of straw and flags ! 
 He whose hands the heavens displayed, 
 And the world's foundations laid, 
 From the world's almost exiled, 
 Of all ornaments despoiled. 
 Perfumes bathe him not, new-born, 
 Persian mantles not adorn ; 
 Nor do the rich roofs look bright 
 With the jasper's orient light. 
 
 ft^teg-^SEagSfl^^^
 
 Where, O royal Infant, be 
 Th' ensigns of thy majesty ; 
 Thy Sire's equalizing state ; 
 And thy sceptre that rules fate ? 
 Where's thy angel-guarded throne, 
 Whence thy laws thou didst make known 
 Laws which heaven, earth, hell obeyed ? 
 These, ah ! these aside he laid ; 
 Would the emblem be of pride 
 By humility outvied ? 
 
 fc^ajS^ag^JE^-Sr^^
 
 138 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Robert Herrick. 
 
 Hn oe on tbe JSirtb of our Saviour. 
 
 T N numbers, and but these few, 
 
 I sing thy birth, O Jesu ! 
 Thou pretty baby, born here 
 With sup'rabundant scorn here : 
 Who for thy princely port here, 
 
 Hadst for thy place 
 Of birth, a base 
 Out-stable for thy court here. 
 
 Instead of neat enclosures 
 Of interwoven osiers, 
 Instead of fragrant posies 
 Of daffodills and roses, 
 Thy cradle, kingly stranger, 
 As gospel tells, 
 Was nothing else 
 But here a homely manger.
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 139 
 
 But we with silks not crewels, 
 With sundry precious jewels, 
 And lily work will dress thee ; 
 And, as we dispossess thee 
 Of clouts, we'll make a chamber, 
 
 Sweet babe, for thee 
 
 Of ivory, 
 And plaster'd round with amber. 
 
 The Jews they did disdain thee, 
 
 But we will entertain thee 
 
 With glories to await here 
 
 Upon thy princely state here ; 
 
 And, more for love than pity, 
 
 From year to year 
 We'll make thee here 
 
 A free-born of our city.
 
 140 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Francis Kinwelmersh. From the 
 Paradise of Dayntie Denises, 1576. 
 
 tfor Cbristmas 
 
 ~D EJOICE, rejoice, with heart and voice ! 
 In Christe's birth this day rejoice ! 
 
 From Virgin's womb this day did spring 
 
 The precious seed that only saved man ; 
 
 This day let man rejoice and sweetly sing, 
 
 Since on this day salvation first began. 
 
 This day did Christ man's soul from death remove, 
 With glorious saints to dwell in heaven above. 
 
 This day to man came pledge of perfect peace, 
 This day to man came perfect unity, 
 This day man's grief began for to surcease, 
 This day did man receive a remedy 
 
 For each offence and every deadly sin 
 With guilty heart that erst he wandered in. 
 
 ^
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 141 
 
 In Christe's flock let love be surely placed, 
 From Christe's flock let concord hate expel, 
 Of Christe's flock let love be so embraced 
 As we in Christ and Christ in us may dwell ; 
 Christ is the author of all unity, 
 From whence proceeded! all felicity. 
 
 O sing unto this glittering glorious king, 
 
 O praise his name let every living thing, 
 
 Let heart and voice, like bells of silver, ring 
 
 The comfort that this day doth bring. 
 
 Let lute, let shawm, with sound of sweet delight, 
 The joy of Christe's birth this day recite.
 
 - 
 
 142 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By S. T. Coleridge. 
 
 Dirain'0 
 
 T^ORMI, Jesu ! Mater ridet 
 
 Quae tarn dulcem somnum videt, 
 
 Dormi, Jesu ! blandule ! 
 Si non dorm is, Mater plorat 
 Inter fila cantans orat, 
 
 Blande, veni, somnule. 
 
 English. 
 
 Sleep, sweet babe ! my cares beguiling : 
 Mother sits beside thee smiling ; 
 
 Sleep, my darling, tenderly ! 
 If thou sleep not, mother mourneth, 
 Singing as her wheel she turneth : 
 
 Come, soft slumber, balmily ! 
 
 1 Copied from a print of the Virgin in a Roman Catholic 
 village in Germany.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By John Addington Symonds. 
 
 H Cbrtstmas 
 
 C LEEP, baby, sleep ! The Mother sings : 
 
 Heaven's angels kneel and fold their wings : 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! 
 
 With swathes of scented hay thy bed 
 By Mary's hand at eve was spread. 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! 
 
 At midnight came the shepherds, they 
 Whom seraphs wakened by the way. 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! 
 
 And three kings from the East afar 
 Ere dawn came guided by thy star. 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! 
 
 They brought thee gifts of gold and gems, 
 Pure orient pearls, rich diadems. 
 Sleep, baby, sleep !
 
 . 
 
 '- 
 
 144 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But thou who liest slumbering there, 
 Art King of kings, earth, ocean, air. 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! 
 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! The shepherds sing : 
 Through heaven, through earth, hosannas ring. 
 Sleep, baby, sleep ! 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 '45 
 
 From George Wither 's HallelujnK, 
 or Britain's Second Remem- 
 brancer. 
 
 H 
 
 1bmn, 
 
 O WEET baby, sleep ; what ails my dear ? 
 
 What ails my darling thus to cry ? 
 Be still, my child, and lend thine ear 
 To hear me sing thy lullaby. 
 
 My pretty lamb, forbear to iveep ; 
 Be still, my dear ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 Thou blessed soul, what canst thou fear? 
 
 What thing to thee can mischief do ? 
 Thy God is now thy Father dear ; 
 His holy Spouse thy Mother too. 
 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 Whilst thus thy lullaby I sing, 
 
 For thee great blessings ripening be ; 
 
 K 
 
 ' 
 
 frfefrgyj^
 
 146 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Thine eldest brother is a king, 
 
 And hath a kingdom bought for thee. 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 Sweet baby, sleep, and nothing fear, 
 
 For whosoever thee offends, 
 By thy protector threatened are, 
 
 And God and angels are thy friends. 
 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 When God with us was dwelling here, 
 
 In little babes he took delight : 
 Such innocents as thou, my dear, 
 Are ever precious in his sight. 
 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 A little infant once was he, 
 
 And Strength-in-Weakness then was laid 
 Upon his Virgin-Mother's knee, 
 
 That power to thee might be conveyed. 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 In this thy frailty and thy need 
 
 He friends and helpers doth prepare, 
 Which thee shall cherish, clothe, and feed, 
 For of thy weal they tender are. 
 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 The King of kings, when he was born, 
 Had not so much for outward ease ; 
 By him such dressings were not worn, 
 Nor such-like swaddling-clothes as these. 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 Within a manger lodged thy Lord, 
 
 Where oxen lay and asses fed ; 
 Warm rooms we do to thee afford, 
 An easy cradle or a bed. 
 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe; sweet baby, sleep. 
 
 The wants that he did then sustain 
 
 Have purchased wealth, my babe, for thee, 
 And by his torments and his pain 
 Thy rest and ease secured be. 
 
 My baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep.
 
 i 4 8 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Thou hast (yet more), to perfect this, 
 
 A promise and an earnest got 
 Of gaining everlasting bliss, 
 
 Though thou, my babe, perceiv'st it not. 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my babe ; sweet baby, sleep.
 
 CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND 
 CHRISTMAS CHEER. 
 
 _s 
 
 From George Wither'* Juvenilia. 
 
 So, now is come our jopfulst if east* 
 
 O O, now is come our joyfulst feast, 
 
 Let every man be jolly ; 
 Each room with ivy leaves is drest, 
 
 And every post with holly. 
 Though some churls at our mirth repine, 
 Round your foreheads garlands twine ; 
 Drown sorrow in a cup of wine, 
 
 And let us all be merry. 
 
 Now all our neighbours' chimnies smoke, 
 And Christmas logs are burning ; 
 
 Their ovens they with baked meats choke, 
 And all their spits are turning.
 
 150 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Without the door let sorrow lie ; 
 And if for cold it hap to die, 
 We'll bury't in a Christmas pie, 
 And evermore be merry. 
 
 Now every lad is wondrous trim, 
 
 And no man minds his labour ; 
 Our lasses have provided them 
 
 A bag-pipe and a tabor 
 Young men and maids, and girls and boys, 
 Give life to one another's joys ; 
 And you anon shall by their noise 
 
 Perceive that they are merry. 
 
 Rank misers now do sparing shun ; 
 
 Their hall of music soundeth ; 
 And dogs thence with whole shoulders run, 
 
 So all things there aboundeth. 
 The country folks themselves advance 
 For crowdy-mutton's l come out of France : 
 And Jack shall pipe, and Jill shall dance, 
 
 And all the town be merry. 
 
 Ned Squash hath fetched his bands from pawn, 
 
 And all his best apparel ; 
 Brisk Ned hath bought a ruff of lawn 
 
 With droppings of the barrel ; 
 
 1 Fiddlers. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 151 
 
 And those that hardly all the year 
 Had bread to eat or rags to wear 
 Will have both clothes and dainty fare, 
 And all the day be merry. 
 
 Now poor men to the justices 
 With capons make their arrants ; 
 
 And if they hap to fail of these, 
 They plague them with their warrants : 
 
 But now they feed them with good cheer, 
 
 And what they want they take in beer ; 
 
 For Christmas comes but once a year, 
 And then they shall be merry. 
 
 Good farmers in the country nurse 
 The poor that else were undone ; 
 
 Some landlords spend their money worse 
 On lust and pride at London. 
 
 There the roysters they do play, 
 
 Drab and dice their lands away, 
 
 Which may be ours another day ; 
 And therefore let's be merry. 
 
 The client now his suit forbears, 
 
 The prisoner's heart is eased ; 
 The debtor drinks away his cares, 
 
 And for the time is pleased.
 
 
 152 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Though other purses be more fat, 
 Why should \ve pine or grieve at that ? 
 Hang sorrow ! care will kill a cat, 
 And therefore let's be merry. 
 
 Hark ! how the wags abroad do call 
 
 Each other forth to rambling : 
 Anon you'll see them in the hall 
 
 For nuts and apples scrambling. 
 Hark ! how the roofs with laughter sound ! 
 Anon they'll think the house goes round : 
 For they the cellar's depth have found, 
 
 And there they will be merry. 
 
 The wenches with their wassail bowls 
 
 About the streets are singing ; 
 The boys are come to catch the owls, 
 
 The wild mare in is bringing. 
 Our kitchen-boy hath broke his box, 
 And to the dealing of the ox 
 Our honest neighbours come by flocks, 
 
 And here they will be merry. 
 
 Now kings and queens poor sheep-cotes have 
 
 And mate with everybody ; 
 The honest now may play the knave 
 
 And wise men play at noddy.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 153 
 
 Some youths will now a mumming go, 
 Some others play at Rowland-ho, 
 And twenty other gameboys mo, 
 Because they will be merry. 
 
 Then wherefore in these merry days, 
 
 Should we, I pray, be duller ? 
 No, let us sing some roundelays 
 
 To make our mirth the fuller. 
 And whilst thus inspir'd we sing, 
 Let all the streets with echoes ring, 
 Woods and hills and everything 
 
 Bear witness we are merry. 
 
 *i^=^R^v^s=^^
 
 154 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Robert Herrick. 
 
 Ceremonies for Gbristmas. 
 
 , bring with a noise, 
 My merry, merry boys, 
 The Christmas log to the firing ; 
 While my good dame, she 
 Bids ye all be free ; 
 And drink to your heart's desiring 
 
 With the last year's brand 
 
 Light the new block, and 
 For good success in his spending, 
 
 On your psaltries play, 
 
 That sweet luck may 
 Come while the log is a teending. 1 
 
 Drink now the strong beer, 
 Cut the white loaf here, 
 
 The while the meat is a shredding ; 
 For the rare mince-pie 
 And the plums stand by 
 
 To fill the paste that's a kneading. 
 
 1 Burning.
 
 CHRISTMAS EVE: ANOTHER CEREMONY. 
 
 COME, guard this night the Christmas-pie, 
 That the thief, though ne'er so sly, 
 With his flesh hooks don't come nigh 
 To catch it, 
 
 From him, who all alone sits there, 
 Having his eyes still in his ear, 
 And a deal of nightly fear 
 
 To watch it. 
 
 ANOTHER TO THE MAIDS. 
 
 WASH your hands, or else the fire 
 Will not teend to your desire ; 
 Unwashed hands, ye maidens know, 
 Dead the fire, though ye blow.
 
 156 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 ANOTHER. 
 
 WASSAIL the trees that they may bear 
 You many a plum, and many a pear : 
 For more or less fruits they will bring, 
 As you do give them wassailing.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 157 
 
 There is a black letter copy of this song 
 in the Pepysian Collection. The 
 first part is found in Durfey's Pills 
 to Purge Melancholy. I hare fol- 
 lowed the text giuen in Rimbault'a 
 Little Book of Son'js and Ballads. 
 
 tlbe praise of Cbristmas, 
 
 FIRST PART. 
 
 A LL hail to the days that merit more praise 
 
 Than all the rest of the year, 
 And welcome the nights that double delights 
 
 As well for the poor as the peer ! 
 Good fortune attend each merry man's friend, 
 
 That doth but the best that he may ; 
 Forgetting old wrongs, with carols and songs, 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 
 Let Misery pack, with a whip at his back, 
 
 To the deep Tantalian flood ; 
 In Lethe profound let envy be drown'd, 
 
 That pines at another man's good ; 
 Let Sorrow's expense be banded from hence, 
 
 All payments have greater delay, 
 We'll spend the long nights in cheerful delights 
 
 To drive the cold winter away.
 
 
 I 5 8 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 'Tis ill for a mind to anger inclined 
 
 To think of small injuries now ; 
 If wrath be to seek do not lend her thy cheek, 
 
 Nor let her inhabit thy brow. 
 Cross out of thy books malevolent looks, 
 
 Both beauty and youth's decay, 
 And wholly consort with mirth and with sport 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 The court in all state now opens her gate 
 
 And gives a free welcome to most ; 
 The city likewise, tho' somewhat precise, 
 
 Doth willingly part with her roast : 
 But yet by report from city and court 
 
 The country will e'er gain the day ; 
 More liquor is spent and with better content 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 Our good gentry there for costs do not spare, 
 
 The yeomanry fast not till Lent ; 
 The farmers and such think nothing too much, 
 
 If they keep but to pay for their rent. 
 The poorest of all now do merrily call, 
 
 When at a fit place they can stay, 
 For a song or a tale or a cup of good ale 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 ^^^^^^^Tqe^
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 159 
 
 
 Thus none will allow of solitude now 
 
 But merrily greets the time, 
 To make it appear of all the whole year 
 
 That this is accounted the prime : 
 December is seen apparel'd in green, 
 
 And January fresh as May 
 Comes dancing along with a cup and a song 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 THE SECOND PART. 
 
 This time of the year is spent in good cheer, 
 
 And neighbours together do meet 
 To sit by the fire, with friendly desire, 
 
 Each other in love to greet ; 
 Old grudges forgot are put in the pot, 
 
 All sorrows aside they lay ; 
 The old and the young doth carol this song 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 Sisley and Nanny, more jocund than any, 
 As blithe as the month of June, 
 
 Do carol and sing like birds of the spring, 
 No nightingale sweeter in tune ; 
 
 To bring in content, when summer is spent, 
 In pleasant delight and play,
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 
 
 With mirth and good cheer to end the whole year, 
 And drive the cold winter away. 
 
 The shepherd, the swain do highly disdain 
 
 To waste out their time in care, 
 And dim of the Clough hath plenty enough 
 
 If he but a penny can spare 
 To spend at the night, in joy and delight, 
 
 Now after his labour all day ; 
 For better than lands is the help of his hands 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 To mask and to mum kind neighbours will come 
 
 With wassails of nut-brown ale, 
 To drink and carouse to all in the house 
 
 As merry as bucks in the dale ; 
 Where cake, bread, and cheese is brought for your fees 
 
 To make you the longer stay ; 
 At the fire to warm 'twill do you no harm, 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 When Christmas's tide comes in like a bride 
 
 With holly and ivy clad, 
 Twelve days in the year much mirth and good cheer 
 
 In every household is had ;
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 161 
 
 The country guise is then to devise 
 
 Some gambols of Christmas play, 
 Whereat the young men do best that they can 
 
 To drive the cold winter away. 
 
 When white-bearded frost hath threatened his worst, 
 
 And fallen from branch and briar, 
 Then time away calls from husbandry halls 
 
 And from the good countryman's fire, 
 Together to go, to plough and to sow, 
 
 To get us both food and array, 
 And thus with content the time we have spent 
 
 To drive the cold winter away.
 
 162 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Evans' Old Ballads, ed. 1810, 
 /. 146-150. 
 
 It) Cbristmas IReturnefc, 
 
 OR, HOSPITALITY REVIVED; 
 
 Being a Looking-glass for rich Misers, wherein they may see (if they 
 be not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious 
 housekeeping, and likewise an encouragement to those noble- 
 minded gentry, who lay out a great part of their estates in hospi- 
 tality, relieving such persons as have need thereof ; 
 
 " Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find, 
 Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind. " 
 
 To the tune of " The Delights of the Bottle." 
 
 A LL you that to feasting and mirth are inclined, 
 C ome here is good news for to pleasure your 
 
 mind, 
 
 Old Christmas is come for to keep open house, 
 He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse : 
 Then come, boys, and welcome for diet the chief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 163 
 
 A long time together he hath been forgot, 
 They scarce could afford to hang on the pot ; 
 Such miserly sneaking in England hath been, 
 As by our forefathers ne'er us'd to be seen ; 
 But now he's returned you shall have in brief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 The times were ne'er good since Old Christmas was 
 
 fled, 
 
 And all hospitality hath been so dead ; 
 No mirth at our festivals late did appear, 
 They scarcely would part with a cup of March beer ; 
 But now you shall have for the ease of your grief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 The butler and baker, they now may be glad, 
 
 The times they are mended, though they have been 
 
 bad; 
 
 The brewer, he likewise may be of good cheer, 
 He shall have good trading for ale and strong beer ; 
 All trades shall be jolly, and have for relief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 ^te?***^^^
 
 164 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The holly and ivy about the walls wind, 
 
 And show that we ought to our neighbours be 
 
 kind, 
 
 Inviting each other for pastime and sport, 
 And where we best fare, there we most do resort ; 
 We fail not of victuals, and that of the chief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 The cooks shall be busied by day and by night, 
 In roasting and boiling, for taste and delight ; 
 Their senses in liquor that's nappy they'll steep, 
 Though they be afforded to have little sleep ; 
 They still are employed for to dress us in brief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 Although the cold weather doth hunger provoke, 
 'Tis a comfort to see how the chimneys do smoke ; 
 Provision is making for beer, ale, and wine, 
 For all that are willing or ready to dine : 
 Then haste to the kitchen for diet the chief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef.
 
 &jmifm^^ssm^f^JS^ 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 165 
 
 All travellers, as they do pass on their way, 
 At gentlemen's halls are invited to stay, 
 Themselves to refresh, and their horses to rest, 
 Since that he must be Old Christmas's guest ; 
 Nay, the poor shall not want, but have for relief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 Now Mock-beggar-hall it no more shall stand 
 
 empty, 
 
 But all shall be furnisht with freedom and plenty ; 
 The hoarding old misers, who us'd to preserve 
 The gold in their coffers, and see the poor starve, 
 Must now spread their tables, and give them in 
 
 brief, 
 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 The court, and the city, and country are glad, 
 Old Christmas is come to cheer up the sad; 
 Broad pieces and guineas about now shall fly, 
 And hundreds be losers by cogging a die, 
 Whilst others are feasting with diet the chief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 ;$j^S^^^^^^^^^^^SJ^^S^i
 
 166 
 
 >fe?=a==^Sj 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Those that have no coin at the cards for to play, 
 May sit by the fire, and pass time away, 
 And drink of their moisture contented and free, 
 " My honest good fellow, come, here is to thee ! " 
 And when they are hungry, fall to their relief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 Young gallants and ladies shall foot it along, 
 Each room in the house to the music shall throng, 
 Whilst jolly carouses about they shall pass, 
 And each country swain trip about with his lass ; 
 Meantime goes the caterer to fetch in the chief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 The cooks and the scullion, who toil in their 
 
 frocks, 
 
 Their hopes do depend upon their Christmas box ; 
 There is very few that do live on the earth 
 But enjoy at this time either profit or mirth ; 
 Yea those that are charged to find all relief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 ^
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 167 
 
 Then well may we welcome Old Christmas to town, 
 Who brings us good cheer, and good liquor so brown ; 
 To pass the cold winter away with delight, 
 We feast it all day, and we frolick all night ; 
 Both hunger and cold we keep out with relief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef. 
 
 Then let all curmudgeons who dote on their wealth, 
 And value their treasure much more than their health, 
 Go hang themselves up, if they will be so kind ; 
 Old Christmas with them but small welcome shall 
 
 find ; 
 
 They will not afford to themselves without grief, 
 Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast- 
 beef.
 
 1 68 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Round about our Coal Fire, 1740. 
 
 pou merrp, mert Souls, 
 
 YOU merry, merry Souls, 
 
 Christmas is a-coming, 
 We shall have flowing bowls, 
 Dancing, piping, drumming. 
 
 Delicate minced pies 
 
 To feast every virgin, 
 Capon and goose likewise, 
 
 Brawn and a dish of sturgeon. 
 
 Then, for your Christmas box, 
 Sweet plum cakes and money, 
 
 Delicate holland smocks, 
 Kisses sweet as honey. 
 
 Hey for the Christmas ball, 
 
 Where we shall be jolly, 
 Jigging short and tall, 
 
 Kate, Dick, Ralph, and Molly. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Then to the Hop we'll go 
 Where we'll jig and caper ; 
 
 Maidens all-a-row ; 
 
 Will shall pay the scraper. 
 
 Hodge shall dance with Prue, 
 Keeping time with kisses ; 
 
 We'll have a jovial crew 
 Of sweet smirking misses.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Kitson's Ancient Songs, where 
 it is stated to be from Wynkyn de 
 Worde'sChristmasse Carolles, 1521. 
 
 H Carol. 
 
