of carol music suited for actual performance by choirs and families; and in the year 1850 Mr. Novello produced a collection of carols at a low rate, arranged for four voices by the Rev. T. Helmore, Priest of the Chapel Royal, with words, principally in imitation of the original, by the Rev. Dr. Neale. Messrs. Masters issued a collection of twelve carols, with original music by Mr. Hine and Dr. Gauntlett; and Dr. Gauntlett himself brought out a book containing some very good specimens of Christmas melodies. And now collections of carols are every year multiplying, the advertisement sheets of musical and other papers testifying to the universal demand for suitable music for Christmas time.
The majority of modern carols evince in a marked manner a desire to imitate the honest sincerity and piety exhibited in the productions of our ancestors. The men of the nineteenth century are fain to admit that better means for attracting the ear and ravishing the hearts of the poor and simple, can scarcely be employed than those used by the men of old. The quaint expressions, the homely recital of Scripture narrative, and withal the soothing and plaintive strains of pure English melody, strike home at once to the hearts of the humble and devout observers of the blessed coming of our Redeemer in the Flesh. I propose to give a few specimens of ancient and modern carols.
The first example is a translation from the pen of Dr. Neale, and is taken from the collection published by Messrs. Novello, being with the refrain, "In Bethlehem," in strict accordance with the original:—
From church to church the bells' glad tidings run;
A Virgin hath conceiv'd, and borne a son
In Bethlehem.
And angel-hosts, the midnight of His birth,
Sang "Glory be to God, and peace on Earth,"
In Bethlehem.
"Now go we forth, and see this wondrous thing,"
The shepherds said, and seek the new-born king—
In Bethlehem.
***
The star went leading on from east to west:
The wise men follow'd, till they saw it rest
In Bethlehem.
Their frankincense, and myrrh, and gold, they bring,
To hail the God, the Mortal, and the King,
In Bethlehem.
With threefold gifts, the Threefold God three praise,
Who thus vouchsaf'd the sons of man to raise,
In Bethlehem.
The above is said to be of the eleventh century. In many cases, Latin is intermixed with the English, as in the subjoined example from a manuscript of the sixteenth century, preserved in the British Museum. The spelling is modernized:—
Jhesu Fili Virginis,
Miserere nobis.
Jesu of a Maid Thou wouldest be born,
To save mankind that was forlorn,
And all for our sins,
Miserere nobis.
Angels there were, mild of mood,
Sung to that sweet Food,
With joy and bliss,
Miserere nobis.
In a cratch was that Child laid,
Both ox and ass with Him played,
With joy and bliss,
Miserere nobis.
Then for us He shed His blood,
And also He died on the Rood,
And for us I wit,
Miserere nobis.
And then to hell He took the way,
To ransom them that there lay,
With joy and bliss,
Miserere nobis.
And again from the Harleian MSS.:—
paremus canticum, excelsis gloria.
When Christ was born of Mary free,
In Bethlem, in that fair city,
Angels sung there with mirth and glee,
In excelsis 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 come to save mankind,
As in Scripture we find,
Therefore this song have we in mind,
In excelsis gloria.
Amongst the earliest specimens of carols are those for bringing in the boar's head.
The boar's head was the first dish served up at ancient feasts, and was carried in with great solemnity, dressed with garlands. Flourishes of trumpets and singing of carols accompanied the pageant. The custom of bringing in the boar's head is still observed in great houses, and (as has been stated over and over again) at Queen's College, Oxford, where upon Christmas night the precentor and choir sing a modernized version of Wynkin de Worde's carol.
The accompanying is from a sixteenth century MS.:—
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 sovereign beast,
And acceptable in every feast;
So might 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.