 BRINGING IN THE BOAR'S HEAD. 
 
 
 apri defero 
 
 Reddens laudes domino. 
 The boar's head in hand bring I, 
 With garlands gay and rosemary ; 
 I pray you all sing merrily 
 
 Qui estis in convivio. 
 
 The boar's head, I understand, 
 Is the chief service in this land ; 
 Look, wherever it be fand, 
 
 Servite cum cantico. 
 
 Be glad, lords, both more and less, 
 For this hath ordained our steward 
 
 To cheer you all this Christmas, 
 The boar's head with mustard.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 171 
 
 A. modern version of the previous Carol, 
 from Dibdin's Typog. Antiq. ii. 
 252. 
 
 TTbe JBoar's 1beao Carol. 
 
 SUNG AT QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 'T'HE boar's head in hand bear I, 
 
 Bedecked with bays and rosemary ; 
 And I pray you, my masters, be merry, 
 Quot estis in convivo. 
 Caput apri defero 
 Reddens laudes domino. 
 
 The boar's head, as I understand, 
 Is the rarest dish in all this land, 
 Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland 
 Let us servire cantico. 
 Caput apri defero 
 Reddens laudes domino. 
 
 Our steward hath provided this 
 In honour of the King of bliss ; 
 Which on this day to be served is 
 In Reginensi Atrio. 
 Caput apri defero 
 Reddens laudes domino.
 
 S&iijJ^SESiS**!^^ 
 
 i 
 
 172 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From the Christmas Prince, 1607 (printed 
 in 1814). 
 
 Boar's ffoeao Carol* 
 
 SUNG AT ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, CHRISTMAS, 
 1607. 
 
 1. ^THE Boar is dead, 
 
 Lo, here his head ; 
 
 What man could have done more 
 Than his head off to strike, 
 Meleager-like, 
 
 And bring it as I do before. 
 
 2. He living spoiled 
 Where good men toiled, 
 
 Which made kind Ceres sorry ; 
 But now dead and drawn 
 Is very good brawn, 
 
 And we have brought it for ye. 
 
 3. Then set down the swineyard, 
 The foe to the Vineyard, 
 
 Let Bacchus crown his fall ; 
 Let this boar's-head and mustard 
 Stand for pig, goose, and custard, 
 
 And so ye are welcome all. 
 
 ,
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 173 
 
 I 
 
 By Robert Herrick. 
 
 ZTbe Massail. 
 
 S~~* IVE way, give way, ye gates, and win 
 
 An easy blessing to your bin 
 And basket by our entering in. 
 
 May both with manchet stand replete ; 
 Your larders too so hung with meat 
 That, though a thousand thousand eat, 
 
 Yet, ere twelve moons shall whirl about 
 Their silvery spheres, there's none may doubt 
 But more's sent in than was serv'd out. 
 
 Next may your dairies prosper so 
 As that your pans no ebb may know ; 
 But if they do, the more to flow, 
 
 Like to a solemn sober stream, 
 Bank'd all with lilies and the cream 
 Of sweetest cowslips rilling them. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Then may your plants be pressed with fruit, 
 Nor bee or hive you have be mute, 
 But sweetly sounding like a lute. 
 
 Next may your duck and teeming hen 
 Both to the cock's-tread say Amen, 
 And for their two eggs render ten. 
 
 Last, may your harrows, shares and ploughs, 
 Your stacks, your stocks, your sweetest mows, 
 All prosper by your virgin-vows. 
 
 Alas ! we bless, but see none here 
 That brings us either ale or beer : 
 In a dry house all things are near. 
 
 Let's leave a longer time to wait, 
 When rust and cobwebs bind the gate 
 And all live here with needy Fate. 
 
 Where chimneys do for ever weep 
 
 For want of warmth, and stomachs keep 
 
 With noise the servants' eyes from sleep. 
 
 ifgfoffa^^
 
 It is in vain to sing or stay 
 
 Our free feet here j but we'll away : 
 
 Yet to the Lares this we'll say, 
 
 The time will come when you'll be sad 
 
 And reckon this for fortune bad, 
 
 T' have lost the good ye might have had.
 
 From an undated black letter collection 
 of New Christmas Carols (pre- 
 served in the Bodleian Library). 
 
 Wassailing Song, 
 
 A JOLLY wassail bowl, 
 
 A wassail of good ale ; 
 Well fare the butler's soul 
 That setteth this to sale ; 
 
 Our jolly wassail. 
 
 Good dame, here at your door 
 
 Our wassail we begin, 
 We are all maidens poor, 
 
 We pray now let us in 
 
 With our wassail. 
 
 Our wassail we do fill 
 
 With apples and with spice, 
 
 Then grant us your good will 
 To taste here once or twice 
 
 Of our good wassail.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 If any maidens be 
 
 Here dwelling in this house, 
 They kindly will agree 
 
 To take a full carouse 
 
 Of our wassail. 
 
 But here they let us stand 
 
 All freezing in the cold : 
 Good master, give command 
 
 To enter and be bold, 
 
 With our wassail. 
 
 Much joy into this hall 
 
 With us is entered in, 
 Our master first of all 
 
 We hope will now begin 
 
 Of our wassail. 
 
 And after, his good wife 
 Our spiced bowl will try ; 
 
 The Lord prolong your life ! 
 Good fortune we espy 
 
 For our wassail. 
 
 M
 
 178 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Some bounty from your hands 
 Our wassail to maintain ; 
 
 We'll buy no house nor lands 
 With that which we do gain 
 
 With our wassail. 
 
 This is our merry night 
 
 Of choosing king and queen 
 
 Then be it your delight 
 
 That something may be seen 
 
 In our wassail. 
 
 It is a noble part 
 
 To bear a liberal mind ; 
 God bless our master's heart ! 
 
 For here we comfort find, 
 
 With our wassail 
 
 And now we must begone 
 To seek out more good cheer, 
 
 Where bounty will be shown 
 As we have found it here, 
 
 With our wassail
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 , , 
 
 179 
 
 Much joy betide them all, 
 Our prayers shall be still, 
 
 We hope and ever shall 
 
 For this your great good will 
 To our wassail.
 
 iSo 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 This piece and the next were commu- 
 nicated to Notes and Queries (tfh 
 series, ii. 551), ly Cuthbert Bede. 
 
 TKHassailing Song. 
 
 "\ \ 7"E wish you merry Christmas, also a glad New 
 
 Year; 
 
 We come to bring you tidings to all mankind so dear ; 
 We come to tell that Jesus was born in BethFem town, 
 And now he's gone to glory and pityingly looks 
 down 
 
 On us poor wassailers, 
 As wassailing we go ; 
 With footsteps sore 
 From door to door 
 We trudge through sleet and snow. 
 
 A manger was his cradle, the straw it was his bed, 
 The oxen were around him within that lowly shed ; 
 No servants waited on him with lords and ladies gay ; 
 But now he's gone to glory and unto him we pray. 
 Us poor wassailers, &c.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 181 
 
 His mother loved and tended him and nursed him 
 
 at her breast, 
 And good old Joseph watched them both the while 
 
 they took their rest ; 
 And wicked Herod vainly sought to rob them of their 
 
 child, 
 By slaughtering the Innocents in Bethlehem un- 
 
 defiled. 
 
 But us poor wassailers, &c. 
 
 Now, all good Christian people, with great concern 
 
 we sing 
 These tidings of your Jesus, the Saviour, Lord and 
 
 King; 
 In poverty he passed his days that riches we might 
 
 share, 
 And of your wealth he bids you give and of your 
 
 portion spare 
 
 To us poor wassailers, &c. 
 
 Your wife shall be a fruitful vine, a hus'sif good and 
 
 able; 
 Your children like the olive branches round about 
 
 your table ; 
 
 lllflllllHlilllNJifri 1 'nillVllillNHBUflhmiirtlHllil'lillii ' f T ' i
 
 - ' 
 1 82 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Your barns shall burst with plenty and your crops shall 
 
 be secure 
 
 If you will give your charity to us who are so poor. 
 
 Us poor wassailers, &c. 
 
 And now no more we'll sing to you because the hour 
 
 is late, 
 And we must trudge and sing our song at many another 
 
 gate; 
 And so we'll wish you once again a merry Christmas 
 
 time, 
 And pray God bless you while you give good silver 
 
 for our rhyme. 
 
 Us poor wassailers, &c.
 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 183 
 
 1bere we come a TKftbistlfncj, 
 
 T T ERE we come a whistling through the fields so 
 green ; 
 
 Here we come a singing, so fair to be seen. 
 
 God send you happy, God send you happy, 
 Pray God send you a happy New Year ! 
 
 The roads are very dirty, my boots are very thin, 
 I have a little pocket to put a penny in. 
 
 God send you happy, &c. 
 
 Bring out your little table and spread it with a cloth, 
 Bring out some of your old ale, likewise your Christ- 
 mas loaf, 
 
 God send you happy, &c. 
 
 God bless the master of this house, likewise the mistress 
 
 too ; 
 
 And all the little children that round the table strew. 
 God send you happy, &c. 
 
 I
 
 1 84 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 THE cock sat up in the yew tree, 
 The hen came chuckling by, 
 
 I wish you a merry Christmas, 
 And a good fat pig in the sty.
 
 From Chappell's Collection of ancient 
 English Melodies, p. 161. An- 
 other version is given in Hone's 
 Table Book, ii. 14. 
 
 Massatl, wassail, all over tfee Uown* 
 
 "\ \J ASS AIL, wassail, all over the town, 
 
 Our bread it is white, and our ale it is brown ; 
 Our bowl it is made of the maplin tree, 
 So here, my good fellow, I'll drink it to thee. 
 
 The wassailing bowl, with a toast within, 
 Come, fill it up unto the brim ; 
 Come fill it up that we may all see ; 
 With the wassailing bowl I'll drink to thee. 
 
 Come, butler, come bring us a bowl of your best, 
 And we hope your soul in heaven shall rest ; 
 But if you do bring us a bowl of your small, 
 Then down shall go butler, the bowl and all. 
 
 O butler, O butler, now don't you be worst, 
 But pull out your knife and cut us a toast ; 
 And cut us a toast, one that we may all see j 
 With the wassailing bowl I'll drink to tiiee.
 
 1 86 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Here's to Dobbin and to his right eye ! 
 God send our mistress a good Christmas pie ! 
 A good Christmas pie as e'er we did see ; 
 With the wassailing bowl I'll drink to thee. 
 
 Here's to Broad May and to his broad horn, 
 God send our master a good crop of corn, 
 A good crop of corn as we all may see ; 
 With the wassailing bowl I'll drink to thee. 
 
 Here's to Colly and to her long tail, 
 We hope our master and mistress heart will ne'er fail ; 
 But bring us a bowl of your good strong beer, 
 And then we shall taste of your happy new year. 
 
 Be there here any pretty maids? we hope there be 
 
 some; 
 
 Don't let the jolly wassailers stand on the cold stone, 
 But open the door and pull out the pin, 
 That we jolly wassailers may all sail in.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 187 
 
 From Wright's Songs and Carols 
 (Percy Society). An inferior- ver- 
 sion (from MS. Harl. 541) wot 
 printed by Mitson. 
 
 3Bring us in 
 
 Hie, 
 
 )RING us in good ale, and bring us in good ale ; 
 For our blessed Lady's sake, bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no brown bread, for that is made of bran, 
 
 Nor bring us in no white bread, for therein is no game, 
 
 But bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no beef, for there is many bones, 
 But bring us in good ale, for that goeth down at once ; 
 And bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no bacon, for that is passing fat, 
 But bring us in good ale, and give us enough of that ; 
 And bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no mutton, for that is often lean, 
 Nor bring us in no tripes, for they be seldom clean ; 
 But bring us in good ale.
 
 i88 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Bring us in no eggs, for there are many shells, 
 But bring us in good ale, and give us nothing else | 
 And bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no butter, for therein are many hairs, 
 Nor bring us in no pig's flesh, for that will make us 
 boars ; 
 
 But bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no puddings, for therein is all God's good, 
 Nor bring us in no venison,_for that is not for our 
 blood ; 
 
 But bring us in good ale. 
 
 Bring us in no capon's flesh, for that is ofte[n] dear, 
 Nor bring us in no duck's flesh, for they slobber in the 
 mere ; 
 
 But bring us in good ale.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 189 
 
 This and the three following pieces are 
 from New Christinas Carols, 1642. 
 
 Come follow, follow me. 
 
 TO THE TUNE OF THE "SPANISH GIPSIES." 
 
 /~*OME follow, follow me, 
 
 Those that good fellows be, 
 Into the buttery 
 Our manhood for to try ; 
 The Master keeps a bounteous house, 
 And gives leave freely to carouse. 
 
 Then wherefore should we fear, 
 
 Seeing here is store of cheer? 
 
 It shows but cowardice 
 
 At this time to be nice. 
 
 Then boldly draw your blades and fight, 
 
 For we shall have a merry night. 
 
 When we have done this fray, 
 Then we will go to play
 
 i go 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 At cards or else at dice, 
 
 And be rich in a trice ; 
 
 Then let the knaves go round apace, 
 
 I hope each time to have an ace. 
 
 Come, maids, let's want no beer 
 
 After our Christmas cheer, 
 
 And I will duly crave 
 
 Good husbands you may have, 
 
 And that you may good houses keep, 
 
 Where we may drink carouses deep. 
 
 And when that's spent the day 
 
 We'll Christmas gambols play, 
 
 At hot cockles beside 
 
 And then go to all-hide, 
 
 With many other pretty toys, 
 
 Men, women, youths, maids, girls and boys. 
 
 Come, let's dance round the hall, 
 And let's for liquor call ; 
 Put apples in the fire, 
 Sweet maids, I you desire ; 
 And let a bowl be spiced well 
 Of happy stuff that doth excel.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 191 
 
 Twelve days we now have spent 
 In mirth and merriment, 
 And daintily did fare, 
 For which we took no care ; 
 But now I sadly call to mind 
 What days of sorrow are behind. 
 
 We must leave off to play, 
 
 To morrow's working-day ; 
 
 According to each calling 
 
 Each man must now be falling, 
 
 And ply his business all the year, 
 
 Next Christmas for to make good cheer, 
 
 Now of my master kind 
 
 Good welcome I did find, 
 
 And of my loving mistress 
 
 This merry time of Christmas ; 
 
 For which to them great thanks I give, 
 
 God grant they long together live.
 
 192 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS 
 
 BU sou tbat are goofc ffellows. 
 
 A LL you that are good fellows 
 Come hearken to my song ; 
 I know you do not hate good cheer 
 
 Nor liquor that is strong. 
 I hope there is none here 
 
 But soon will take my part, 
 Seeing my master and my dame 
 Says welcome with their heart. 
 
 This is a time of joyfulness 
 
 And merry time of year, 
 Whereas the rich with plenty stored 
 
 Doth make the poor good cheer ; 
 Plum-porridge, roast-beef, and minced pies 
 
 Stand smoking on the board, 
 With other brave varieties 
 
 Our master doth afford.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 193 
 
 Qur mistress and her cleanly maids 
 
 Have neatly played the cooks ; 
 Methinks these dishes eagerly 
 
 At my sharp stomach looks, 
 As though they were afraid 
 
 To see me draw my blade, 
 But I revenged on them will be 
 
 Until my stomach's stayed. 
 
 Come fill us of the strongest, 
 
 Small drink is out of date, 
 Methinks I shall fare like a prince 
 
 And sit in gallant state : 
 This is no miser's feast, 
 
 Although that things be dear ; 
 God grant the founder of this feast 
 
 Each Christmas keep good cheer. 
 
 This day for Christ we celebrate 
 
 Who was born at this time ; 
 For which all Christians should rejoice 
 
 And I do sing in rhyme. 
 When you have given God thanks, 
 
 Unto your dainties fall : 
 Heaven bless my master and my dame, 
 
 Lord bless me and you all. 
 
 N
 
 194 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Come, ma& 
 
 To the tune of " Bonny Sweet Robin." 
 
 , mad boys, be glad, boys, for Christmas is 
 here, 
 
 And we shall be feasted with jolly good cheer; 
 Then let us be merry, 'tis Saint Stephen's day, 
 Let's eat and drink freely, here's nothing to pay. 
 
 My master bids welcome, and so doth my dame, 
 And 'tis yonder smoking dish doth me inflame ; 
 Anon I'll be with you, though you me outface, 
 For now I do tell you I have time and place. 
 
 I'll troll the bowl to you, then let it go round, 
 My heels are so light they can stand on no ground ; 
 My tongue it doth chatter, and goes pitter patter, 
 Here's good beer and strong beer, for I will not 
 flatter.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 *95 
 
 And now for remembrance of blessed Saint Stephen, 
 Let's joy at morning, at noon, and at even ; l 
 Then leave off your mincing, and fall to mince-pies, 
 I pray take my counsel, be ruled by the wise. 
 
 1 Old ed. "evening." 
 
 J
 
 Come bravelg on, m$ Masters* 
 
 To the tune of " The King's going to Bulhine." 
 
 /~"*OME bravely on, my masters, 
 For here we shall be tasters 
 
 Of curious dishes that are brave and fine, 
 Where they that do such cheer afford, 
 I'll lay my knife upon the board, 
 
 My master and my dame they do not pine. 
 
 Who is't will not be merry 
 And sing down, down, aderry ? 
 
 For now it is a time of joy and mirth ; 
 'Tis said 'tis merry in the hall 
 When as beards they do wag all ; 
 
 God's plenty's here, it doth not show a dearth. 
 
 Let him take all lives longest, 
 Come fill us of the strongest, 
 
 And I will drink a health to honest John ; 
 Come pray thee, butler, fill the bowl, 
 And let it round the table troll, 
 
 When that is up I'll tell you more anon.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 197 
 
 From New Christmas Carols (no date). 
 
 /IDaster anfc Dame, 3 well perceive. 
 
 To the tune of "Green Sleeves." 
 
 A l\ Y master and dame, I well perceive, 
 
 Are purposed to be merry to-night, 
 And willingly hath given me leave 
 
 To combat with a Christmas Knight. 
 Sir Pig, I see, comes prancing in 
 
 And bids me draw if that I dare ; 
 I care not for his valour a pin, 
 
 For Jack of him will have a share. 
 
 . My lady goose among the rest 
 
 Upon the table takes her place, 
 And piping-hot bids do my best, 
 
 And bravely looks me in the face ; 
 For pigs and geese are gallant cheer, 
 
 God bless my master and dame therefore ! 
 I trust before the next New Year 
 
 To eat my part of half a score.
 
 ^ 
 
 198 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 I likewise see good minced-pie 
 
 Here standing swaggering on the table ; 
 The lofty walls so large and high 
 
 I'll level down if I be able ; 
 For they be furnished with good plums, 
 
 And spiced well with pepper and salt, 
 Every prune as big as both my thumbs 
 
 To drive down bravely the juice of malt. 
 
 Fill me some of your Christmas beer, 
 
 Your pepper sets my mouth on heat, 
 And Jack's a-dry with your good cheer, 
 
 Give me some good ale to my meat. 
 And then again my stomach I'll show, 
 
 For good roast-beef here stoutly stands ; 
 I'll make it stoop before I go, 
 
 Or I'll be no man of my hands. 
 
 And for the plenty of this house 
 God keep it thus well-stored alway ; 
 
 Come, butler, fill me a good carouse, 
 And so we'll end our Christmas day.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 199 
 
 This piece and the next are from New 
 Christmas Carols, 1661. 
 
 merrs Olee an& Solace, 
 
 FOR ST. STEPHEN'S DAY. 
 To the tune of "Henry's going to Bullm? 
 
 ~\ I 71TH merry glee and solace 
 
 This second day of Christmas 
 Now comes in bravely to my master's house, 
 Where plenty of good cheer I see, 
 With that which most contenteth me, 
 As brawn and bacon, powdered beef and souse. 
 
 For the love of Stephen, 
 
 That blessed saint of heaven, 
 
 Which stoned was [for] Jesus Christ his sake, 
 
 Let us all both more and less 
 
 Cast away all heaviness, 
 
 And in a sober manner merry make.
 
 He was a man beloved, 
 
 And his faith approved 
 
 By suffering death on this holy day, 
 
 Where he with gentle patience 
 
 And a constant sufferance, 
 
 Hath taught us all to heaven the ready way. 1 
 
 So let our mirth be civil, 
 
 That not one thought of evil 
 
 May take possession of our hearts at all, 
 
 So shall we love and favour get 
 
 Of them that kindly thus do set 
 
 Their bounties here so freely in this hall. 
 
 Of delicates so dainty, 
 
 I see now here is plenty 
 
 Upon this table ready here prepared ; 
 
 Then let us now give thanks to those 
 
 That all things friendly thus bestows, 
 
 Esteeming not this world that is so hard. 
 
 For of the same my master 
 Hath made me here a taster ; 
 
 1 The old ed. gives " Hath taught to us all heaven," &c.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The Lord above requite him for the same ! 
 
 And so to all within this house 
 
 I will drink a full carouse, 
 
 With leave of my good master and my dame. 
 
 And the Lord be praised 
 
 My stomach is well eased, 
 
 My bones at quiet may go take their rest ; 
 
 Good fortune surely followed me 
 
 To bring me thus so luckily 
 
 To eat and drink so freely of the best. 
 
 fS^S?^^
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 n bonour of Safnt 3obn we tbus, 
 
 (FOR ST. JOHN'S DAY.) 
 To the tune of" Selhnger's Round." 
 
 T N honour of Saint John we thus 
 
 Do keep good Christmas cheer ; 
 And he that comes to dine with us, 
 
 I think he need not spare. 
 The butcher he hath killed good beef, 
 
 The caterer brings it in ; 
 But Christmas pies are still the chief, 
 
 If that I durst begin. 
 
 Our bacon-hogs are full and fat 
 To make us brawn and souse ; 
 
 Full well may I rejoice thereat 
 To see them in the house.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 203 
 
 But yet the minced pie it is 
 
 That sets my teeth on water ; 
 Good mistress, let me have a bit, 
 
 For I do long thereafter. 
 . 
 
 And I will fetch your water in 
 
 To brew and bake withal, 
 Your love and favour still to win 
 
 When as you please to call. 
 Then grant me, dame, your love and leave 
 
 To taste your pie-meat here ; 
 It is the best in my conceit 
 
 Of all your Christmas-cheer. 
 
 The cloves and mace and gallant plums l 
 
 That here on heaps do lie, 
 [And prunes] as big as both my thumbs, 
 
 Enticeth much mine eye. 
 Oh, let me eat my belly-full 
 
 Of your good Christmas-pie ; 
 Except thereat I have a pull, 
 
 I think I sure shall die. 
 
 Good master, stand my loving friend, 
 For Christmas-time is short, 
 
 1 Old ed. " prunes." Cf. p. 198, 11. 5-7. 
 
 ~^~
 
 2O4 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 - 
 
 
 And when it comes unto an end 
 
 I may no longer sport ; 
 Then while it doth continue here 
 
 Let me such labour find, 
 To eat my fill of that good cheer 
 
 That best doth please my mind. 
 
 Then I shall thank my dame therefore, 
 
 That gives her kind consent, 
 That Jack your boy with others more 
 
 May have this Christmas spent 
 In pleasant mirth and merry glee, 
 
 As young men most delight ; 
 For that's the only sport for me, 
 
 And so God give you all good-night.
 
 from New Christmas Carols (no date). 
 
 IFlew iJear is begun. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD'S CAROL TO BE SUNG ON NEW YEAR'S 
 DAY. 
 
 Tune, " Humming of the Drone" 
 
 HPHE New Year is begun, 
 
 Good morrow, my masters all ! 
 The cheerful rising sun 
 Now shining in this hall, 
 
 Brings mirth and joy 
 
 To man and boy. 
 With all that here doth dwell ; 
 
 Whom Jesus bless 
 
 With love's increase, 
 So all things shall prosper well. 
 
 A New Year's gift I bring 
 
 Unto my master here, 
 Which is a welcome thing 
 
 Of mirth and merry cheer.
 
 206 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 i 
 
 A New Year's lamb 
 
 Come from thy dam 
 An hour before daybreak, 
 
 Your noted ewe 
 
 Doth this bestow, 
 Good master, for your sake. 
 
 And to my dame so kind 
 
 This New Year's gift I bring ; 
 I'll bear an honest mind 
 Unto her whilst I live. 
 
 Your white-wooled sheep 
 
 I'll safely keep 
 From harm of bush or brere, 1 
 
 That garments gay 
 
 For your array 
 May clothe you the next New Year. 
 
 And to your children all, 
 
 These New Year's gifts I bring ; 
 And though the price be small, 
 They're fit for queen or king : 
 Fair pippins red 
 Kept in my bed 
 
 1 Old ed. " Bryar." 
 
 '
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 207 
 
 A-mellowing since last year, 
 Whose beauty bright 
 So clear of sight 
 
 Their hearts will glad and cheer. 
 
 And to your maids and men 
 
 I bring both points and pins ; 
 Come bid me welcome then, 
 The good New Year begins : 
 
 And for my love 
 
 Let me approve 
 The friendship of your Maid, 
 
 Whose nappy ale 
 
 So good and stale 
 Will make my wits afraid. 
 
 I dare not with it deal 
 But in a sober diet : 
 If I poor shepherd steal 
 A draught to be unquiet, 
 
 And lose my way 
 
 This New Year's day 
 As I go to my fold, 
 
 You'll surely think 
 
 My love of drink 
 This following year will hold.
 
 208 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Here stands my bottle and hook, 
 Good kitchen-maid, draw near, 
 Thou art an honest cook, 
 
 And canst brew ale and beer ; 
 
 Thy office show, 
 
 Before I go, 
 My bottle and bag come fill, 
 
 And for thy sake 
 
 I'll merry make 
 Upon the next green hill,
 
 pmMMifcpp pfW v^- : ' - . 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 209 
 
 J'roro .4 Cabinet of Choice Jewels, or 
 the Christian's Joy and Gladness, 
 1688. 
 
 TTbe l^ouncj /iDen ano flDaifcs on Iftew 
 Beat's 
 
 Tk/tf of "Caper and jerk if." 
 
 HTHE young men and maids on New Year's day, 
 
 Their loves they will present 
 With many a gift both fine and gay, 
 
 Which gives them true content : 
 And though the gift be great or small, 
 
 Yet this is the custom still, 
 Expressing their loves in ribbons and gloves, 
 
 It being their kind good-will. 
 
 Young bachelors will not spare their coin, 
 
 But thus their love is shown ; 
 Young Richard will buy a bodkin fine 
 
 And give it honest Joan. 
 There's Nancy and Sue with honest Prue, 
 
 Young damsels both fair and gay, 
 Will give to the men choice presents agen 
 
 For the honour of New Year's day.
 
 210 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Fine ruffs, cravats of curious lace, 
 
 Maids give them fine and neat ; 
 For this the young men will them embrace 
 
 With tender kisses sweet : 
 And give them many pleasant toys 
 
 To deck them fine and gay, 
 As bodkins and rings with other fine things 
 
 For the honour of New Year's day. 
 
 It being the first day of the year, 
 
 To make the old amends, 
 All those that have it will dress good cheer 
 
 Inviting all their friends. 
 To drink great James's royal health, 
 
 As very well subjects may, 
 With many healths more, which we have store, 
 
 For the honour of New Year's day.
 
 From New Christmas Carols, 1642. 
 
 Ifc U>ear now awap is fflefc. 
 
 To the tune of " Green Sleeves" 
 
 ' I ''HE old year now away is fled, 
 
 The new year it is entered, 
 Then let us now our sins down tread 
 
 And joyfully all appear. 
 Let's merry be this holiday, 
 And let us now both sport and play, 
 Hang sorrow, let's cast care away : 
 
 God send you a happy New Year ! 
 
 For Christ's circumcision this day we keep, 
 
 Who for our sins did often weep ; 
 
 His hands and feet were wounded deep, 
 
 And his blessed side, with a spear. 
 His head they crowned then with thorn, 
 And at him they did laugh and scorn, 
 Who for to save our souls was born ; 
 
 God send us a happy New Year !
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And now with New- Year's gifts each friend 
 
 Unto each other they do send ; 
 
 God grant we may all our lives amend, 
 
 And that the truth may appear. 
 Now like the snake cast-off your skin 
 Of evil thoughts and wicked sin, 
 And to amend this New Year begin : 
 
 God send us a merry New Year ! 
 
 And now let all the company 
 In friendly manner all agree, 
 For we are here welcome, all may see, 
 
 Unto this jolly good cheer. 
 I thank my master and my dame, 
 The which are founders of the same ; 
 To eat, to drink now is no shame : 
 
 God send us a merry New Year ! 
 
 Come lads and lasses every one, 
 
 Jack, Tom, Dick, Bessy, Mary and Joan, 
 
 Let's cut the meat up unto the bone, 
 
 For welcome you need not fear ; 
 And here for good liquor we shall not lack, 
 It will whet my brains and strengthen my back : 
 This jolly good cheer it must go to wrack : 
 
 God send us a merry New Year ! 
 
 - , . 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 213 
 
 Come, give's more liquor when I do call, 
 I'll drink to each one in this hall ; 
 I hope that so loud I must not bawl, 
 
 But unto me lend an ear ; 
 Good fortune to my master send, 
 And to my dame which is our friend, 
 Lord bless us all, and so I end : 
 
 God send us a happy New Year ! 
 
 ^^^^
 
 214 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Poor Robin's Almanac, 1664. 
 
 provide for Cbrfstmas. 
 
 "DROVIDE for Christmas ere that it do come, 
 To feast thy neighbour good cheer to have 
 
 some; 
 
 Good bread and drink, a fire in the hall, 
 Brawn, pudding, souse and good mustard withal ; 
 Beef, mutton, pork, and shred pies of the best, 
 Pig, veal, goose, capon, and turkey well drest ; 
 Apples and nuts to throw about the hall, 
 That boys and girls may scramble for them all. 
 Sing jolly carols, make the fiddlers play, 
 Let scrupulous fanatics keep away ; 
 For oftentimes seen no arranter knave 
 Than some who do counterfeit most to be grave.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 215 
 
 From Pcor Robin's Almanac, 1695. 
 
 IRow tbrice welcome, Cbristmas 
 
 TVT OW thrice welcome, Christmas, 
 Which brings us good cheer, 
 Minced pies and plum porridge, 
 
 Good ale and strong beer ; 
 With pig, goose and capon, 
 
 The best that may be, 
 So well doth the weather 
 
 And our stomachs agree. 
 
 Observe how the chimneys 
 
 Do smoke all about, 
 The cooks are providing 
 
 For dinner, no doubt ; 
 But those on whose tables 
 
 No victuals appear, 
 O may they keep Lent 
 
 All the rest of the year.
 
 2l6 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 With holly and ivy 
 
 So green and so gay, 
 We deck up our houses 
 
 As fresh as the day ; 
 With bay and rosemary 
 
 And laurel complete ; 
 And every one now 
 
 Is a king in conceit.
 
 Row tbat tbe time is come wberein. 
 
 "\J OW that the time is come wherein 
 
 Our Saviour Christ was born, 
 The larders full of beef and pork, 
 
 The garners fill'd with corn ; 
 As God hath plenty to thee sent, 
 
 Take comfort of thy labours, 
 And let it never thee repent 
 
 To feast thy needy neighbours. 
 
 Let fires in every chimney be 
 
 That people they may warm them ; 
 Tables with dishes covered, 
 
 Good victuals will not harm them. 
 With mutton, veal, beef, pig and pork, 
 
 Well furnish every board ; 
 Plum-pudding, furmity and what 
 
 Thy stock will them afford.
 
 21 8 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 No niggard of thy liquor be, 
 
 Let it go round thy table ; 
 People may freely drink, but not 
 
 So long as they are able. 
 Good customs they may be abused, 
 
 Which makes rich men to slack us ; 
 This feast is to relieve the poor 
 
 And not to drunken Bacchus. 
 
 Thus if thou doest 
 
 'Twill credit raise thee ; 
 God will thee bless 
 
 And neighbours praise thee.
 
 ' 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 219 
 
 From Poor JJoWn's Almanac, 1701. 
 
 fflow enter Cbrtstmas lifee a man, 
 
 TVf OW enter Christmas like'a man, 
 
 Armed with spit and dripping-pan, 
 Attended with pasty, plum-pie, 
 Puddings, plum-porridge, furmity; 
 With beef, pork, mutton of each sort 
 More than my pen can make report ; 
 Pig, swan, goose, rabbits, partridge, teal, 
 With legs and loins and breasts of veal : 
 But above all the minced pies 
 Must mention'd be in any wise, 
 Or else my Muse were much to blame, 
 Since they. from Christmas take their name 
 With these, or any one of these, 
 A man may dine well if he please ; 
 Yet this must well be understood, 
 Though one of these be singly good, 
 Yet more the merrier is the best 
 As well of dishes as of guest. 
 
 But the times are grown so bad 
 Scarce one dish for the poor is had ;
 
 220 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Good housekeeping is laid aside, 
 
 And all is spent to maintain pride ; 
 
 Good works are counted popish, and 
 
 Small charity is in the land. 
 
 A man may sooner (truth I tell ye) 
 
 Break his own neck than fill his belly. 
 
 Good God, amend what is amiss 
 
 And send a remedy to this, 
 
 That Christmas day again may rise 
 
 And we enjoy our Christmas pies. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 From Poor Robin's Almanac, 1715. 
 
 IRow Cbrtstmas comes 'tis fit tbat we. 
 
 TVT OW Christmas comes, 'tis fit that we 
 
 Should feast and sing and merry be, 
 Keep open house, let fiddlers play ; 
 A fig for cold, sing care away ! 
 And may they who thereat repine, 
 On brown bread and on small beer dine. 
 Make fires with logs, let the cooks sweat 
 With boiling and with roasting meat ; 
 Let ovens be heat for fresh supplies 
 Of puddings, pasties, and minced pies, 
 And whilst that Christmas doth abide 
 Let butt'ry-door stand open wide. 
 Hang up those churls that will not feast 
 Or with good fellows be a guest, 
 And hang up those would take away 
 The observation of that day ; 
 O may they never minced pies eat, 
 Plum-pudding, roast-beef, nor such meat.
 
 ..t^aSsSg^^^ay^^^ 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But blest be they, awake and sleep, 
 Who at that time [a] good house keep 
 May never want come nigh their door, 
 Who at that time relieve the poor ; 
 Be plenty always in their house 
 Of beef, veal, lamb, pork, mutton, souse.
 
 From the Bishoprick Garland, 1834 (<i 
 collection of songs, ballads, etc., 
 belonging to the county of Durham). 
 
 get up ano Bafee pour BMes. 
 
 A/T AIDS, get up and bake your pies, 
 Bake your pies, bake your pies ; 
 Maids, get up and bake your pies, 
 'Tis Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 See the ships all sailing by, 
 
 Sailing by, sailing by ; 
 See the ships all sailing by 
 
 On Christmas day in the morning. 
 
 DAME, what made your ducks to die, 
 Ducks to die, ducks to die ; 
 
 Dame, what made your ducks to die 
 On Christmas day in the morning?
 
 224 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 You let your lazy maidens lie, 
 Maidens lie, maidens lie ; 
 
 You let your lazy maidens lie 
 
 On Christmas day in the morning.
 
 =^3tai=!s=!=^<p55=a=i=s?3=s^^ 
 
 W^Tt*ii*? ^ 
 
 <.- 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 225 
 
 
 It, 
 
 
 1 
 
 From Thomas Weelkes' Madrigals, 1597. 
 
 Uo sborten Winter's satmess. 
 
 shorten winter's sadness 
 
 
 See where the nymphs with gladness 
 Disguised all are coming, 
 Right wantonly a mumming. 
 
 Fa la. 
 
 Whilst youthful sports are lasting, 
 To feasting turn our fasting ; 
 With revels and with wassails 
 Make grief and care our vassals. 
 
 Fa la. 
 
 For youth it well beseemeth 
 That pleasure he esteemeth ; 
 And sullen age is hated 
 That mirth would have abated. 
 
 Fa la.
 
 226 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 By Robert Herrick. 
 
 Iflew gear's 6ift sent to Sit Simeon 
 Stewaro. 
 
 TVT O news of navies burnt at seas ; 
 
 No noise of late-spawned tittyries ; 
 No closet-plot or open vent 
 That frights men with a parliament ; 
 No new device or late-found trick 
 To read by th' stars the kingdom's sick ; 
 No gin to catch the state or ring 
 The free-born nostrils of the king, 
 We send to you : but here a jolly 
 Verse, crown'd with ivy and with holly, 
 That tells of winter's tales and mirth 
 That milk-maids make about the hearth ; 
 Of Christmas-sports ; the wassail bowl ; 
 That tost up, after fox-i'-th'-hole ; 
 Of blind-man's-buff, and of the care 
 That young men have to shoe the mare ; 
 Of Twelfth-tide cakes, of pease and beans, 
 Wherewith ye make those merry scenes,
 
 'ftijjyijfttfs^ty^^^ 
 
 AND POEM'S. 
 
 227 
 
 Whenas ye chuse your king and queen 
 
 And cry out Hey for our town-green ! 
 
 Of ash-heaps, in the which ye use 
 
 Husbands and wives by streaks to chuse ; 
 
 Of cracking laurel, which foresounds 
 
 A plenteous harvest to your grounds : 
 
 Of these and such like things, for shift, 
 
 We send instead of New- Year's gift. 
 
 Read then, and when your faces shine 
 
 With buxom meat and cap'ring wine, 
 
 Remember us in cups full-crown'd 
 
 And let our city-health go round, 
 
 Quite though the young maids and the men 
 
 To the ninth number, if not ten ; 
 
 Until the fired chestnuts leap 
 
 For joy to see the fruits ye reap 
 
 From the plump chalice and the cup, 
 
 That tempts till it be tossed up ; 
 
 Then, as ye sit about your embers, 
 
 Call not to mind those fled Decembers, 
 
 But think on these that are t'appear 
 
 As daughters to the instant year. 
 
 Sit crowned with rose-buds, and carouse 
 
 Till Liber Pater twirls the house 
 
 About your ears, and lay upon 
 
 The year, your cares, that's fled and gone.
 
 228 
 
 !;?3i2BS;S#!S><3=^^ - 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 And let the russet swains the plough 
 
 And harrow hang up resting now, 
 
 And to the bagpipe all address 
 
 Till sleep takes place of weariness. 
 
 And thus throughout with Christmas plays 
 
 Frolic the full twelve holidays.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 229 
 
 By Robert Serrick. 
 
 Uwelftb IFUgbt ; 
 
 OR, KING AND QUEEN. 
 
 TV[ OW, now the mirth comes, 
 
 With the cake full of plums, 
 Where bean's the king of the sport here ; 
 
 Beside we must know, 
 
 The pea also 
 Must revel as queen in the court here. 
 
 Begin then to chuse, 
 
 This night as ye use, 
 Who shall for the present delight here ; 
 
 Be a king by the lot, 
 
 And who shall not 
 Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here. 
 
 Which known, let us make 
 
 Joy-sops with the cake ; 
 And let not a man then be seen here 
 
 Who unurg'd will not drink, 
 
 To the base from the brink, 
 A health to the king and the queen here.
 
 230 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Next crown the bowl full 
 
 With gentle lambs-wool ; 
 Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, 
 
 With store of ale too ; 
 
 And thus ye must do 
 To make the wassail a swinger. 
 
 Give then to the king 
 
 And queen wassailing, 
 And though with ale ye be whet here, 
 
 Yet part ye from hence, 
 
 As free from offence, 
 As when ye innocent met here.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 231 
 
 From Sir Walter Scotfs Marmlon. 
 (Introduction to Canto VI.) 
 
 Cbristmas In tbe lt>en Uime* 
 
 HP HE damsel donned her kirtle sheen ; 
 
 The hall was dressed with holly green ; 
 Forth to the wood did merry-men go 
 To gather in the misletoe. 
 Then opened wide the baron's hall 
 To vassal, tenant, serf and all ; 
 Power laid his rod of rule aside, 
 And ceremony doffed his pride. 
 The heir, with roses in his shoes, 
 That night might village-partner chuse ; 
 The lord underogating share 
 The vulgar game of post-and-pair. 
 All hailed with uncontrolled delight 
 And general voice, the happy night, 
 That to the cottage as the crown 
 Brought tidings of salvation down. 
 The fire with well-dried logs supplied 
 Went roaring up the chimney wide ;
 
 232 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The huge hall-table's oaken face, 
 
 Scrubbed till it shone, the day to grace, 
 
 Bore then upon its massive board 
 
 No mark to part the squire and lord. 
 
 Then was brought in the lusty brawn 
 
 By old blue-coated serving-man ; 
 
 Then the grim boar's head frowned on high, 
 
 Crested with bay and rosemary. 
 
 Well can the green-garbed ranger tell 
 
 How, when, and where the monster fell ; 
 
 What dogs before his death he tore, 
 
 And all the baiting of the boar. 
 
 The wassail round, in good brown bowls, 
 
 Garnished with ribbons blithely trowls. 
 
 There the huge sir-loin reeked ; hard by 
 
 Plum-porridge stood and Christmas pie ; 
 
 Nor failed old Scotland to produce 
 
 At such high tide her savoury goose. 
 
 Then came the merry masquers in 
 
 And carols roared with blithesome din ; 
 
 If unmelodious was the song 
 
 It was a hearty note and strong. 
 
 Who lists may in their mumming see 
 
 Traces of ancient mystery ; 
 
 White shirts supplied the masquerade, 
 
 And smutted cheeks the visors made :
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 233 
 
 But, oh ! what masquers richly dight 
 Can boast of bosoms half so light ! 
 England was merry England when 
 Old Christmas brought his sports again. 
 'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale, 
 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale ; 
 A Christmas gambol oft would cheer 
 The poor man's heart through half the year.
 
 234 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Dedication of Wordsworth's River Dud- 
 don Sonnets. Addressed to his 
 brother, Dr. Christopher Words- 
 worth. 
 
 Cbristmas 
 
 HPHE minstrels played their Christmas tune 
 
 To-night beneath my cottage eaves ; 
 While smitten by a lofty moon, 
 The encircling laurels thick with leaves, 
 Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen, 
 That overpowered theh: natural green. 
 
 Through hill and valley every breeze 
 
 Had sunk to rest with folded wings : 
 
 Keen was the air, but could not freeze 
 
 Nor check the music of the strings ; 
 
 So stout and hardy were the band 
 
 That scraped the chords with strenuous hand. 
 
 And who but listened ? till was paid 
 Respect to every inmate's claim, 
 The greeting given, the music played 
 In honour of each household name, 
 Duly pronounced with lusty call, 
 And a merry Christmas wished to all.
 
 iii^^ 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 235 
 
 O Brother ! I revere the choice 
 That took thee from thy native hills ; 
 And it is given thee to rejoice : 
 Though public care full often tills 
 (Heaven only witness of the toil) 
 A barren and ungrateful soil. 
 
 Yet would that thou, with me and mine, 
 
 Hadst heard this never-failing rite ; 
 
 And seen on other faces shine 
 
 A true revival of the light ; 
 
 Which nature, and these rustic powers, 
 
 In simple childhood, spread through ours ! 
 
 For pleasure hath not ceased to wait 
 On these expected annual rounds, 
 Whether the rich man's sumptuous gate 
 Call forth the unelaborate sounds, 
 Or they are offered at the door 
 That guards the lowliest of the poor. 
 
 How touching, when at midnight, sweep 
 Snow-muffled winds, and all is dark, 
 To hear and sink again to sleep ! 
 Or at an earlier call, to mark, 
 By blazing fire, the still suspense 
 Of self-complacent innocence ;
 
 236 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 The mutual nod the grave disguise 
 
 Of hearts with gladness brimming o'er, 
 
 And some unhidden tears that rise 
 
 For names once heard, and heard no more ; 
 
 Tears brightened by the serenade 
 
 For infant in the cradle laid ! 
 
 Ah ! not for emerald fields alone, 
 
 With ambient streams more pure and bright 
 
 Than fabled Cytherea's zone 
 
 Glittering before the Thunderer's sight, 
 
 Is to my heart of hearts endeared, 
 
 The ground where we were born and reared 
 
 Hail ancient manners ! sure defence, 
 Where they survive, of wholesome laws : 
 Remnants of love whose modest sense 
 Thus into narrow room withdraws ; 
 Hail usages of pristine mould, 
 And ye that guard them, mountains old ! 
 
 Bear with me, Brother ! quench the thought 
 
 That slights this passion or condemns ; 
 
 If thee fond fancy ever brought 
 
 From the proud margin of the Thames, 
 
 And Lambeth's venerable towers, 
 
 To humbler streams and greener bowers. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 237 
 
 Yes they can make, who fail to find, 
 
 Short leisure even in busiest days ; 
 
 Moments to cast a look behind, 
 
 And profit by those kindly rays 
 
 That through the clouds do sometimes steal, 
 
 And all the far-off past reveal. 
 
 Hence, while the imperial city's din 
 Beats frequent on thy satiate ear, 
 A pleased attention I may win 
 To agitations less severe, 
 That neither overwhelm nor cloy, 
 But fill the hollow vale with joy ! 

 
 FAREWELL TO CHRISTMAS. 
 
 From New Christmas Carols, 1642. 
 
 d&arfe well m beax>s Doleful ZTale. 
 
 To the tune of " The Lady's Fall." 
 
 TV/I" ARK well my heavy doleful tale, 
 For Twelfth-day now is come, 
 And now I must no longer sing, 
 
 And say no words but mum ; 
 For I perforce must take my leave 
 
 Of all my dainty cheer, 
 Plum-porridge, roast beef, and minced pies, 
 
 My strong ale and my beer. 
 
 Kind-hearted Christmas, now adieu, 
 
 For I with thee must part, 
 And for to take my leave of thee 
 
 Doth grieve me at the heart ;
 
 240 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Thou wert an ancient housekeeper, 
 And mirth with meat didst keep, 
 
 But thou art going out of town, 
 Which makes me for to weep. 
 
 God knoweth whether I again 
 
 Thy merry face shall see, 
 Which to good-fellows and the poor 
 
 That was so frank and free. 
 Thou lovedst pastime with thy heart, 
 
 And eke good company ; 
 Pray hold me up for fear I swoon, 
 
 For I am like to die. 
 
 Come, butler, fill a brimmer up 
 
 To cheer my fainting heart, 
 That to old Christmas I may drink 
 
 Before he doth depart ; 
 And let each one that's in this room 
 
 With me likewise condole, 
 And for to cheer their spirits sad 
 
 Let each one drink a bowl. 
 
 And when the same it hath gone round 
 
 Then fall unto your cheer, 
 For you do know that Christmas time 
 
 It comes but once a year. 

 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 But this good draught which I have drunk 
 
 Hath comforted my heart, 
 For I was very fearful that 
 
 My stomach would depart. 
 
 Thanks to my master and my dame 
 
 That doth such cheer afford ; 
 God bless them, that each Christmas they 
 
 May furnish thus their board. 
 My stomach having come to me, 
 
 I mean to have a bout, 
 Intending to eat most heartily ; 
 
 Good friends, I do not flout.
 
 242 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 This piece and the iiext are from Xew 
 Christmas Carols, 1661. 
 
 IRow farewell, 0oot> Cbristmas. 
 
 To the tune of "Bonny Sweet Robin," 
 
 "NT OW farewell, good Christmas, 
 
 Adieu and adieu, 
 I needs now must leave thee, 
 
 And look for a new ; 
 For till thou returnest, 
 
 I linger in pain, 
 And I care not how quickly 
 
 Thou comest again. 
 
 But ere thou departest 
 
 I purpose to see 
 What merry good pastime 
 
 This day will show me ; 
 For a king of the wassail 
 
 This night we must choose, 
 Or else the old customs 
 
 We carelessly lose.
 
 - - . . 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 243 
 
 The wassail well spiced 
 
 About shall go round, 
 Though it cost my good master 
 
 Best part of a pound : 
 The maid in the buttery 
 
 Stands ready to fill 
 Her nappy good liquor 
 
 With heart and good will. 
 
 And to welcome us kindly 
 
 Our master stands by, 
 And tells me in friendship 
 
 One tooth is a-dry. 
 Then let us accept it 
 
 As lovingly, friends ; 
 And so for this twelfth-day 
 
 My carol here ends.
 
 244 
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 Cbristmas batfo mafce an 
 
 To the tune of " Well a day." 
 
 CHRISTMAS hath made an end, 
 
 Welladay, welladay, 
 Which was my dearest friend, 
 
 More is the pity ; 
 For with a heavy heart 
 
 Must I from thee depart, 
 To follow plough and cart 
 
 All the year after. 
 
 Lent is fast coming on, 
 
 Welladay, welladay, 
 That loves not any one, 
 
 More is the pity ; 
 For I doubt both my cheeks 
 
 Will look thin, eating leeks ; 
 Wise is he then that seeks 
 
 For a friend in a corner.
 
 CAROLS AND POEMS. 
 
 245 
 
 All our good cheer is gone, 
 
 Welladay, welladay, 
 And turned to a bone, 
 
 More is the pity. 
 In my good master's house 
 
 I shall eat no more souse, 
 Then give me one carouse, 
 
 Gentle, kind butler. 
 
 It grieves me to the heart, 
 
 Welladay, welladay, 
 From my friend to depart, 
 
 More is the pity. 
 Christmas, I mean, 'tis thee 
 
 That thus forsaketh me, 
 Yet till one hour I see 
 
 Will I be merry. 

 
 
 NOTES.
 
 SS^^ 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 
 Page i : "/ every place,"" &c. These lines are spoken by 
 Salomee. For disbelieving that the Child had been born of a 
 virgin, her hand was withered up ; but on her repentance God 
 sent an angel who bade her worship the Child and touch his 
 clothes. She obeyed, and her hand was restored ; whereupon 
 she raised this hymn of praise. 
 
 Page 4 : " I sing of a maiden." This perfect little poem will 
 be new to most readers. It has been passed over by the 
 collectors. 
 
 Page 17 : " You shall well see that kinges three," &c. The 
 names of the three kings were Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. 
 The first was old, with grey hair and a long beard : his offering 
 was gold. Caspar, who was young and beardless, brought 
 frankincense ; and Balthazar, who was of a swarthy com- 
 plexion, offered myrrh. Gold was symbolical of kingship, 
 frankincense of divinity, and myrrh of humanity. The bodies 
 of the three kings were taken, about three hundred years after 
 their death, by the Empress Helena to Constantinople ; thence 
 by Eustatius to Milan ; afterwards by Renaldus the bishop to 
 Cologne, or Collein. Hence they were commonly called the 
 Three Kings of Collein. There is an old carol about the Three 
 Kings. Wright, in his collection of " Songs and Carols " pub- 
 lished by the Percy Society, has printed one version of it ; but 
 the text of the following copy (from A'otes and Queries, 6th 
 Series, vi. 505-7) is fuller and more accurate :
 
 250 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Now is Christmas y-come, 
 Father and Son together in one, 
 Holy Ghost us be on 
 
 In fere-a ; l 
 God send us a happy New Year-a ! 
 
 I would you sing for, and I might, 
 
 Of a Child is fair in sight ; 
 
 His mother him bare this Yules night 
 
 So still-a, 
 And as it was his will-a. 
 
 There came three kings from Galilee 
 Into Bethlem that fair citie, 
 To seek Him that e'er should be 
 
 By right-a 
 Lord and king and knight-a. 
 
 As they came forth with their off 'ring, 
 They met with Herod that moody king 
 
 This tide -a, 
 And this to them he said-a. 
 
 ' Of whence be ye, you kinges three ?' 
 
 ' Of the East, as you may see, 
 
 To worship Him that e'er should be 
 
 By right-a 
 Lord and king and knight-a.' 
 
 ' When you at this Child have be, 
 
 Come home again by me ; 
 
 Tell me the sight that you have see ; 
 
 I pray you, 
 Go you none other way-a.' 
 
 1 In fere = in company.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 They took their leave both old and young 
 Of Herod that moody king ; 
 They went forth with their offering 
 
 By light-a, 
 The star that shone so bright-a. 
 
 Till they came into the place 
 There Jesu and his mother was ; 
 Offered they up with great solace 
 
 In fere-a 
 Gold and 'cense and myrrh-a. 
 
 The Father of heaven an angel sent 
 To these three kings that made present 
 
 This tide-a, 
 And this to them he said-a : 
 
 ' My Lord have warned you every one 
 By Herod king you go not home, 
 For and you do he will you slone l 
 
 And 'stroy-a, 
 And hurt you wonderly-a.' 
 
 Forth they went these kinges three 
 Till they came home to their countrie ; 
 Glad and blithe they were all three 
 Of the sight that they had see ; 
 
 By dene-a 2 
 The company was clean-a. 
 
 Kneel we now here a-down ; 
 Pray we in good devotion 
 To the King of great renown, 
 Of grace-a 
 In heaven to have a place-a." 
 
 Slay. 
 
 By dene = immediately.
 
 252 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 (The last line of the penultimate stanza seems somewhat 
 unintelligible.) 
 
 Page 19 :" Tyrle, tyrle, so merrily" &c. Compare a song in 
 the Coventry Mysteries : 
 
 " As I rode out this endnes night 
 Of three jolly shepherds I saw a sight, 
 And all about their fold a star shone bright : 
 They sang terli terlow, 
 So merrily the shepherds their pipes can blow." 
 
 Page 21 : " This endnes night." The MS. from which, this 
 piece is taken contains a large collection of church-services, 
 hymns, carols, and songs, with music. It formerly belonged 
 to Joseph Ritson, who presented it to the British Museum. 
 The collection deserves to be printed in full. 
 
 Page 25 : " As I sat under a sycamore tree." This is a variation 
 of the very common carol, " As I sat on a sunny bank." 
 
 Page 26 : William Byrd, a celebrated musician, was born 
 about 1545, and died in 1623. The'reader will find an account 
 of his works in Oliphant's Musa Madrigalesca. Probably Byrd 
 wrote only the music for his collections. 
 
 Page 29 : " Joseph was an old man" I do not feel at all sure 
 that I have done right in dividing this carol into three parts. 
 Perhaps it would have been better to print Part II. as a separate 
 piece, and join Part III. to Part I. As regards the text of this 
 carol no two copies are found to agree, and one is obliged to 
 adopt an eclectic method. The alterations made by modern 
 editors in deference to the mock-modesty of the day are singu- 
 larly flat. Mr. Bramley, in " Christmas Carols New and Old," 
 gives the following ridiculous rendering of the fourth and fifth 
 stanzas :
 
 NOTES. 
 
 253 
 
 " Mary said to Joseph 
 
 With her sweet lips so mild, 
 Pluck those cherries, Joseph, 
 For to give to my Child. 
 
 then replied Joseph, 
 With words so unkind, 
 
 1 will pluck no cherries 
 For to give to thy Child." 
 
 Could anything be more pointless? Hone, in his Ancient 
 Mysteries (p. 90), gives after the first stanza 
 
 " When Joseph was married, 
 And his cousin Mary got, 
 Mary proved big with child, 
 By whom Joseph knew not." 
 
 After the penultimate stanza some copies add 
 "And upon a Wednesday 
 My vow I will make, 
 And upon Good Friday 
 My death I will take." 
 
 Page 33 : "St. Stephen was a clerk." We learn from Dr. 
 Prior's "Ancient Danish Ballads" (I. 395) that the oldest 
 account of the singular legend which is the subject of this carol 
 " is in Vine. Bellovacensis, from an author who lived about 1200. 
 Two friends sat down to dinner in Bologna, and one bade the 
 other to carve the cock, which he did, so that, as he said, not St. 
 Peter or our Lord himself could put it together again. The 
 cock sprang up, clapped his wings and crowed, scattering the 
 sauce over the two friends, and rendering them lepers till the 
 day of their death. The same miracle is related as having 
 occurred to prove the innocence of persons falsely accused, and is 
 found in the legends of Spain Brittany, Italy, and Slavonian 

 
 254 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 countries. How it came to be appropriated to St. Stephen 
 does not appear." 
 
 Page 36 : "Remember, thou man" A different version of 
 this carol is given in Mr. Thomas Hardy's " Under the Green- 
 wood Tree." 
 
 Page 40 : " God rest you merry, gentlemen" The comma, by 
 a curious oversight, has been misplaced. It should stand before, 
 not after, the word " merry." 
 
 Page 48 : "Nay, Nay, sweet Jesus said" &c. I have ven- 
 tured to end the carol with this stanza. In all the copies that 
 I have seen an additional stanza follows 
 
 ' ' O then spoke the angel Gabriel, 
 
 Upon one good Saint Stephen, 
 Although you're but a maiden's child, 
 You are the King of heaven." 
 
 The conclusion is spoiled by the introduction of these mysterious 
 lines, which have no connection with the context. 
 
 Page 55 : " Jy s Seven. " There is an older carol of a similar 
 sort, entitled, "Joyis Fyve." 
 
 Page 58 : " The Moon shines bright." Robert Bell, in his 
 " Songs of the Peasantry " (1857), gives a May-day song (which 
 used to be sung at Hitchin), containing some of the stanzas 
 found in this carol. Here is the song 
 
 " Remember us poor Mayers all ! 
 
 And thus do we begin 
 To lead our lives in righteous ways, 
 Or else we die in sin. 
 
 We have been rambling all the night 
 
 And almost all the day j 
 And now returned back again, 
 
 We have brought you a branch of May.
 
 I 
 
 NOTES. 255 
 
 A branch of May we have brought you, 
 And at your door it stands ; 
 
 It is but a sprout, 
 
 But it's well budded out 
 By the work of our Lord's hands. 
 
 The hedges and trees they are so green, 
 
 As green as any leek ; 
 Our heavenly Father he watered them 
 
 With his heavenly dew so sweet : 
 
 The heavenly gates are open wide, 
 
 Our paths are beaten plain ; 
 And if a man be not too far gone, 
 
 He may return again. 
 
 The life of man is but a span, 
 
 It nourishes like a flower ; 
 We are here to-day and gone to-morrow, 
 
 And we are dead in an hour. 
 
 The moon shines bright and the stars give a light, 
 
 A little before it is day ; 
 So God bless you all, both great and small, 
 
 And send you a joyful May ! " 
 
 Page 68 : " The contest of the Ivy and the Holly." The two 
 follownig pieces are from Wright's " Songs and Carols," pub- 
 lished by the Percy Society : 
 
 " Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah now sing we ! 
 
 Here comes holly that is so gent, 
 To please all men in his intent. 
 
 Hallelujah. 
 
 But Lord and Lady of this hall, 
 Whosoever against holly call, 
 
 Hallelujah.
 
 j!?je^*a^ 
 
 256 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Whosoever against holly do cry, 
 In a lepe 1 shall he hang full high. 
 
 Hallelujah. 
 
 Whosoever against holly do sing, 
 He may weep and handes wring. 
 
 Hallelujah.' 
 
 " Holly and ivy made a great party 
 Who should have the mastery 
 
 In lands where, they go. 
 Then spake Holly, I am free and jolly, 
 I will have the mastery, 
 
 In lands where they go. 
 Then spake Ivy, I am loud and proud, 
 And I will have the mastery 
 
 In lands where they go. 
 
 Then spake Holly and set him down on his knee, 
 I pray thee, gentle Ivy, say me no villany, 
 
 In lands where they go." 
 
 There is a modern carol of The Holly and the Ivy, frequently 
 printed during the last hundred years. I give it from a broad- 
 side printed in the last century by T. Bloomer of Birmingham : 
 
 " The holly and the ivy 
 
 Now are both well grown : 
 Of all the trees that are in the wood 
 The holly bears the crown. 
 
 Chorus. The rising of the sun, 
 
 The running of the deer, 
 The playing of the merry organ, 
 Sweet singing in the choir. 
 
 1 A large basket.
 
 NOTES. 257 
 
 The holly bears a blossom 
 
 As white as the lily flower ; 
 And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ 
 
 To be our sweet Saviour. 
 
 The holly bears a berry, 
 
 As red as any blood ; 
 And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ 
 
 To do poor sinners good. 
 
 The holly bears a prickle, 
 
 As sharp as any thorn ; 
 And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ 
 
 On Christmas-day in the morn. 
 
 The holly bears a bark, 
 
 As bitter as any gall ; 
 And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ 
 
 For to redeem us all. 
 
 The holly and the ivy 
 
 Now are both well grown : 
 Of all the trees that are in the wood 
 
 The holly bears the crown." 
 
 Page 71: " Modryb Marya." The figure of the noble- 
 hearted vicar of Morwenstow stands out with striking pic- 
 turesqueness. Had he been a border-minstrel in the old 
 tumultuous days, he would surely have written many a ballad 
 that the world would not willingly let die. His poems are few 
 and unequal ; the best are singularly precious. 
 
 Page 75 : " ^ e shepherds went their hasty way." Few 
 great poets have written more execrably than Coleridge, when 
 he is at his worst His carol begins well ; but nothing more 
 
 R
 
 
 258 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 inappropriate could be conceived than the reference to " The 
 maiden's love-confessing sigh," "War is a ruffian," &c. The 
 carol was written in 1799, two years after the peerless Kubla 
 Khan and the first part of Christabel. 
 
 Page So : "Masters, in this hall.'" In. Sedding's "Antient 
 Christmas Carols " this carol is said to be translated from the 
 French. 
 
 Page 103 : " Who can forget," &c. These stanzas are taken 
 from the speech of Mercy towards the close of " Christ's 
 Victorie in Heaven," the first part of "Christ's Victorie and 
 Triumph in Heaven, and Earth, over, and after Death," first 
 published in 1610. The poem is full of striking and magnificent 
 imagery, expressed in richly-glowing jewelled stanzas. Milton 
 was a close student of Giles Fletcher. 
 
 Page 1 06 : " The Shepherds." Henry Vaughan, called "the 
 Silurist," from the fact that he was born among the Silures or 
 people of South Wales, is incomparably the greatest of English 
 devotional poets. The pieces that I have quoted, fine as they 
 are, do not give the reader a just idea of his greatness. Who- 
 ever will study Silex Scintillans as it deserves to be studied, 
 read it through and through again and again, cannot fail to be 
 deeply impressed by the magical beauty of the diction, the 
 perfect success with which the most difficult metrical effects 
 are lightly produced, the imaginative splendour and subtlety. 
 Vaughan was no less a born poet than Shelley or Keats or 
 Coleridge. He was born in 1621, and died in 1695. The 
 first part of Silex Scintillans was published in 1651 ; the 
 complete collection in two parts appeared in 1655. " Olor 
 Iscanus. A Collection of some select Poems and Translations. 
 Formerly written by Henry Vaughan, Silurist," was published 
 by the author's friends in 1651 ; it is far inferior to the volume
 
 NOTES. 
 
 259 
 
 of sacred poems. Vaughan published nothing after 1655. Dr. 
 Grosart has edited a complete edition of Vaughan's writings. 
 
 Page III : " New Prince, New Pomp." A very quaint and 
 tender little poem. Another piece, entitled "New Heaven, 
 New War," is perhaps almost too quaint for modem readers ; 
 yet I venture to quote it in full : 
 
 " Come to your heaven, you heavenly quires ! 
 Earth hath the heaven of your desires ; 
 Remove your dwelling to your God, 
 A stall is now his best abode ; 
 Sith men their homage do deny, 
 Come, angels, all their fault supply. 
 
 His chilling cold doth heat require, 
 Come, seraphims, in lieu of fire ; 
 This little ark no cover hath, 
 Let cherubs' wings his body swathe ; 
 Come, Raphael, this babe must eat, 
 Provide our little Toby meat. 
 
 Let Gabriel be now his groom, 
 That first took up his]earthly room ; 
 Let Michael stand in his defence, 
 Whom love hath linked to feeble sense ; 
 Let Graces rock when he doth cry, 
 And angels sing his lullaby. 
 
 The same you saw in heavenly seat 
 Is he that now sucks Mary's teat ; 
 Agnize your King a mortal wight, 
 His borrowed weed lets not your sight ; 
 Come kiss the manger where he lies, 
 That is your bliss above the skies.
 
 26o 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 This little Babe so few days old 
 
 Is come to rifle Satan's fold ; 
 
 All hell doth at his presence quake, 
 
 Though he himself for cold do shake ; 
 
 For in this weak unarmed wise 
 
 The gates of hell he will surprise. 
 
 With tears he fights and wins the field, 
 His naked breast stands for a shield ; 
 His battering shots are babish cries ; 
 His arrows, looks of weeping eyes ; 
 His martial ensigns, cold and need ; 
 And feeble flesh his warrior's steed. 
 
 His camp is pitched in a stall, 
 
 His bulwark but a broken wall ; 
 
 The crib his trench, hay-stalks his stakes ; 
 
 Of shepherds he his muster makes ; 
 
 And thus, as sure his foe to wound, 
 
 The angels' trumps alarum sound. 
 
 My soul, with Christ join thou in fight ; 
 Stick to the tents that he hath pight ; 
 Within his crib is surest ward, 
 This little Babe will be thy guard ; 
 If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy, 
 Then flit not from this Heavenly Boy." 
 
 I must also find room for the poem, entitled "The Burning 
 Babe" : 
 
 "As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow, 
 Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow ; 
 And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near, 
 A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear, 
 
 &^^^
 
 NOTES. 
 
 
 Who scorched with excessive heat such floods of tears did shed, 
 As though his floods should quench his flames which with his 
 
 tears were fed. 
 
 Alas ! quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry, 
 Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I ! 
 My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns ; 
 Love is the fire and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns ; 
 The fuel Justice layeth on, and Mercy blows the coals ; 
 The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defiled souls ; 
 For which, as now on fire I am, to work them to their good, 
 So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood. 
 With that he vanish'd out of sight and swiftly shrunk away, 
 And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas Day." 
 
 Ben Jonson told Drummond of Hawthornden that he would 
 have been content to destroy many of his own writings if he 
 had written " The Burning Babe." 
 
 Southwell's longest poem, "St. Peter's Complaint," is 
 smoothly written, but tedious. After three years' close impri- 
 sonment in the Tower, Southwell was executed at Tyburn, on 
 February 22, 1594-5, at the age of thirty-four or thirty-five. 
 Though he was found guilty of treasonable practices, his sole 
 offence was that he had been a zealous priest of the Church of 
 Rome. He appears to have been a man of noble character, 
 humble and gentle and intrepid. [In the last line of the pen- 
 ultimate stanza of " New Prince, New Pomp," the word praised 
 should be prized. I quoted from an inaccurate reprint.] 
 
 Page 113 : "All after pleasures as I rid one day." These 
 lines are very characteristic of the polished high-born scholar, 
 who, after strenuous attempts to gain preferment at court, 
 abandoned at length the fruitless quest and found content in the 
 retirement of a country vicarage. Herbert is a soothing writer ; 
 his Muse took an equable steady flight, never soaring into the 
 
 yyt=PP?Sfc*tftflfr3pM||g5?argg?sic=^
 
 262 NOTES. 
 
 "highest heaven of invention," but yet keeping at a respectable 
 distance from the ground. He numbers at least ten readers for 
 Vaughan's one, a fact which is not at all surprising. 
 
 Page 115 : " Immortal Babe" &c. From "The Shaking of 
 the Olive Tree," 1660. Joseph Hall, Bishop of Exeter, was 
 born in 1574, and died on 8th September 1656. He was an 
 eloquent, liberal-minded, witty, and bold divine. He was also 
 one of our earliest English satirists. 
 
 Page 116 : " The Shepherd's Song." This piece is subscribed 
 " E. B." in the original editions (1600 and 1614) of " England's 
 Helicon." Other pieces in that delightful collection bear the 
 name " Edmund Bolton " in full ; so doubtless we are right in 
 giving the present poem to Bolton. In the early editions the 
 two last lines are printed thus : 
 
 " In Dauitfs Cittie dooth this Sunne appeare : 
 Clouded in flesh, yet Sheepheards sit we heere." 
 
 My punctuation seems preferable. Bolton is known as a poet 
 only from his contributions to " England's Helicon." 
 
 Page 120 : "A Hymn of the Nativity." This poem strikingly 
 exhibits Crashaw's power and weakness. Thrice-refined golden 
 speech, a subtle sense of melody, fervid richness of imagination, 
 these great gifts were marred by a constant indulgence in 
 violent conceits, by diffuseness, and occasionally by studied 
 harshness of phrase and rhythm. The second piece, "Hymn 
 for the Epiphany," offends so outrageously by ill-timed conceits, 
 that I have only printed the first part of it, although there are 
 many fine lines in the latter part. Crashaw was driven from 
 Cambridge at the time of the Civil Wars ; escaped to France, 
 embraced the" Catholic faith, and afterwards became secretary 
 to Cardinal Palotta at Rome. He died at Loretto in 1650 (at 
 
 I 
 
 i<^g=?e^g5=a=gs=g=iS^^^
 
 NOTES. 
 
 263 
 
 the age of thirty-seven) ; and it has been supposed that he was 
 poisoned. His poems were published in 1646 under the title of 
 " Steps to the Temple," and "The Delights of the Muses." 
 
 Page 128: "Run, shepherds, run," &c. Too often in read- 
 ing Drummond of Hawthornden we feel that the poet is giving 
 us "words, words, words." His work is always polished and 
 refined, but seldom throbs with life. The two sonnets I have 
 quoted are graceful but (it must be confessed) commonplace. 
 There is an elaborate life of Drummond (who died in 1649) by 
 Professor Masson. 
 
 Page 130 : " Of the Epiphany" Sir John Beaumont was an 
 elder brother of Francis Beaumont the dramatist. Drayton, in 
 his Epistle to Henry Reynolds, couples the brothers together in 
 terms of genial praise : 
 
 " Then the two Beaumonts and my Browne arose, 
 My dear companions whom I freely chose 
 My bosom friends ; and in their several ways 
 Rightly born poets, and in these last days 
 Men of much note and no less nobler parts, 
 Such as have freely told to me their hearts, 
 As I have mine to them." 
 
 John Beaumont was created a baronet in 1626 and died in 1628, 
 setat. 44. He is the author of " Bosworth Field and other 
 Poems " (posthumously printed in 1629), which have been 
 praised by Wordsworth for their " spirit, elegance, and har- 
 mony." 
 
 Page 132: " Where is this blessed Babel " Jeremy Taylor, 
 whose prose is one of the glories of English literature, handles 
 his lyre awkwardly. At starting we are confronted with a false 
 rhyme ; and as we proceed we feel that the versification is want- 
 
 ^^
 
 264 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ing in ease and fluency. What a change when we turn to the 
 perfect prose-periods of the funeral sermon on the Countess of 
 Carbery ! 
 
 Page 136 : "And they laid him in a manger." Sir Edward 
 Sherburne came of an ancient Lancashire family ; he was born 
 in 1616, and is supposed to have died in 1702. He made a 
 translation of Manilius and of some plays of Seneca. When 
 the Civil Wars broke out he sided with the King's party and 
 lost his fortune. He was knighted by Charles the Second. 
 
 Page 140: "Rejoice, rejoice, -with heart and voice?' 1 The 
 author, Francis Kinwelmersh, was a member of Gray's Inn. He 
 had a brother Antony, who also wrote verse. 
 
 Page 143 : " Sleep, baby, sleep." This Christmas Lullaby has 
 not been printed before. 
 
 Page 145: "A Rocking Hymn." Wither's besetting fault 
 is his prolixity ; he seldom knew when to stop. It is tedious 
 to read through the voluminous list of his forgotten writings, but 
 to read the works themselves is a Herculean task. Yet every 
 student of English poetry knows that some of Wither's songs 
 are miracles of sweetness, and that even in his most arid wastes 
 of prose and verse there are green oases. It is much to be wished 
 that some capable scholar would make an anthology from 
 Wither. From the cradle hymn I ventured to omit the second 
 stanza, which ran thus : 
 
 " Though thy conception was in sin, 
 A sacred bathing thou hast had ; 
 And though thy birth unclean hath bin, 
 A blameless babe thou now art made : 
 
 Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep ; 
 Be still, my dear; sweet baby, sleep." 
 
 -^-- - - - -_- 7 -.",--'-.: -
 
 NOTES. 
 
 The piece would be improved by making a few more omissions. 
 Not so with the carol which follows, written in Wither's blithest 
 strain, perfect from first to last. 
 
 Page 151 : "Now poor men to the justices." The old poet 
 Gascoigne tells us that tenants used to take their landlords 
 presents on Quarter-Day : 
 
 " And when the tenants come to pay their quarter's rent, 
 They bring some fowl at Midsummer, a dish of fish in Lent ; 
 At Christmas a capon, at Michaelmas a goose ; 
 And somewhat else at New- Year's tide, for fear their lease fiie 
 loose" 
 
 Page 152 : " The wild mare in is bringing" The game of 
 "shoeing the wild mare." A youth was chosen to be the wild 
 mare : he was allowed a start, and the other players then pursued 
 him with the object of shoeing him. From Strutt's meagre de- 
 scription it appears to have been a poor sport. I suppose that 
 in the attempt to escape from the pursuers the wild mare kicked 
 out lustily, upsetting chairs and tables. I don't know what 
 game is meant in the previous line, " The boys are come to 
 catch the owls." In the next stanza "noddy" is an old game 
 of cards resembling cribbage. Of the game of " Rowland-ho " 
 I can find no particulars. 
 
 Page 154 : " With the last year's brand" &c. When a piece 
 of last year's Christmas log was preserved, the household 
 reckoned itself secure from the assaults of hobgoblins, as Her- 
 rick elsewhere relates- : 
 
 " Kindle the Christmas brand, and then 
 
 Till sunset let it burn ; 
 Which quenched, then lay it up again 
 Till Christmas next return. 
 
 
 SftganEgsj&af^te^^
 
 266 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Part must be kept wherewith to teend 
 
 The Christmas log next year; 
 And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend 
 
 Can do no mischief there." 
 
 Page 156 : " Wassail the trees" This custom was kept up 
 till the end of the last century. Brand relates that in 1790 a 
 Cornish man informed him it was the custom for the Devonshire 
 people on the eve of Twelfth Day to go after supper into the 
 orchard with a large milk-pan full of cyder with roasted apples 
 in it. Each person took what was called a clayen cup, i.e. an 
 earthenware cup full of cyder, and standing under each of the 
 more fruitful trees, sung 
 
 " Health to thee, good apple-tree, 
 Well to bear, pocket-fulls, hat-fulls, 
 Peck-fulls, bushel-bag-fulls." 
 
 After drinking part of the contents of the cup, he threw the 
 rest, with the fragments of the roasted apples, at the trees, amid 
 the shouting of the company. Another song sung on such 
 occasions was : 
 
 " Here's to thee, old apple-tree, 
 
 Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blo\v, 
 And whence thou may'st bear apples enow ! 
 Hats full ! caps full ! 
 Bushel-bushel-sacks full, 
 And my pockets full, too, huzza ! " 
 
 It is supposed that the custom was a relic of the sacrifice to 
 Pomona. 
 
 Page 163 : "March beer." Harrison, in his "Description of 
 England," ii. 6, says : "The beer that is used at noblemen's 
 tables in their fixed and standing houses is commonly of a year 
 old, or peradventure of two years' tunning or more, but this is
 
 267 
 
 not general. // ts also brewed in March, and therefore called 
 March beer ; but for the household it is usually not under a 
 month's age, each one coveting to have the same stale as he may, 
 so that it be not sour, and his bread as new as possible, so that 
 it be not hot." 
 
 Page 1 68 : " O you merry t merry souls." These lively verses, 
 with some additions and alterations, are also found in an undated 
 collection of songs entitled "The Hop Garland." Last year 
 the enterprising publishers, Messrs. Field & Tuer, issued a 
 reprint of " Round about the Coal Fire." 
 
 Page 170 : " Caput apridefero." There is still another Boar's- 
 head Carol, in addition to those in pp. 170-2. Ritson first 
 printed it (from Add. MS. 5665, the valuable folio which he 
 presented to the British Museum) : 
 
 " Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell, 
 
 Tidings good I think to tell. 
 The boar's head that we bring here 
 Betokeneth a prince without peer, 
 Is born this day to buy us dear, 
 
 Nowell. 
 
 A boar is a sovran beast, 
 And acceptable in every feast, 
 So mote this lord be to most and least, 
 Nowell. 
 
 This boar's head we bring with song, 
 In worship of him that thus sprung 
 Of a virgin to redress all wrong, 
 
 Nowell." 
 
 Page 173 : " May both -with manchet stand replete." Man- 
 chet was fine wheaten bread. 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^
 
 $&&&l^s*&&^^ 
 
 268 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Page 176: "A joky wassail bowl." The undated black- 
 letter " New Christmas Carols," from which this piece is taken, 
 is bound up with three other collections of Christmas verses. 
 The volume, which is in the Bodleian Library, formerly belonged 
 to Antony-a-Wood. Each tract numbers only a few I2mo 
 pages. In the same little volume is a curious prose-tract on 
 the Arraignment of Christmas. 
 
 Page 183: "Here we come a whistling." Another corres- 
 pondent of Notes and Queries mentions that at Harrington in 
 Worcestershire it was customary for children on St. Thomas's 
 Day (December 21) to go round the village begging for apples, 
 and singing 
 
 " Wassail, wassail through the town, 
 If you've got any apples throw them down ; 
 Up with the stocking and down with the shoe, 
 If you've got no apples money will do ; 
 The jug is white and the ale is brown, 
 This is the best house in the town." 
 
 An Oxfordshire lady tells me that at her house near Witney 
 the village children sing on Christmas-eve 
 
 " Holly and ivy, tickle my toe, 
 
 Give me a red apple and let me go ; 
 
 Give me another for my little brother, 
 
 And I'll go home to my father and my mother." 
 
 A writer in Current Notes for January 1856 gives the following 
 verses : 
 
 " I wish you a merry Christmas 
 
 And a happy New Year, 
 A pocket full of money, 
 
 And a cellar full of beer," 
 And a good fat pig to serve you all the year. 
 
 ., , .- . . -. ,
 
 NOTES. 
 
 269 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 1 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, sat by the fire, 
 
 
 
 <:'J 
 
 Pity we poor boys out in the mire." 
 
 i 
 
 
 ic 
 
 ~r i.i _ i'. 
 
 piece, and then proceed : 
 
 " All the roads are very dirty, 
 
 My boots are very thin ; 
 I've got a little pocket, 
 Will you put a penny in ? " 
 
 Page 190 : " At hot cockles beside." In the game of hot cockles 
 one of the players, after being blindfolded, laid his head in 
 another's lap. The rest proceeded in turn to strike the blind- 
 folded victim, until he was released from his position by 
 guessing the name of the person who struck him. In Strutt's 
 " Sports and Pastimes " (ed. 1801, p. 293) there is an illustration 
 of this ancient sport from a fifteenth-century illuminated MS. 
 
 Page 214 : " Provide for Christmas." Poor Robirfs Almanac, 
 from which this and other pieces are taken, began in 1663 and 
 ended in 1776. No public or private library, so far as I know, 
 possesses a complete set of these very interesting almanacs. 
 It has been stated that Robert Herrick was the original pro- 
 jector of the series, but I believe there is no authority for the 
 statement. "Poor Robin " was the nom de plume of Robert 
 Winstanley of Saffron Walden, a list of whose publications is 
 given by Mr. H. Eckroyd Smith in Notes and Queries, ser. vi. 
 vol. 7, pp. 321-3. More information about Poor Robin is very 
 much needed. 
 
 Page 225 : " Right wantonly a mumming." Christmas mum- 
 ming still continues in many parts of the country, but it is only 
 the shadow of its former self. A few years ago it was kept up 
 at Chiswick. Robert Bell (in " Songs of the Peasantry" ) gives an
 
 270 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 amusing Mummer's Song that used to be sung in the neighbour- 
 hood of Richmond, Yorkshire, by a rustic actor dressed as an 
 old horse. One verse in a Somersetshire Mummer's song is 
 very droll : 
 
 "Here comes I, liddle man Jan, 
 With my zword in my hand ! 
 If you don't all do 
 
 As you be told by I, 
 I'll zend you all to York 
 
 For to make apple-pie." 
 
 My fair Oxfordshire correspondent writes : " The mummers 
 still go round to the farm-houses at home, but their glory has 
 departed. I can remember being immensely pleased with their 
 acting, and remember one little bit they said which always 
 took my fancy. One fellow would shout out, ' Come in, Jack 
 Spinner ! ' Then in came Jack Spinner, saying : 
 
 ' Yer comes I as an't bin it, 
 We my gret yead and little wit.' 
 
 (i. e. Here come I that haven't been yet 
 With my great head and little wit.) " 
 
 In "Round about our Coal Fire" we read: "Then comes 
 Mumming or Masquerading, when the squire's wardrobe is 
 ransacked for dresses of all kinds, and the coal-hole searched 
 around, or corks burnt to black the faces of the fair or make 
 deputy-moustaches; and every one in the family except the 
 squire himself must be transformed from what they were." 
 
 Page 227 : Of ash-heaps, in the which ye use," &c. William 
 Browne (in one of his sonnets to Celia) alludes to this curious 
 mode of divination :
 
 NOTES. 
 
 
 1 ' If, forced by our sighs, the flame shall fly 
 Of our kind love and get within thy rind, 
 Be wary, gentle Bay, and shriek not high 
 When thou dost such unusual fervour find : 
 Suppress the fire, for, should it take thy leaves, 
 Their crackling would betray us and thy glory." 
 
 Works, ed. Hazlitt, ii. 288. 
 [In line 13, for "Quite though" read "Quite through."} 
 
 Page 229 : " Where beads the king of the sport here." A bean 
 and pea were enclosed in the Twelfth-cake. When the cake 
 was divided, he who got the slice containing the bean was king 
 of the feast, and the girl to whose lot the pea fell was queen. 
 This Twelfth-tide custom existed in France as early as the 
 thirteenth century. See some interesting remarks in the preface 
 to Sandys' Christmas Carols (pp. Ixxvi.-ix.) 
 
 Page 230 : ' ' With gentle lambs-wool. " Lambs-wool consisted 
 of strong nappy ale, in which roasted crab-apples were pressed. 
 Nares conjectures that the name was derived from the liquor's 
 "smoothness and softness, resembling the wool of lambs." 
 
 Page 231 : " Christmas in the Olden Time." It may not be 
 
 amiss here to quote a lengthy passage, relating to Christmas 
 observances, from the fourth book of Barnabe Googe's " Popish 
 Kingdom," (1570), a translation of Thomas Kirchmaier's [Nao- 
 georgus'] " Regnum Papisticum " (1553). The writer is describ- 
 ing the customs observed in Germany j but in many respects the 
 description would be equally applicable to English society in the 
 middle of the sixteenth century : 
 
 " Three weeks before the day whereon was born the Lord of 
 
 grace, 
 
 And on the Thursday boys and girls do run in every place, 
 And bounce and beat at every door, with blows and lusty snaps 
 And cry, the advent of the Lord, not born as yet perhaps :
 
 ^ 
 
 272 NOTES. 
 
 And wishing to the neighbours all, that in the houses dwell, 
 A happy year, and everything to spring and prosper well : 
 Here have they pears and plums, and pence, each man gives 
 
 willingly, 
 
 For these three nights are always thought unfortunate to be : 
 Wherein they are afraid of sprites and cankered witches' spite, 
 And dreadful devils black and grim, that then have chiefest 
 
 might. 
 
 In these same days young wanton girls that meet for marriage be, 
 Do search to know the names of them that shall their husbands 
 
 be. 
 
 Four onions, five, or eight, they take, and make in every one 
 Such names as they do fancy most and best do think upon. 
 Thus near the chimney then they set, and that same onion than 
 The first doth sprout doth surely bear the name of their good 
 
 man. 
 Their husband's nature eke they seek to know and all his 
 
 guise ; 
 
 When as the sun hath hid himself, and left the starry skies, 
 Unto some woodstack do they go, and while they there do 
 
 stand, 
 
 Each one draws out a faggot stick, the next that comes to hand, 
 Which if it straight and even be, and have no knots at all, 
 A gentle husband then they think shall surely to them fall. 
 But if it foul and crooked be, and knotty here and there, 
 A crabbed churlish husband then they earnestly do fear. 
 These things the wicked Papists bear, and suffer willingly, 
 Because they neither do the end, nor fruits of faith espie : 
 And rather had the people should obey their foolish lust, 
 Than truly God to know, and in him here alone to trust. 
 
 Then comes the day wherein the Lord did bring his birth to 
 
 pass, 
 Whereas at midnight up they rise, and every man to Mass.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 273 
 
 This time so holy counted is, that divers earnestly 
 
 Do think the waters all to wine are changed suddenly : 
 
 In that same hour that Christ himself was born, and came to 
 
 light, 
 
 And unto water straight again transformed and altered quite. 
 There are beside that mindfully the money still do watch, 
 That first to altar comes, which then they privily do snatch. 
 The priests lest other should it have takes oft the same away, 
 Whereby they think throughout the year to have good luck in 
 
 play, 
 And not to lose : then straight at game till daylight do they 
 
 strive, 
 To make some present proof how well their hallowed pence will 
 
 thrive. 
 
 Three masses every priest doth sing upon that solemn day, 
 With offerings unto every one, that so the more may play. 
 This done, a wooden child in clouts is on the altar set, 
 About the which both boys and girls do dance and trimly jet, 
 And carols sing in praise of Christ, and for to help them here, 
 The organs answer every verse, with sweet and solemn cheer. 
 The priests do roar aloud, and round about the parents stand, 
 To see the sport, and with their voice do help them and their 
 
 hand. 
 
 Thus wont the Coribants perhaps upon the mountain Ide, 
 The crying noise of Jupiter new born with song to hide, 
 To dance about him round, and on their brazen pans to beat, 
 Lest that his father finding him, should him destroy and eat. 
 Then followeth Saint Stephen's Day, whereon doth every 
 
 man 
 
 His horses jaunt and course abroad, as swiftly as he can. 
 Until they do extremely sweat, and then they let them blood, 
 For this being done upon this day, they say doth do them 
 good,
 
 274 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 And keeps them from all maladies and sickness through the 
 
 year, 
 As if that Stephen any time took charge of horses here. 
 
 Next John the son of Zebedee hath his appointed day, 
 Who once by cruel tyrant's will constrained was, they say, 
 Strong poison up to drink, therefore the Papists do believe, 
 That whoso puts their trust in him, no poison them can grieve. 
 The wine beside that hallowed is, in worship of his name, 
 The priests do give the people that bring money for the same. 
 And after with the selfsame wine are little manchets made, 
 Against the boisterous winter storms, and sundry such like 
 
 trade ; 
 
 The men upon this solemn day do take this holy wine, 
 To make them strong, so do the maids to make them fair and 
 
 fine. 
 Then comes the day that calls to mind the cruel Herod's 
 
 strife, 
 
 Who seeking Christ to kill, the King of everlasting life, 
 Destroyed the infants young, a beast unmerciless, 
 And put to death all such as were of two years age or less. 
 To them the sinful wretches cry, and earnestly do pray 
 To get them pardon for their faults, and wipe their sins away. 
 The parents when this day appears, do beat their children all 
 (Though nothing they deserve), and servants all to beating fall. 
 And monks do whip each other well, or else their Prior great, 
 Or Abbot mad, doth take in hand their breeches all to beat 
 In worship of these Innocents, or rather as we see, 
 In honour of the cursed king that did this cruelty. 
 
 The next to this is New Year's Day, whereon to every friend 
 They costly presents in do bring and New Year's gifts do 
 
 send. 
 
 These gifts the husband gives his wife and father eke the child, 
 And master on his men bestows the like, with favour mild,
 
 NOTES. 
 
 275 
 
 And good beginning of the year they wish and wish again, 
 According to the ancient guise of heathen people vain. 
 These eight days no man doth require his debts of any man, 
 Their tables do they furnish out with all the meat they can : 
 With marchpanes, tarts, and custards great they drink with 
 
 staring eyes, 
 
 They rout and revel, feed and feast as merry all as pies, 
 As if they should at the entrance of this New Year have to die, 
 Yet would they have their bellies full and ancient friends ally. 
 
 The wise men's day here followeth, who out from Persia far, 
 Brought gifts and presents unto Christ, conducted by a star. 
 The Papists do believe that these were kings, and so them call, 
 And do affirm that of the same there were but three in all. 
 Here sundry friends together come, and meet in company, 
 And make a king amongst themselves by voice or destiny ; 
 Who after princely guise appoints his officers alway, 
 Then unto feasting do they go, and long time after play : 
 Upon their boards in order thick the dainty dishes stand, 
 Till that their purses empty be and creditors at hand. 
 Their children herein follow them, and choosing princes here, 
 With pomp and great solemnity, they meet and make good 
 
 cheer 
 
 With money either got by stealth, or of their parents eft, 
 That so they may be trained to know both riot here and theft. 
 Then also every householder to his ability, 
 Doth make a mighty cake, that may suffice his company : 
 Herein a penny doth he put, before it come to fire, 
 This he divides according as his household doth require ; 
 And every piece distributeth, as round about they stand, 
 Which in their names unto the poor is given out of hand ; 
 But whoso chanceth on the piece wherein the money lies 
 Is counted king amongst them all, and is with shouts and 
 
 cries
 
 276 
 
 '$V=s!^&ttz>=&=#^^ 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Exalted to the heavens up, who taking chalk in hand, 
 Doth make a cross on every beam and rafters as they stand : 
 Great force and power have these against all injuries and 
 
 harms 
 
 Of cursed devils, sprites and bugs, of conjurings and charms. 
 So much this king can do, so much the crosses bring to pass, 
 Made by some servant, maid or child, or by some foolish ass. 
 Twice six nights then from Christmas they do count with dili- 
 gence, 
 
 Wherein each master in his house doth burn up frankincense : 
 And on the table sets a loaf, when night approacheth near, 
 Before the coals, and frankincense to be perfumed there : 
 First bowing down his head he stands, and nose and ears and 
 
 eyes, 
 He smokes and with his mouth receivefsj the fume that doth 
 
 arise : 
 
 Whom followeth straight his wife, and doth the same full solemnly, 
 And of their children every one, and all their family : 
 Which doth preserve they say their teeth, and nose, and eyes, 
 
 and ear, 
 
 From every kind of malady, and sickness all the year. 
 When every one received hath this odour great and small, 
 Then one takes up the pan with coals, and frankincense and 
 
 all. 
 
 Another takes the loaf, whom all the rest do follow here, 
 And round about the house they go, with torch or taper clear, 
 That neither bread nor meat do want, nor witch with dreadful 
 
 charm 
 
 Have power to hurt their children, or to do their cattle harm. 
 There are that three nights only do perform this foolish gear, 
 To this intent, and think themselves in safety all the year. 
 To Christ dare none commit himself. And in these days beside 
 They judge what weather all the year shall happen and betide :
 
 NOTES. 
 
 277 
 
 
 Ascribing to each day a month, and at this present time 
 The youth in every place do flock, and, all appareled fine, 
 With pipers through the streets they run, and sing at every door 
 In commendation of the man rewarded well therefore, 
 Which on themselves they do bestow, or on the church, as tho' 
 The people were not plagued with rogues and begging friars 
 
 enow. 
 
 There cities are where boys and girls together still do run, 
 About the street with like, as soon as night begins to come, 
 And bring abroad their wassail bowls, who well rewarded be 
 With cakes and cheese and great good cheer and money plen- 
 
 teously. 
 
 Page 239 : "Mark well my heavy doleful tale." Christmas 
 festivities were not wholly ended on Twelfth day. The 7th of 
 January, Distaff day (otherwise called Rock day), was given 
 up partly to business and partly to play, as Herrick tells us in 
 the following dainty poem (two lines of which I am forced to 
 omit) : " 
 
 "Partly work and partly play 
 Ye must on Saint Distaffs day, 
 From the plough soon free your team, 
 Then come home and fodder them. 
 If the maids a-spinning go, 
 Burn the flax and fire the tow. 
 
 Bring in pails of water then, 
 Let the maids bewash the men. 
 Give Saint Distaff all the right, 
 Then bid Christmas sport good night ; 
 And next morrow, every one 
 To his own vocation."
 
 
 278 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 On Candlemas day, the 2nd of February, the holly and ivy 
 were taken down, and all traces of Christmas disappeared, as 
 Herrick tells us in his Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve. Lector 
 benevole, vale, 
 
 ffule's come antf gule's gane, 
 &no Sue ftaoe feastcD to eel ; 
 5ac Socft maun to ftts flail again, 
 to Jjcr 
 
 FINIS.
 
 
 Printed by BALLANTYNR, HANSON & CO. 
 Edinburgh and London
 

 
 FEBRUARY 1883. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 JOHN C. NIMMO, 
 
 14 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, 
 LONDON, W.C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 PROSPECTUS. 
 
 ]p!lbe ^.Usabetban ^Dramatists. 
 
 Post 8t'o, cloth. Published price, "js. 6d. net per -volume. 
 
 NOTE. The type will be distributed after each work is printed, the 
 impression of which will be four hundred copies, post 8vo, and one 
 hundred and twenty large fine-paper copies, medium 8vo, which will be 
 numbered. ^ 
 
 To realise the supremacy of Shakespeare we must be acquainted with 
 the writings of his contemporaries. Such masterpieces as Dr. faustus, 
 the Duchess of Malfi, and the Maid's Tragedy are of the highest value in 
 preparing the student to appreciate the unique power of Lear and Macbeth 
 and Othello. 
 
 But putting aside Shakespearean considerations, it may be justly said 
 that there is no study more fascinating to thoughtful men than the study 
 of the Elizabethan Dramatists. Their works were largely planned ; and 
 there is the stamp of sincerity in every page. 
 
 That there is a great and growing interest in our Old Dramatists among 
 educated men is undeniable ; but, strange to say, the works of some of the 
 chief dramatists are unprocurable. 
 
 The noble contributions made to the English drama by Middleton and 
 Shirley are known only to the few ; the books have long been out of print. 
 
 Library editions of Beaumont and Fletcher, Marlowe, Massinger, and 
 others are greatly needed. The quartos of Ben Jonson's plays have never 
 been carefully collated. It is baiely a year ago since Mr. A. H. BULLEN 
 discovered (and printed for private circulation) a tragic masterpiece by 
 Fletcher and Massinger, and a sprightly comedy by Shirley, which were 
 lying, in MS., unnoticed in the British Museum. 
 
 This newly-edited Edition will begin with Shakespeare's greatest pre- 
 decessor, Christopher Marlowe, in three volumes. 
 
 An edition of Middleton will follow ; and Middleton will be succeeded 
 by Shirley. 
 
 For Beaumont and Fletcher much time and labour will be required ; 
 but the Editor has already commenced the arduous task, and will give the 
 closest attention to the question, " How far was Massinger concerned in 
 the authorship of plays attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher ? " 
 
 The remaining dramatists of this Period will follow in due order. 
 
 One of the chief features of this New Edition of the Elizabethan Drama- 
 tists, besides the handsome and handy size of the volumes, will be the fact 
 that each Work will be carefully edited, and new notes given throughout. 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 ^Dramatists, 
 
 The Works of Christopher Marlowe. 
 
 Edited by A. H. BTJLLEN, B.A. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 Post 8vo, cloth. Published price, "]s. dd. net per volume. 
 
 _ [Ready. 
 
 NOTE. This is the first instalment towards a collective edition of the 
 Dramatists who lived about the time of Shakespeare. The Edition is 
 limited to Four Hundred copies, post 8vo, and One Hundred and Twenty 
 large fine paper copies, medium 8vo. 
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 " Mr. Bullen's edition deserves warm recognition. It is intelligent, scholarly, 
 adequate. His preface is judicious. The elegant edition of the dramatists of 
 which these volumes are the first is likely to stand high in public estimation. 
 . . . Middleton, who is to come next, might have been taken first, as he is 
 quite out of reach. The completion of the series will be a boon to biblio- 
 graphers and scholars alike." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " Mr. Bullen has discharged his task as editor in all important points satis- 
 factorily. Marlowe needs no irrelevant partisanship, no 'zeal of the devil's 
 house,' to support his greatness. . . . Mr. Bullen's introduction is well 
 informed and well written, and his notes are well chosen and sufficient. . . . 
 We hope it may be his good fortune to give and ours to receive every drama- 
 tist, from Peele to Shirley, in this handsome, convenient, and well-edited form." 
 
 The Academy. 
 
 "Mr. Bullen is known to all those interested in such things as an authority 
 on most matters connected with old plays. His reading in them is extensive 
 and peculiar. We are not surprised, therefore, to find these volumes well edited 
 throughout. They are not over-burdened with notes. Where explanations 
 are necessary, they are given in as terse a form as possible, without too much 
 parade of parallel passages ; and no difficulty, so far as we have seen, is passed 
 over. . . . Mr. Bullen supplies an elaborate Introduction, extending over 
 eighty pages, and we are glad to see he has printed in an appendix Here's 
 fine play of the ' Death of Marlowe.'" 
 
 Illustrated London News. 
 
 ' ' It is, perhaps, a bold venture on the part of the publisher, or would be if 
 he had chosen an editor less competent than Mr. A. H. Bullen. The series 
 begins with the works of Marlowe, whose genius, considering when he worked 
 and how, fills the reader with wonder. His power was felt "by Shakespeare, 
 and felt also by Goethe ; and Mr. Bullen is not, perhaps, a rash prophet in 
 saying that, ' so long as high tragedy continues to have interest for men, Time 
 shall lay no hands on the works of Christopher Marlowe ! "' 
 
 24 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimnw. 
 
 PRESS NOTICES OF " MARLOWE" continued. 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " Never in the history of the world has a period been marked by so much of 
 literary power and excellence as the Elizabethan period ; and never have the 
 difficulties in the way of literature seemed to be greater. The three volumes 
 which Mr. Nimmo has issued now may be regarded as earnests of more to 
 come, and as proofs of the excellence which will mark this edition of the 
 Elizabethan Dramatists as essentially the best that has been published. Mr. 
 Bullen is a competent editor in every respect." 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 "That Shakespeare learned from Marlowe a portion of the secret of his 
 marvellous versification is now accepted, as is the fact that in his ' Edward 
 II.' Marlowe came nearer Shakespeare than did any tragedian of later date, 
 such as Webster, Chapman, or Ben Jonson. . . . Marlowe has indeed passed 
 the age of simple eulogy, and has reached that of comment. The task set 
 before him by Mr. Bullen is that of supplying a text which shall be as clear 
 and intelligible as the conditions under which plays were printed in the six- 
 teenth and early seventeenth centuries render possible. In this he has been 
 successful. ... If the series is continued as it is begun, by one of the most 
 careful editors, this set of the English Dramatists will be a coveted literary 
 possession." 
 
 ^Dramatists, 
 
 The Works of Thomas Middleton. 
 
 Edited by A. H. BULLEN, B.A. 
 
 In Eight Volumes, post 8vo. 
 first Four Volumes ready in March. 
 
 Dyce's Edition of Middleton, published in 1840, has been out 
 of print for many years, and is now difficult to procure. The 
 need of a new edition has been keenly felt. Middleton had not 
 the sustained tragic power of Webster or Ford ; but in single 
 scenes, when his work is at its highest, he is surpassed only by 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 His romantic comedies display a freedom of fancy that belongs 
 to the " brightest heaven of invention ; " and his comedies of 
 intrigue are always lively and attractive. No student of the 
 English Drama can afford to neglect the works of Thomas 
 Middleton. 
 
 NOTE. The above is uniform with the Works of Marlowe, both in price 
 and number of copies printed of both small and large paper editions. 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 "IRew Series of Ibistorical flftemotrs." 
 
 Memoirs of the Life of Colonel 
 Hutchinson, 
 
 GOVERNOR OF NOTTINGHAM. 
 By his "Widow, LUCY. 
 
 Edited from the Original Manuscript by the Rev. JULIUS HUTCHINSON. 
 
 To which are added the LETTERS OF COLONEL HUTCHINSON, 
 
 and other Papers. 
 
 Revised, with Additional Notes, by C. H. FlRTH, M.A. 
 
 With Numerous Portraits, newly etched, of eminent personages. 
 
 In Two Volumes, fine paper, medium 8vo, and handsome binding, 423. 
 
 NOTE. Only 500 copies are being printed, 300 for England and 200 
 for America. Type distributed. \_Ready in March. 
 
 To understand the history of any period, it must be studied not only in 
 the records of public events, but also in the daily lives of individuals. 
 
 Of the many Memoirs and Autobiographies which illustrate the Civil 
 Wars of the seventeenth century, none is more popular or entertaining 
 than the " Life of Colonel Hutchinson." But though these Memoirs have 
 passed through many editions, and their value universally admitted, they 
 have not yet been edited with the care and labour they deserve. 
 
 In the earlier editions the irregular and unfamiliar spelling of the ori- 
 ginal renders the book difficult for the general reader to enjoy. In the 
 later ones the text has been modernised with more freedom than fidelity. 
 In the present edition the spelling alone will be modernised, whilst the 
 phraseology and grammatical peculiarities of the original will be carefully 
 preserved. 
 
 The most valuable of the annotations of the Rev. Julius Hutchinson will 
 be retained, and a large number of new explanatory and illustrative notes 
 will be added. Letters written by Colonel Hutchinson during his govern- 
 ment of Nottingham, and other documents of interest, will be for the first 
 time collected. A full and accurate index to the Memoirs will complete 
 the work. 
 
 A number of etchings from the portraits of persons of whom mention is 
 made in the text will help to render this a worthy edition of an English 
 classic. 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W, C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 Old Times. 
 
 A PICTURE OF SOCIAL LIFE AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH 
 CENTURY. 
 
 Collected and Illustrated from the Satirical and other Sketches of the Day. 
 
 By JOHN ASHTON, 
 
 Author of " Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne." 
 
 One Volume, fine paper, medium 8vo, handsome binding, Eighty Illustra- 
 tions, price 2is. 
 
 NOTE. Sixty copies will be printed on fine laid imperial 8vo paper, 
 with an extra \2 plates, not so suitable for the ordinary edition. 
 
 [Ready in March. 
 
 This book is a compendium of the Social Life in England at the end of 
 the last century, corresponding with Mr. Ashton's " Social Life in the 
 Reign of Queen Anne." 
 
 Avoiding history, except in so far as to make the work intelligible, it 
 deals purely with the daily life of our great-grandfathers. Nothing is 
 taken from diaries or lives of the upper classes ; it aims solely to give a 
 fair account of the life of the majority of people then living, or, as we 
 now term it, of the middle class. This could best be done by taking the 
 daily notices in the press, which would, naturally, be a perfect record of 
 each passing folly of fashion, or even of the markets ; so that, by this 
 means, we get a glimpse of the inner life of that time, unattainable by any 
 other method. 
 
 "The Times," which commenced 1st January 1788, is taken by pre- 
 ference, but when that authority is unavailing, other contemporaneous 
 newspapers have been consulted. 
 
 Profusely illustrated from the satirical and other sketches of the day, it 
 forms a volume of reliable authority, such as, up to the present time, has 
 been looked for in vain. 
 
 The work will contain some eighty full-page illustrations. 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 Uniform with " Characters of La Bruylre" and a "Handbook of 
 Gastronomy," 
 
 Robin Hood. 
 
 A COLLECTION OF ALL THE ANCIENT POEMS, SONGS, AND BALLADS 
 now extant, relative to that celebrated English Outlaw ; 
 
 To which are prefixed Historical Anecdotes of his Life, 
 By JOSEPH BITSON. 
 
 Illustrated with Seventy-Four Wood Engravings, by the celebrated 
 THOMAS BEWICK. 
 
 Also Six Original Drawings, painted by A. H. TOURIUER and etched by 
 an eminent French Etcher. 
 
 8vo, half parchment, gilt top, 423. 
 
 NOTE. 300 copies printed, and each numbered. Type distributed. 
 Also sixty copies on fine imperial paper, with etchings in two states. 
 Each copy numbered. [Ready in March. 
 
 This edition of " ROBIN HOOD " is printed from that published in 1832, 
 which was carefully edited and printed from Mr. RITSON'S own annotated 
 edition of 1795. 
 
 The Original Wood Engravings by the celebrated THOMAS BEWICK 
 have been again used, and, from being printed on China paper, will be 
 found superior in clearness and beauty to the first impressions. 
 
 The Six Etchings now given are from newly-painted drawings by 
 A. H. TOURRIER. 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W, C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 Jlfcpmances of Jnanta$\> anfc Rumour. 
 
 Olntform faritf) tfje l &pams[j anU (JHngltsJ) Romances.) 
 
 To be completed in Twelve Volumes crown 8vo, cloth or parchment, 
 
 Js. 6d. per volume, 
 And Illustrated -with Etchings by Eminent Artists. 
 
 The Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan 
 Poe, 
 
 With Biographical Essay by JOHN H. INGRAM ; and Fourteen Original 
 Etchings, Three Photogravures, and a Portrait newly etched from a life- 
 like Daguerreotype of the Author. In Four Volumes, crown 8vo. 
 
 Weird Tales, by E. T. W. Hoffmann, 
 
 A NEW TRANSLATION FROM THE GERMAN. 
 
 With Biographical Memoir, by J. T. BEALBY, formerly Scholar of Corpus 
 Christi College, Cambridge. 
 
 With Portrait and Ten Original Etchings, by AD. LALAUZE, 
 in Two Volumes, crown 8vo. 
 
 NOTE. The type is distributed as the edition is printed, the impression 
 of which is one thousand copies crown 8vo, and one hundred and fifty each 
 large fine paper copies, with Etchings on Japanese and Whatman paper. 
 
 SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 "A very handsome edition, in four volumes, of the Tales and Poems of 
 Edgar Allan Poe. The edition is remarkable for containing the fragment 
 called 'The Journal of Julius Rodman,' hitherto unpublished in any collec- 
 tion. Furthermore, it should be stated that in the new edition the works are, 
 for the first time, intelligibly classified." 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 " Mr. Ingram is so well known for his great knowledge of Poe, and the ser- 
 vices he has rendered to the poet's fame, that there is little need to dwell at 
 length on this handsome and convenient edition which he has edited for Mr. 
 Nimmo. The tales have been classified ; the poems have been chronologically 
 arranged as they should be ; the text has been corrected and revised. Both 
 publisher and editor may be congratulated on this edition." 
 
 Notes and Queries. 
 
 " This new edition puts forward strong claims upon recognition. It is, in 
 the first place, the most attractive collection that has yet appeared, the etch- 
 ings with which it is accompanied giving it precedence over any other edition. 
 Mr. Ingram 's biographical essay is remarkable in the respect that it gives a 
 concise, a readable, and an animated account of Poe's career." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C. 
 
 A 2
 
 io Publications of John C. Rimmo. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS continued. 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " The volumes before us are unquestionably the fullest and best arranged 
 edition of Poe's writings as yet given to the world ; in fact, it is the only one 
 in which any serious attempt is made to classify the prose tales, those of 
 Imagination being assigned to one volume and those of Humour to another, 
 the Miscellaneous Stories and the Poems filling the third and fourth." 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 "Mr. John H. Ingram is well known to be a specialist on the subject of 
 Edgar Allan Poe, himself the most insoluble of the many problems with which 
 he mystified the world. The etchings and photogravures are most appropriate. 
 There is something entirely harmonious with the manner of Poe in the weird 
 Rembrandtesque effects attainable by these processes, and the artists have 
 entered thoroughly into the spirit of their task." 
 
 Whitehall Review. 
 
 "In the empire of fantasy Hoffmann is undisputed autocrat. Indeed, that 
 empire is itself strangely limited, and contains not only few possible rivals and 
 peers, but very few subjects. We can easily count on the fingers of our two 
 liands all the names that can with any show of reason be mentioned in connec- 
 tion with that of Hoffmann's in the part of the continent of romance where he 
 has built his kingdom. Next and nearest to Hoffmann comes his wild Ameri- 
 can brother, Edgar Allan Poe, kinsman in mind, kinsman in riot, kinsman in 
 melancholy death. What Mr. Bealby has done he has done well, and as his 
 book is beautifully printed and illustrated with some delightful etchings by 
 Lalauze, it will be a welcome friend on the shelves of the few who have long 
 known and loved Hoffmann, and of the many who must love him if they will 
 give themselves the pleasure of reading these ten intoxicatingly attractive 
 stories. " 
 
 British Medical Journal. 
 
 "A new translation from the German, in two volumes, with ten origina 
 etchings by Ad. Lalauze. These tales, to many to whom they will now be- 
 come known for the first time, will have a charm which they largely possess in 
 the original, and of which they have lost little by being translated into another 
 tongue." 
 
 Bookseller. 
 
 " An acceptable service has been rendered to students of German literature 
 by presenting, in a handsome and compact form, the volume of the stories by 
 Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, a striking figure in the most attractive 
 period of German imaginative literature. The stories are in themselves very 
 attractive, and would have made a reputation for a less gifted author ; but 
 Hoffmann always appeared to be capable of greater achievements, which he 
 never realised. Carlyle said of him, 'There are the materials of a glorious 
 poet, but no poet has been fashioned out of them.' Imagination he unques- 
 tionably possessed, fancy was still more conspicuous, and he possessed a 
 strange, weird faculty of relating incidents which appear to have been con- 
 ceived in dreams, exercising an influence over the reader which it is difficult to 
 account for on ordinary principles of criticism. Mr. Bealby 's biographical 
 memoir is well written, and his estimate of Hoffmann's powers appear to be 
 able and impartial. Eleven stories are included in this collection, and, bes'ides 
 a portrait of the author, eleven exquisite etchings by Lalauze little gems of 
 art." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 The Characters of Jean de La Bruyere. 
 
 NEWLY RENDERED INTO ENGLISH. 
 
 With an Introduction, Biographical Memoir, and Copious Notes, 
 
 By HENRI VAN LAUN. 
 
 With Seven Etched Portraits by B. DAMMAN, and Seventeen Vignettes 
 etched by V. FOULQUIER, and printed on China paper. 
 
 8vo, half-parchment, gilt top, 423. 
 
 NOTE. Three hundred copies printed, and each numbered. Type 
 distributed. 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 " If either the living M. Van Laun or the dead M. de La Bruyere is dissatisfied 
 with the care and expense which the publisher has apparently devoted to the 
 equipping of the Characters of Jean de La Bruylre, translated by Henri Van 
 Laun, all we can say is that there is a very unreasonable translator in this 
 world or a very unreasonable author in the other. Almost all the details of the 
 book's production deserve praise." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " M. Van Laun's translation of the immortal Caracteres deserves one recom- 
 mendation at least, which may be given heartily and without stint or qualifica- 
 tion. It is one of the handsomest books that have recently been issued from 
 any English press or publishing house, tastefully bound, portly without being 
 unwieldy, excellently printed, with well proportioned margins, and on paper of 
 good colour, texture, and substance." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "This English rendering of La Bruyere should be welcome to all who study 
 style. As M. Van Laun aptly remarks, 'perhaps no author is oftener quoted 
 in Littr^'s " Dictionnaire de la Langue Franfaise" than is La Bruyere.' The 
 present edition is adorned with many etched portraits and vignettes." 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " La Bruyere was one of those men who have risen from time to time in France, 
 and who, in the midst of comparatively frivolous surroundings, wrote down 
 high and useful thoughts. The book is a repertory of wit and wisdom. It has 
 furnished many an orator with suggestions ; it is a mine from which many of 
 the philosophers of these later days have drawn what seem to have been some 
 of their happiest inspirations, and in its present form it will do much to foster 
 thought and enlarge the sphere of the reader's knowledge." 
 Notes and Queries. 
 
 " To see M. Van Laun's English at its best, the chapter on opinions should 
 be read. The short, crisp, epigrammatic sentences of this are reproduced in 
 English with singular spirit and fidelity. To say that this is the best transla- 
 tion of La Bruyere is little. . . . He has, besides, enriched his edition with a 
 series of admirable notes. A chief attraction of the volume has yet to be 
 mentioned. Six portraits specially etched by M. Damman, a series of lovely 
 headpieces etched by M. Foulquier, and a portrait of La Bruyere by the same 
 artist, render the book one of the most sumptueus issued from the English 
 press." 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 " Handsome even among the handsome books which the last few years have 
 seen issuing in much greater numbers from the English press than at any time 
 during the present century. The merit of this version and the remarkable 
 beauty of the book ought pretty speedily to exhaust the limited edition which 
 has, we understand, been printed, and which, according to a practice agreeable 
 to collectors, if not to lovers of literature, the publisher binds himself not to 
 reprint." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 12 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 Carols and Poems 
 
 FROM THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 Edited by A. H. BULLEN. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations newly designed by HENRY G. WELLS. 
 Post 8vo, full parchment, gilt top, price ios. 6d. 
 
 NOTE. One hundred and twenty copies printed on fine medium 8vo 
 paper, with the illustrations on Japanese paper. Each copy numbered. 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " Since the publication of Mr. Sandys's collection there have been many books 
 issued on carols ; but the most complete by far that we have met with is Mr. 
 Bullen's new volume, ' Carols and Poems from the Fifteenth Century to the 
 Present Time. ' The preface contains an interesting account of Christmas fes- 
 tivities and the use of carols. Mr. Bullen has exercised great care in verifying 
 and correcting the collections of his predecessors, and he has joined to them 
 two modern poems by Hawker, two by Mr. William Morris, and others by Mr. 
 Swinburne, Mr. Symonds, and Miss Rossetti. No one has been more success- 
 ful than Mr. Morris in imitating the ancient carol ; 
 
 ' Outlanders, whence come ye last? 
 
 The snow in the street and the wind on the door. 
 Through what green sea and great have ye past 2 
 Minstrels and maids stand forth on the floor.' 
 
 Altogether this is one of the most welcome books of the season." 
 
 Spectator. 
 
 "Mr. Bullen divides his 'Carols and Poems from the Fifteenth Century to 
 the Present Time' into three parts, 'Christmas Chants and Carols,' 'Carmina 
 Sacra,' and 'Christmas Customs and Christmas Cheer.' These make up 
 together between seventy and eighty poems of one kind and another. The 
 selection has been carefully made from a wide range of authors. Indeed, it is 
 curious to see the very mixed company which the subject of Christmas has 
 brought together as, indeed, it is quite right that it should. Altogether, the 
 result is a very interesting book. " 
 
 Morning Post. 
 
 " Good Christian people all, and more especially those of artistic or poetic 
 inclinations, will feel indebted to the editor and publisher of this fascinating 
 volume, which, bound as it is in white parchment vellum, ornamented with 
 sprigs of holly, may fairly claim to be considered par excellence the gift book of 
 the season. ' Carols and Poems ' are supplemented by voluminous and in- 
 teresting; notes by the editor, who also contributes some very graceful dedicatory 
 verses." 
 
 Notes and Queries. 
 
 " Mr. Bullen does not indeed pretend to cater for those who regard carols 
 from a purely antiquarian point of view. His book is intended to be popular 
 rather than scholarly. Scholarly none the less it is, and representative also, 
 including as it does every form of Christmas strain, from early mysteries down 
 to poems so modern as not previously to have seen the light." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C, Nimmo. 13 
 
 Egyptian Obelisks. 
 
 By HENRY H. GORRINGE. 
 
 With Fifty full-page Illustrations, Thirty-one Artotypes, Eighteen 
 Engravings, and One Chroma-lithograph. 
 
 Royal 410, cloth elegant, price 425. 
 
 NOTE. This work is devoted to what may be termed the recent records 
 of those striking monuments of history, minute particulars of the difficulties 
 which have been experienced in the transportation of many across the high 
 seas, and the engineering operations by which these have been overcome. 
 
 The Times. 
 
 "There is really more stirring incident in the book than in many a popular 
 sensational novel, though much of the technical matter may be only of value 
 to experts and engineers. But every one ought to be interested in the inge- 
 nious speculations as to the means by which the ancient Egyptians manipulated 
 and moved the ponderous masses of stone, which may endure while the world 
 remains as colossal monuments of their achievements." 
 
 Building and Engineering Times. 
 
 "The American engineer, pardonably enough, gives the foremost place to 
 his own work, and we have illustrations of the mode in which he cased the 
 obelisk after possession was given to him, how he lowered and finally conveyed 
 it and its pedestal to New York, and there re-erected it. On taking it down it 
 was found by an inscription on the ' crabs ' which supported it that it was 
 erected by Pontius, an architect, in the reign of Augustus Caesar (circa 22 B.C.), 
 and its size and weight are about the same as the obelisk on the Thames 
 Embankment, weighing about 448,000 Ibs. , 69 ft. high, and 7 ft. 9 in. square 
 at base. The greatest known obelisk erected is that of the Lateran, which 
 weighs 1,020,000 Ibs., and is as 104 to 64 in height to the obelisk on the 
 Thames Embankment. In the quarry at Syene there is one less in height but 
 greater in bulk, whose estimated weight is no less than 1,540,000 Ibs. The 
 smallest recorded is one at Lepsius, which only weighs some 200 Ibs. Thus 
 we have them of all sizes and weights. ... Of the inscriptions and their 
 purport we need here say nothing, but refer the curious to the valuable con- 
 tribution to our knowledge on the subject which we owe to Lieut. -Commander 
 Gorringe, whose handsome volume is profusely and elegantly illustrated. " 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " Lieutenant-Commander Henry Gorringe has contrived to make a volume 
 which holds some curious matter likely to amuse the general reader, besides 
 carrying out the primal and technical objects of the work. There is a chapter 
 on Egyptian obelisks in general, and notes on the ancient methods of quarry- 
 ing, transporting, &c., while forty full-page illustrations and numerous 'arto- 
 types ' add to the usefulness of the book." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 14 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 NEW WORK by GEORGE W. CABLE, Author of "Old Creole Days," 
 "The Grandissimes," &c. 
 
 The Creoles of Louisiana. 
 
 With Fifty Full-page Illustrations. 
 Square 8vo, cloth, gilt top, price los. 6d. 
 
 Daily News. 
 
 "Mr. Cable's account of the Creoles and history of Louisiana are curious in 
 themselves and full of picturesque interest. Necessarily the story centres in 
 the capital of the province, which, together with its environs, furnishes a 
 considerable proportion of the subjects of Mr. Pennell's charming picture?. 
 The story of the battle of New Orleans, when the British forces were so dis- 
 astrously, though not ingloriously, defeated under the Duke of Wellington's 
 brother-in-law, Pakenham, by General Jackson, is told with spirit in a narrative 
 which the reader will find it interesting to compare with the accounts by 
 English authorities." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "Written with a purity which is itself indicative of ancestral or patriotic 
 pride, this book is full of interest, and its many illustrations of the picturesque 
 old city, which looks as though it had been transported bodily from Southern 
 Europe, increase the value of the text." 
 
 St. James's Gazette. 
 
 " This book recalls the period when France bid fair to be a greater colonial 
 power than England, when her settlements in America were apparently more 
 flourishing than ours, and when in India her influence was greater. No man 
 is more competent than Mr. Cable for the work he has here undertaken. He 
 knows his subject thoroughly the land and the people alike ; while as a 
 writer he belongs to the elect, who are ' born, not made.' His work is one of 
 great interest and lasting value." 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " Mr. Cable is the poet of the Creole and of New Orleans, He has written 
 for the delectation, not merely of the American public, but of the whole world, 
 a series of stories of Creole life in New Orleans, which for tenderness and 
 beauty are nowhere surpassed. ... It is a book in which there is much of 
 historical value told by one who loves his subject, and who has always some 
 
 touch of tenderness with which to light up the dark passages There is 
 
 lucidity in every sentence." 
 
 Manchester Examiner. 
 
 "Mr. Cable is now an authority about Creoles, and he provides us with a 
 definition which effectually shuts out all idea of negro blood ; he calls them 
 "the French-speaking native portion of the ruling class" in Louisiana, and 
 they do not extend much beyond the city of New Orleans. The very beautiful 
 volume before us is really a history of the short but chequered life of this city, 
 from its French foundation to the present time. History does much to make 
 a city picturesque, and the picturesque look which New Orleans has more than 
 any other American city is not a little owing to the time when French and 
 Spanish banners waved over her. The book contains some charming illus- 
 trations." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 15 
 
 A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys. 
 
 By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 
 
 With Thirty-six New and Original Illustrations by the eminent American 
 Artist, FREDERIC S. CHURCH. 
 
 Royal 8vo, cloth elegant, price los. 6d. 
 
 Extract from the Author's Preface. 
 
 " In performing this pleasant task for it has been really a task fit for hot 
 weather, and one of the most agreeable, of a literary kind, which he ever 
 undertook the author has not always thought it necessary to write downward 
 in order to meet the comprehension of children. He has generally suffered 
 the theme to soar, whenever such was its tendency, and when he himself was 
 buoyant enough to follow without an effort. Children possess an unestimated 
 sensibility to whatever is deep or high in imagination or feeling, so long as it 
 is simple likewise. It is only the artificial and the complex that bewilder 
 them." 
 
 Magazine of Art. 
 
 " The new edition of Hawthorne's delightful ' Wonder Book,' which has just 
 been issued by Mr. Nimmo, should be one of the books of the season. Haw- 
 thorne retold the old stories ' King Midas,' the ' Quest of the Golden Apples,' 
 the ' Slaying of the Gorgon,' and all the rest of them so beautifully and well, 
 that his work is even now as full of life and charm as it was when it was first 
 given to the world." 
 
 The Graphic. 
 
 " Perhaps English boys and girls are not over-familiar with Nathaniel Haw- 
 thorne's delightful rendering of classic myths, so that the present handsome 
 edition of a ' Wonder Book ' will form an acceptable gift. Mr. Church's en- 
 gravings are cleverly drawn, and as imaginative as the legends they illustrate." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " It is now almost thirty-five years since the author of ' The Scarlet Letter' 
 and ' The House with the Seven Gables ' offered his re-readings of classical 
 myths to a rising generation which has since risen, and is giving place to 
 younger comers. By the very indestructibility of these immortal fables, they 
 are legitimate subjects, as the author pleads, ' for every age to clothe with its 
 own garniture of manners and sentiment, and to imbue with its own morality.' " 
 
 Literary World. 
 
 "The present edition of the 'Wonder Book' is probably the handsomest 
 form in which it has ever appeared. It is beautifully illustrated with thirty-six 
 new original drawings by an eminent artist, and has further the attractions of 
 fine paper and printing and handsome binding. In its new dress it ought to 
 find many new friends, and revisit many of the old ones too." 
 
 Illustrated London News. 
 
 " Nathaniel Hawthorne, prince of American story-tellers, wrote a ' Wonder 
 Book for Girls and Boys, 1 consisting of six fine old legends of classical origin, 
 or of still remoter antiquity, which he interfused with Gothic or German senti- 
 ment, and made them attractive to modern youthful minds, and not yet worn, 
 out by two or three thousand years' popularity among different nations." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 1 6 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 A VERY FUNNY ILLUSTRATED HUMOROUS BOOK. 
 
 Stuff and Nonsense. 
 
 By A. B. FROST, 
 
 The Illustrator of Carroll's " Rhyme and Reason." 
 
 Small 410, illustrated boards, price 6s. 
 
 Mr. Frost has made a wonderfully amusing and clever book. There 
 are in all more than one hundred pictures, many with droll verses and 
 ludicrous jingles. Others are unaccompanied by any text, for no one 
 knows better than Mr. Frost how to tell a funny story, in the funniest way, 
 with his artist's pencil. 
 
 Standard. 
 
 " This is a book which will please equally people of all ages. The illustra- 
 tions are not only extremely funny, but they are drawn with wonderful artistic 
 ability, and are full of life and action. 
 
 " It is far and away the best book of ' Stuff and Nonsense ' which has ap- 
 peared for a long time." 
 
 Times. 
 
 " It is a most grotesque medley of mad ideas, carried out nevertheless with a 
 certain regard to consistency, if not to probability." 
 
 Figaro. 
 
 "The verses and jingles which accompany some of the illustrations are ex- 
 cellent fooling, but Mr. Frost is also able to tell a ludicrous story with his 
 pencil only." 
 
 Press. 
 
 "The most facetious bit of wit that has been penned for many a day, both 
 in design and text, is Mr. A. B. Frost's 'Stuff and Nonsense.' 'A Tale of a 
 Cat' is funny, 'The Balloonists' is perhaps rather extravagant, but nothing can 
 outdo the wit of 'The Powers of the Human Eye,' whilst 'Ye ^Esthete, ye Boy, 
 and ye Bullfrog' may be described as a 'roarer.' Mr. Frost's pen and pencil 
 know how to chronicle fun, and their outcomes should not be overlooked." 
 
 Graphic. 
 " Grotesque in the extreme. His jokes will rouse many a laugh." 
 
 Daily News. 
 
 "There is really a marvellous abundance of fun in this volume of a harmless 
 kind." 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 " Clever sketches of grotesque incidents." 
 
 Literary World. 
 "A hundred and twenty excruciatingly funny sketches." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 The History of England, 
 
 FROM THE FIRST INVASION BY THE ROMANS TO THE ACCESSION OF 
 WILLIAM AND MARY IN 1688. 
 
 By JOHN LINGARD, D.D. 
 
 Copyright Edition, with Ten Etched Portraits. In Ten Vols. demy 8vo, 
 cloth, 5, 55. 
 
 This New Copyright Library Edition of " Lingard's History of Eng- 
 land," besides containing all the latest notes and emendations of the 
 Author, with Memoir, is enriched with Ten Portraits, newly etched by 
 Damman, of the following personages, viz. : Dr. Lingard, Edward I., 
 Edward III., Cardinal Wolsey, Cardinal Pole, Elizabeth, James I., Crom- 
 well, Charles II., James II. 
 
 The Times. 
 
 " No greater service can be rendered to literature than the republication, in 
 a handsome and attractive form, of works which time and the continued appro- 
 bation of the world have made classical. . . . The accuracy of Lingard's state- 
 ments on many points of controversy, as well as the genial sobriety of his view, 
 is now recognised." 
 
 The Tablet. 
 
 " It is with the greatest satisfaction that we welcome this new edition of Dr. 
 Lingard's ' History of England.' It has long been a desideratum. . . . No 
 general history of England has appeared which can at all supply the place of 
 Lingard, whose painstaking industry and careful research have dispelled many 
 a popular delusion, whose candour always carries his reader with him, and 
 whose clear and even style is never fatiguing." 
 The Spectator. 
 
 " Wfe are glad to see that the demand for Dr. Lingard's England still con. 
 tinues. Few histories give the reader the same impression of exhaustive study. 
 This new edition is excellently printed, and illustrated with ten portraits of 
 the greatest personages in our history." 
 
 Dublin Review. 
 
 " It is pleasant to notice that the demand for Lingard continues to be such 
 that publishers venture on a well got-up library edition like the one before us. 
 More than sixty years have gone since the first volume of the first edition was 
 published ; many equally pretentious histories have appeared during that space, 
 and have more or less disappeared since, yet Lingard lives is still a recognised 
 and respected authority." 
 
 The Scotsman. 
 
 " There is no need, at this time of day, to say anything in vindication of the 
 importance, as a standard work, of Dr. Lingard's ' History of England.' . . . 
 Its intrinsic merits are very great The style is lucid, pointed, and puts no 
 strain upon the reader ; and the printer and publisher have neglected nothing 
 that could make this what it is likely long to remain the standard edition of 
 a work of great historical and literary value." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "True learning, untiring research, a philosophic temper, and the possession 
 of a graphic, pleasing style, were the qualities which the author brought to his 
 task, and they are displayed in every chapter of his history." 
 Weekly Register. 
 
 " In the full force of the word a scholarly book. Lingard's History is 
 destined to bear a part of growing importance in English education." 
 Manchester Examiner. 
 
 " He stands alone in his own school ; he is the only representative of his 
 own phase of thought. The critical reader will do well to compare him with 
 those who went before and those who came after him." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, VV. C,
 
 1 8 Publications of John C, Nimnw. 
 
 Imaginary Conversations. 
 
 By WALTER SAVAGE LA2STDOU. 
 
 In Five Vols. crown 8vo, cloth, 303. 
 
 FIRST SERIES CLASSICAL DIALOGUES, GREEK AND ROMAN. 
 SECOND SERIES DIALOGUES OF SOVEREIGNS AND STATESMEN. 
 THIRD SERIES DIALOGUES OF LITERARY MEN. 
 FOURTH SERIES DIALOGUES OF FAMOUS WOMEN. 
 FIFTH SERIES MISCELLANEOUS DIALOGUES. 
 
 NOTE. This New Edition is printed from the last Edition of his Works, 
 revised and edited by John Forster, and is published by arrangement with 
 the Proprietors of the Copyright of Walter Savage Landor's Works. 
 
 The Times. 
 
 "The abiding character of the interest excited by the writings of Walter 
 Savage Landor, and the existence of a numerous band of votaries at the shrine 
 of his refined genius, have been lately evidenced by the appearance of the most 
 remarkable of Landor's productions, his ' Imaginary Conversations," taken from 
 the last edition of his works. To have them in a separate publication will be 
 convenient to a great number of readers. " 
 
 The Athenaeum. 
 
 "The appearance of this tasteful reprint would seem to indicate that the 
 present generation is at last waking up to the fact that it has neglected a great 
 writer, and if so, it is well to begin with Landor's most adequate work. It 
 is difficult to overpraise the ' Imaginary Conversations.' The eulogiums 
 bestowed on the ' Conversations ' by Emerson will, it is to be hoped, lead 
 many to buy this book." 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 "An excellent service has been done to the reading public by presenting to 
 it, in five compact volumes, these ' Conversations.' Admirably printed on good 
 paper, the volumes are handy in shape, and indeed the edition is all that could 
 be desired. When this has been said, it will be understood what a boon has 
 been conferred on the reading public ; and it should enable many compara- 
 tively poor men to enrich their libraries with a work that will have an enduring 
 interest." 
 
 Literary World. 
 
 " That the ' Imaginary Conversations ' of Walter Savage Landor are not 
 better known is no doubt largely due to their inaccessibility to most readers, by 
 reason of their cost. This new issue, while handsome enough to find a place 
 in the best of libraries, is not beyond the reach of the ordinary bookbuyer." 
 
 Edinburgh Review. 
 
 " How rich in scholarship! how correct, concise, and pure in style! how 
 full of imagination, wit, and humour ! how well informed, how bold in specula- 
 tion, how various in interest, how universal in sympathy ! In these dialogues 
 making allowance for every shortcoming or excess -the most familiar and 
 the most august shapes of the past are reanimated with vigour, grace, and 
 beauty. We are in the high and goodly company of wits and men of letters ; 
 of churchmen, lawyers, and statesmen ; of party-men, soldiers, and kings ; of 
 the most tender, delicate, and noble women ; and of figures that seem this 
 instant to have left for us the Agora or the Schools of Athens, the Forum or 
 the Senate of Rome." 
 
 14 King William Streei, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimiito. 19 
 
 The Fables of La Fontaine. 
 
 A REVISED TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 With 24 original full-page Etchings and Portrait by A. DELIERKE. 
 
 Super royal 8vo, half parchment elegant, gilt top, 315. 6d. 
 
 NOTE. 300 copies printed. Type distributed. 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 " Mr. Nimmo has issued ' The Fables of La Fontaine,' with etchings by A. 
 Delierre, who has designed and drawn them in a manner which is curiously in 
 keeping with the date, and even with the taste, of La Fontaine. They are 
 neatly delineated and prettily composed." 
 
 Bookseller. 
 
 ' ' We are tempted to linger over these beautiful etchings ; and how gratified 
 will be the fortunate recipients of such a book, elegant as it is in style and 
 workmanship, and embellished with drawings of the highest merit." 
 
 Spectator. 
 
 ' ' This translation has the recommendation of being sufficiently easy and 
 readable. The merits of the etchings with which it is illustrated are evident." 
 
 Art Journal. 
 
 " An admirable translation, founded on that of Robert Thompson ; and the 
 etchings which lighten this present edition are very good." 
 
 Daily News. 
 
 " The force and breadth of M. Delierre's etchings contrast favourably with 
 the pretty feebleness which is apt to characterise the efforts of the etcher's 
 needle when employed on book illustrations. The elegant simplicity of the 
 vellum back and grey-green covers, with their decorative ornaments, is very 
 pleasing to the eye." 
 
 Harper's Monthly. 
 
 ' ' The happy rendering of the quaint and piquant fables, and the perfection 
 with which the printer and binder have done their work, make the volume 
 everything that could be desired." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " This beautiful edition of ' The Fables of La Fontaine,' which now appears 
 in a form that is highly creditable to the publisher as well as to the printer, is 
 enriched with etchings by Delierre, which are admirable alike for quality and 
 appropriateness." 
 
 Westminster Review. 
 
 " A splendid edition of ' The Fables of La Fontaine,' with twenty-five 
 original etchings by Delierre. Of these we cannot speak too highly, and 
 select for special commendation the portiait of La Fontaine, the Heron, the 
 IVacock, and the Ducks and Tortoise." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 20 
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 The Fan. 
 
 By OCTAVE TJZANNE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAUL AVRIL. 
 
 Royal 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 313. 6d. 
 
 The Sunshade, Muff, and Glove. 
 
 By OCTAVE TJZANNE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAUL AVRIL. 
 Royal 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 315. 6d. 
 
 NOTE. The above are English Editions of the unique and artistic -works 
 " U Eventail " and " L' Ombrelle" recently published in Paris, and now 
 difficult to be procured, as no new Edition is to be produced, joo copies only 
 are printed, 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 "An English counterpart of the well known French books by Octave 
 Uzanne, with Paul Avril's charming illustrations." 
 Standard. 
 
 "It gives a complete history of fans of all ages and places ; the illustrations 
 are dainty in the extreme. Those who wish to make a pretty and appropriate 
 present to a young lady cannot do better than purchase ' The Fan.' " 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 " The letterpress comprises much amusing 'chit-chat,' and is more solid than 
 it pretends to be. This brochure is worth reading ; nay, it is worth keeping." 
 Art Journal. 
 
 " At first sight it would seem that material could never be found to fill even 
 a volume ; but the author, in dealing with his first subject alone, 'The Sun- 
 shade,' says he could easily have filled a dozen volumes of this emblem of 
 sovereignty. The work is delightfully illustrated in a novel manner by Paul Avril, 
 the pictures which meander about the work being printed in varied colours." 
 Daily News. 
 
 " The pretty adornments of the margin of these artistic volumes, the nume- 
 rous ornamental designs, and the pleasant vein of the author's running com- 
 mentary, render these the most attractive monographs ever published on a 
 theme which interests so many enthusiastic collectors." 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 " ' I have but collected a heap of foreign flowers, and brought of my own 
 only the string which binds them together,' is the fitting quotation with which 
 M. Uzanne closes the preface to his volume on woman's ornaments. The 
 monograph on the sunshade, called by the author 'a little tumbled fantasy,' 
 occupies fully one-half of the volume. It begins with a pleasant invented 
 mythology of the parasol ; glances at the sunshade in all countries and times ; 
 mentions many famous umbrellas ; quotes a number of clever sayings. . . . 
 To these remarks on the spirit of the book it is necessary to add that the body 
 of it is a dainty marvel of paper, type, and binding ; and that what meaning 
 it has looks out on the reader through a hundred argus-eyes of many-tinted 
 photogravures, exquisitely designed by M. Paul Avril." 
 Westminster Review. 
 
 " The most striking merit of the book is the entire appropriateness both of 
 the letterpress and illustrations to the subject treated. M. Uzanne's style has 
 all the airy grace and sparkling brilliancy of the petit instrument whose praise 
 he celebrates ; and M. Avril's drawings seem to conduct us into an enchanted 
 world where everything but fans are forgotten." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 21 
 
 A Handbook of Gastronomy 
 
 (BRILLAT-SAVARIN'S " Physiologic du Gout"). 
 
 New and Complete Translation, with 52 original Etchings by 
 A. LALAUZE. 
 
 Printed on China Paper. 
 8vo, half parchment, gilt top, 423. 
 
 NOTE. joo copies printed, and each numbered. Type distributed. 
 (Out of print.} 
 
 The Times. 
 
 "The translator's notes are interesting and scholarly; and M. Lalauze's 
 etchings are so prettily executed, that they form quite an attractive gallery of 
 bijou pictures. " 
 
 The Athenaeum. 
 
 "A new and complete translation of Brillat-Savarin's ' Physiologic du Gout,' 
 former editions of this piquant work being more or less incomplete. The trans- 
 lation is lively, clear, and practically exact. No man who likes his dinner ought 
 to dine without having read this book at least once. The vignettes and culs- 
 de-lampe are charming, and the only cause for regret is that fifty-two is not half 
 so many as we could have welcomed. " 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "A numbered edition of the ' Physiologic du Gout,' translated afresh into 
 English, and illustrated with upwards of fifty Etchings by Lalauze. It is a 
 volume for connoisseurs." 
 
 The Saturday Review. 
 
 "The translation is a decidedly good one. The paper is splendid, and 
 taken as a whole the work has been well done. Therefore we would say, read 
 'A Handbook of Gastronomy,' and as Brillat-Savarin himself would put it, 
 ' You will see something wonderful.' " 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " The excellence of this volume depends not only upon the goodness of the 
 translation of Savarin's book it is all that could be desired but upon the 
 general beauty of its get up, and its illustrations by Lalauze.'' 
 
 Illustrated London News. 
 
 " One of the most sumptuous books of the season is the 'Handbook of 
 Gastronomy,' being a new translation of Brillat-Savarin's ' Physiologic du 
 Gout.' The English translation has been executed with the minutest care and 
 the most thorough appreciativeness. Among its charms, with its handsome 
 paper, uncut edges, and ' river of type running through a meadow of margin,' 
 are the fifty-two exquisite illustrative etchings by A. Lalauze, printed on China 
 paper in the text." 
 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 "In every respect a dainty volume, and replete with excellent matter 
 throughout." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
 
 22 Publications of John C, Nitnmo. 
 
 Imperial Svo, fine paper. 
 
 The Complete Angler; 
 
 OR, THE CONTEMPLATIVE MAN'S RECREATION OF IZAAK 
 WALTON AND CHARLES COTTON. 
 
 Edited by JOHN MAJOR. 
 
 This Extra-illustrated Edition of THE COMPLETE ANGLER is specially 
 designed for Collectors of this famous work ; and in order to enable them 
 either to take from or add to the Illustrations, it will simply be issued 
 unbound, but folded and collated. 
 
 The Illustrations consist of Fifty Steel Plates, designed by T. STOT- 
 HARD, R.A., JAMES INSKIP, EDWARD HASSEI.L, DKLAMOTTE, BINKEN- 
 hooM, W. HIXON, SIR FRANCIS SYKES, Bart., PINE, &c. &c., and 
 engraved by well-known Engravers. Also Six Original Etchings and 
 Two Portraits, as well as Seventy-four Engravings on Wood by various 
 Eminent Artists. 
 
 To this is added a PRACTICAL TREATISE on FI.IES and FLY HOOKS, 
 by the late JOHN JACKSON, of Tanfield Mill, with Ten Steel Plates, 
 coloured, representing 120 Flies, natural and artificial. 
 
 One Hundred and Twenty copies only are printed, each of -which is 
 numbered. 
 
 A HANDSOME LARGE FINE PAPER EDITION OF 
 
 The Works of William Hickling Prescott. 
 
 In 15 Volumes Svo, cloth (not sold separately), 255. per vol. 
 With 30 Portraits printed on India paper. 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 "In point of style Prescott ranks with the ablest English historians, and 
 paragraphs may be found in his volumes in which the grace and elegance of 
 Addison are combined with Robertson's majestic cadence and Gibbon's 
 brilliancy. " 
 
 J. Lothrop Motley. 
 
 " Wherever the English language is spoken over the whole earth his name is 
 perfectly familiar. We all of us know what his place was in America. But 
 I can also say that in eight years (1851-59) passed abroad I never met a 
 single educated person of whatever nation that was not acquainted with his 
 fame, and hardly one who had not read his works. No living American name 
 is so widely spread over the whole world." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo, 23 
 
 Types from Spanish Story; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE OLD MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF CASTILE. 
 By JAMES MEW. 
 
 With 36 Proof Etchings on Japanese paper by R. DE Los Rios. 
 
 Super royal 8vo, elegant and rechcrcht Binding after the 
 iSth Century, 315. 6d. 
 
 The Times. 
 
 " It was a happy thought that of illustrating the most famous Spanish or 
 Franco-Spanish romances with this blending of the real, the quaint, and the 
 fantastic. The volume is a worthy key and companion to the most entertaining 
 books of the witty authors who sprinkled their pages with the ' Spanish salt ' 
 that Richard Ford appreciated so thoroughly." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " Mr. James Mew displays both scholarship and geniality in his critical 
 analyses of romances, and has invested them collectively with an additional 
 interest. The etchings of Senor de los Rios enrich the book in such a manner 
 as to make it a picture-gallery in boards. Indeed the cover itself is like the 
 exterior of a graceful edifice, designed as a storehouse of art." 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 "The etchings have considerable spirit, richness of handling, tone, and 
 other picturesque qualities." 
 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 " The illustrative story essays have been selected chiefly from books which 
 may be taken to represent the classic literature of romance in Spain. The idea 
 is a good one, and has been industriously worked out, the result being the 
 present handsome volume." 
 
 Standard. 
 
 " The etchings are charming alike in drawing and execution, and afford an 
 admirable illustration of manners and customs in Spain in the days of Don 
 Quixote. The printing and get up are worthy of the illustrations." 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " It is a volume which ought to be greatly prized because of its illustrations. 
 It is in ail respects handsome." 
 
 Publishers' Circular. 
 
 " A right grateful book to take up from a drawing-room table for half nn 
 hour. Its chapters equal in number its illustrations, each of which is a genuine 
 piece of art work. The binding is a choice and appropriate bit of colouring." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 24 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 (Dlfc JEJnglisb 3Upmance0. 
 
 Illustrated with Etchings. 
 In 12 Vols. crown Svo, parchment boards or cloth, ?s. 6J. per vol. 
 
 NOTE. A few copies printed on large fine white paper, with etchings 
 on Japanese and Whatman paper. (Out of print.} 
 
 THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF TRISTRAM SHANDY, 
 
 GENTLEMAN. By LAURENCE STERNE. In Two Vols. With Eight 
 Etchings by DAMMAN from Original Drawings by HARRY FukNlss. 
 
 THE OLD ENGLISH BARON: A GOTHIC STORY. By CLARA 
 REEVE. 
 
 THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO : A GOTHIC STORY. By HORACE 
 WALPOLE. In One Vol. With Two Portraits and Four Original Draw- 
 ings by A. H. TOURRIER, Etched by DAMMAN. 
 
 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS. In Four 
 Vols. Carefully Revised and Corrected from the Arabic by 
 JONATHAN SCOTT, LL.D., Oxford. With Nineteen Original 
 Etchings by AD. LALAUZE. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPH VATHEK. By WM. 
 
 BECKFORD. With Notes, Critical and Explanatory. 
 
 ALSO 
 
 RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. By SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
 In One Vol. With Portrait of BKCKFORD, and Four Original 
 Etchings, designed by A. H. TOURRIER, and Etched by DAMMAN. 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. By DANIEL DEFOE. In Two Vols. With 
 Biographical Memoir, Illustrative Notes, and Eight , Etchings by 
 M. MOUILLERON, and Portrait by L. FLAMENG. 
 
 GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. By JONATHAN SWIFT. With Five 
 Etchings and Portrait by AD. LALAUZE. 
 
 A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY. By LAURENCE STERNE. 
 
 A TALE OF A TUB. By JONATHAN SWIFT. In One Vol. With 
 Five Etchings and Portrait by ED. HEDOUIN. 
 
 The Times. 
 
 "Among the numerous handsome reprints which the publishers of the day 
 vie with each other in producing, we have seen nothing of greater merit 
 than this series of twelve volume. Those who have read these masterpieces 
 of the last century in the homely garb of the old editions may be gratified 
 with the opportunity of perusing them with the advantages of large clear print 
 and illustrations of a quality which is rarely bestowed on such re-issues. The 
 series deserves every commendation." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 25 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 "A well-printed and tasteful issue of the 'Thousand and One Nights. 
 The volumes are convenient in size, and illustrated with Lalauze's well- 
 known etchings." 
 
 Magazine of Art. 
 
 "The text of the new four -volume edition of the 'Thousand and One 
 Nights' just issued by Mr. Nimmo is that revised by Jonathan Scott, from 
 the French of Galland ; it presents the essentials of these wonderful stories 
 with irresistible authority and directness, and, as mere reading, it is as satis- 
 factory as ever. The edition, which is limited to a thousand copies, is 
 beautifully printed and remarkably well produced. It is illustrated with 
 twenty etchings by Lalauze. ... In another volume of this series Beckford's 
 wild and gloomy 'Vathek' appears side by side with Johnson's admirable 
 ' Rasselas.' " 
 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 ' ' The merits of this new issue lie in exquisite clearness of type ; completeness ; 
 notes and biographical notices, short and pithy ; and a number of very fine 
 etchings and portraits. In the 'Robinson Crusoe,' besides the well-known 
 portrait of Defoe by Flameng, there are eight exceedingly beautiful etchings by 
 Mouilleron .... In fine keeping with the other volumes of the series, uniform 
 in style and illustrations, and as one of the volumes of his famous Old 
 English Romances, Mr. Nimmo has also issued the ' Rasselas' of Johnson 
 and the 'Vathek' of Beckford." 
 
 Westminster Review. 
 
 "Mr. Nimmo has added to his excellent series of 'Old English Romances 
 three new volumes, of which two are devoted to 'Tristram Shandy,' while 
 the third contains 'The Old English Baron' and 'The Castle of Otranto.' 
 Take them as they stand, and without attributing to them any qualities but 
 what they really possess, the whole series was well worth reprinting in the 
 elegant and attractive form in which they are now presented to us." 
 
 Essays from the " North American 
 Review." 
 
 Edited by ALLEN THOBNDIKE BICE. 
 
 Demy 8vo, cloth, 75. 6d. 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 "A collection of interesting essays from the North American Review, 
 beginning with a criticism on the works of Walter Scott, and ending with 
 papers written by Mr. Lowell and Mr. O. W. Holmes. The variety of the 
 essays is noteworthy. " 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W- C.
 
 26 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 <DR> ^panisb Romances, 
 
 Illustrated with Etchings. 
 In 12 Vols. crown 8vo, parchment boards or cloth, 73. 6d. r per vol. 
 
 NOTE. A few copies printed on large fine paper with etchings 
 on Japanese and Whatman paper. (Out of print.) 
 
 THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 
 
 Translated from the Spanish of MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA 
 by MOTTEUX. With copious Notes (including the Spanish Ballads), 
 and an Essay on the Life and Writings of CERVANTES by JOHN G. 
 LOCKHART. Preceded by a Short Notice of ihe Life and Works of 
 PETER ANTHONY MOTTEUX by HENRI VAN LAUN. Illustrated 
 with Sixteen Original Etchings by R. DE Los Rios. Four Volumes. 
 
 LAZARILLO DE TORMES. By Don DIEGO MENDOZA. Trans- 
 lated by THOMAS ROSCOE. And 'GUZMAN D'ALFARACHE. 
 By MATEO ALEMAN. Translated by BRADY. Illustrated with Eight 
 Original Etchings by R. DE Los Rios. Two Volumes. 
 
 ASMODEUS. By LE SAGE. Translated from the French. Illus- 
 trated with Four Original Etchings by R. DE Los Rios. 
 
 THE BACHELOR OF SALAMANCA. By LE SAGE. Trans- 
 lated from the French by JAMES TOWNSEND. Illustrated with Four 
 Original Etchings by R. DE Los Rios. 
 
 VANILLO GONZALES ; or, The Merry Bachelor. By LE SAGE. 
 Translated from the French. Illustrated with Four Original Etchings 
 by R. DE Los Rios. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF GIL BLAS OF SANTILLANE. 
 
 Translated from the French of LE SAGE by TOBIAS SMOLLETT. 
 With Biographical and Critical Notice of LE SAGE by GEORGE 
 SAINTSBURY. New Edition, carefully revised. Illustrated with 
 Twelve Original Etchings by R. DE Los Rios. Three Volumes. 
 
 The Times. 
 
 "This prettily printed and prettily illustrated collection of Spanish Romances 
 deserve their welcome from all students of seventeenth century literature." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "A handy and beautiful edition of the works of the Spanish masters of 
 romance. . . . We may say of this edition of the immortal work of Cervantes 
 that it is most tastefully and admirably executed, and that it is embellished 
 with a series of striking etchings from the pen of the Spanish artist De los 
 Rios." 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " Handy in form, they are well printed from clear type, and are got up with 
 much elegance ; the etchings are full of humour and force. The reading 
 public have reason to congratulate themselves that so neat, compact, and well 
 arranged an edition of romances that can never die is put within their reach. 
 The publisher has spared no pains with them." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " Mr. Nimmo has just brought out a series of Spanish prose works in 
 twelve finely got-up volumes." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand^ London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 27 
 
 A Cursory History of Swearing. 
 
 By JULIAN SHARMAN. 
 
 Post 8vo, cloth, gilt top, price 73. 6d. 
 
 " Ha ! this fellow is worse than me ; what, does he swear with pen and ink?* 
 
 THE TATLER. 
 
 Notes and Queries. 
 
 " A difficult task is accomplished with as much delicacy and taste as could 
 well he expected. The ' History of Swearing ' is, indeed, both philosophical 
 and scholarly." 
 
 St. James' Gazette. 
 
 " Mr. Sharman has written a very interesting book on an ancient custom 
 which is now falling into decline." 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 " The book is one of great interest. Some curious facts are brought to light 
 in it, and a good deal of industry on the part of Mr. Sharman is proved. The 
 volume is admirably got up, and it is likely to take its place as one of those 
 curious monographs which attain a high value in the book market." 
 
 The World. 
 
 "The account of ' The Scufflers' Club' is amusing, and there is much quaint 
 lore and there are some good stories in Mr. Sharman's volume, which is, more- 
 over, very well bound and printed no slight advantage in a book of this 
 class. " 
 
 Bookseller. 
 
 " Throughout it is uniformly interesting and genial. There is a certain dash 
 of kindly Bohemianism, and a broad, humanising feeling which gives a fine 
 flavour to the book. Altogether it is both a curious and a pleasant pro- 
 duction." 
 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 " To any one who cares to go into the matter, Mr. Sharman's book promises 
 some reward, as he has there brought forward some very curious and interest- 
 ing information." 
 
 Publishers' Circular. 
 
 " This quaintly but appropriately-titled volume takes us into a bypath of 
 literary history, and from the early oath-taking, half pagan, half barbaric, down 
 to all the modern varieties of the curse, he traces the growth and progress of 
 the habit of using expressions which are so often sacred in their origin, although 
 in modern parlance they have reached a secular if not a vicious platform. The 
 appendix to the book contains some interesting documentary evidence on the 
 matters dealt with in the preceding pages." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 28 Publications of John C. Nimmo. 
 
 The Imitation of Christ. 
 
 FOUR BOOKS. 
 
 Translated from the Latin by Rev. W. BENHAM, B.D., 
 
 Rector of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, Lombard Street. 
 
 With Ten Illustrations by J. P. LAURENS, etched by LEOPOLD FLAMENG. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth or parchment boards, los. 6d. 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 "We have not seen a more beautiful edition of 'The Imitation of Christ' 
 than this one for many a day." 
 
 Magazine of Art. 
 
 " This new edition of the ' Imitation ' may fairly be regarded as a work of 
 art. It is well and clearly printed ; the paper is excellent ; each page has 
 its peculiar border, and it is illustrated with ten etchings. Further than that 
 the translation is Mr. Benham's, we need say nothing more." 
 
 BOOK-CORNER PROTECTORS. 
 
 Metal Tips carefully prepared for placing on the Corners of Books 
 to preserve them from injury while passing through the Post Office or 
 being sent by Carrier. 
 
 Extract from "The Times," April i8th. 
 
 "That the publishers and booksellers second the efforts of the Post Office 
 authorities in endeavouring to convey books without damage happening to 
 them is evident from the tips which they use to protect the corners from 
 injury during transit." 
 
 is. 6d. per Gross, nett. 
 14 King William Street, Strand, London, W. C.
 
 Publications of John ' C. Nimmo. 
 
 29 
 
 The American Patent Portable Book-Case, 
 
 For Students, Barristers, Home Libraries, &c, 
 
 THIS Book-case will be found to be made of very solid and durable mate- 
 rial, and of a neat and elegant design. The shelves may be adjusted for 
 books of any size, and will hold from 150 to 300 volumes. As it requires 
 neither nails, screws, or glue, it may be taken to pieces in a few minutes, 
 and reset up in another room or house, where it would be inconvenient to 
 carry a large frame. 
 
 Full Height, $ft.u^ in. ; Width, 3/t.S in. ; Depth of Shelf, loj in. 
 Black Walnut, price 6, 6s. nett. 
 
 "The accompanying sketch illustrates a handy portable book-case of American 
 manufacture, which Mr. NIMMO has provided. It is quite different from an ordinary 
 article of furniture, such as upholsterers inflict upon the public, as it is designed expressly 
 for holding the largest possible number of books in the smallest possible amount of space. 
 One of the chief advantages which these book-cases possess is the ease with which they 
 may be taken apart and put together again. No nails or metal screws are employed, 
 nothing but the hand is required to dismantle or reconstruct the case. The parts fit 
 together with mathematical precision ; and, from a package of boards of very moderate 
 dimensions, a firm and substantial book-case can be erected in the space of a few 
 minutes. Appearances have by no means been overlooked ; the panelled sides, bevelled 
 edges, and other simple ornaments, give to the cases a very neat and tasteful look. For 
 students, or others whose occupation may involve frequent change of residence, these 
 book-cases will be found most handy and desirable, while, at the same time, they are 
 so substantial, well-made, and convenient, that they will be found equally suitable for 
 the library at home." 
 
 14 King William Street, Strand, Londoti, W. C.
 
 liliiii""''"' /j-fi -1 A9 9 
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 MAY 3 2004
 
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