1. |
||||
I sing of a maiden that is matchless:
King of all kings for her son she chose.
He came so still where his mother was
As dew in April that falls on the grass.
He came so still to his mother's bower
As dew in April that falls on the flower.
He came so still where his mother lay
As dew in April that falls on the spray.
Mother and maiden was never none but she:
Well may such a lady God's mother be!
|
||||
2. |
The holly and the ivy
01:49
|
|||
O the holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly she bears the crown.
- O the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.
O the holly she bears a blossom as white as any flower,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to be our sweet saviour
O the holly she bears a berry as red as any blood,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do poor sinners good.
O the holly she bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.
- O the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.
|
||||
3. |
Shepherds arise
03:22
|
|||
Shepherds arise, be not afraid
With hasty steps repair
To David's city, sin on earth
With our blest infant there
- Sing, sing, all earth, eternal praises sing
To our Redeemer and our heavenly King.
Laid in a manger view the child
Humility divine,
Sweet innocence so meek and mild.
Grace in his features shines
For us the Saviour came on earth
For us his life he gave,
To save us from eternal death
And to raise us from the grave
- Sing, sing, all earth, eternal praises sing
To our Redeemer and our heavenly King.
|
||||
4. |
A virgin most pure
04:08
|
|||
A virgin most pure, as the prophets do tell,
Hath brought forth a baby, as it hath befell,
To be our Redeemer from death, hell and sin,
Which Adam's transgression hath wrapped us in.
- Aye, and therefore be merry, rejoice and be merry,
Set sorrows aside!
Christ Jesus our Saviour was born on this tide.
In Bethlehem in Jewry a city there was,
Where Joseph and Mary together did pass,
And there to be taxed with many a one more,
For Caesar commanded the same should be so.
But when they had entered the city so fair,
The number of people so mighty was there
That Joseph and Mary, whose means were but small,
Could find in the inn there no lodging at all.
So they were constrained in a stable to lie,
Where horses and asses they used for to tie;
But this humble lodging they thought it no scorn
And against the next morning our Saviour was born.
The king of all kings to this world being brought,
Small store of fine linen to wrap him was sought;
And when she had swaddled her young son so sweet,
All in an ox's manger she laid him to sleep.
- Aye, and therefore be merry, rejoice and be merry,
Set sorrows aside!
Christ Jesus our Saviour was born on this tide.
|
||||
5. |
||||
On Christmas Day it happened so
Down in those meadows for to plough,
As he was ploughing all on so fast
Up came sweet Jesus himself at last.
“O man, O man, what makes thee plough
So hard upon the Lord's birthday?”
The farmer answered him with great speed,
“For the plough this day I have great need.”
His arms did quiver to and fro,
His arms did quiver, he could not plough.
The ground did open and take him in
Before he could repent his sin.
His wife and children are out of place,
His beasts and cattle they die away.
His beasts and cattle they are all lost
For the breaking of Our Lord's birthday.
|
||||
6. |
Poor old horse
05:08
|
|||
Oh, it is a poor old horse that's come knocking at your door,
And if you please to let me in I'll please you well, I'm sure;
But my legs have grown so old from running so many a mile,
Over hedges, over ditches, over fancy gates and stiles,
Poor old horse.
Once I was a young horse and in me youthful pride,
Me master used to ride on me and thought me very fine.
But now I've grown so old, my nature does decay,
My master he looks down on me and this I've heard him say,
Poor old horse.
Once all my feeding was the best of corn and hay
That ever in the fields did grow or in the meadows gay;
But now I've grown so old and scarcely can I crawl,
I'm forced to snap at the shortest grass that grows along the wall,
Poor old horse.
Once all in in the stable I was kept so fine and warm,
To keep my limbs from aching and to spare me from the storm
But now I've grown so old, to the fields I have to go,
To face any kind of weather, be it rain or frost or snow.
Poor old horse.
Oh you've eaten all my hay and you spoiled all my straw,
You're neither fit to ride upon nor are you fit to draw,
You are old, you are cold, you are lazy, dull and slow,
So he'll hang him, whip him, stick him, to the huntsman let him go,
Poor old horse.
My hide to the huntsman so freely will I give,
And my body to the hounds - I’m sure I’d rather die than live,
And bury my old bones under yonder ground
Never more to be spoken of in all the country round.
Poor old horse.
The man who shod this horse, sir,
He was no use at all,
He used to worry the blacksmith,
Hammer and nails and all.
|
||||
7. |
Come, love, carolling
02:08
|
|||
Come, love, carolling along in me !
Come, love, carolling along in me!
All the while, wherever I may be,
I carry the maker of the world in me.
Lifting and loving you that I am not,
Though your body is my bone and blood,
I wonder at the maker who can be
Before I am and yet a child of me.
I lift and I carry you to Bethlehem,
I lift and I carry you to Galilee.
I'll carry you wherever I may be,
I carry the maker of the world in me.
In the beginning you were there, I know,
And you will carry me wherever I go.
I'll carry you wherever I may be,
I carry the maker of the world in me.
Come, love, carolling along in me !
Come, love, carolling along in me!
All the while, wherever I may be,
I carry the maker of the world in me.
|
||||
8. |
The boar's head carol
01:49
|
|||
The boar's head in hand bear I,
Bedecked with bays and rosemary ;
And I pray you, my masters, be merry,
Quot estis in convivio.
- Caput apri defero
Reddens laudes Domino.
The boar's head, as I understand,
Is the rarest dish in all this land,
Which thus bedecked with a gay garland
Let us servire cantico.
Our steward hath provided this
In honour of the King of Bliss,
Which on this day to be served is
In reginensi atrio.
|
||||
9. |
Gaudete
02:49
|
|||
Gaudete, gaudete
Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine
Gaudete
Tempus adest gratiae hoc quod optabamus
Carmina laetitiae devote reddamus.
Deus homo factus est natura mirante,
Mundus renovatus est a Christo regnante.
Ezechielis porta clausa pertransitur
Unde lux est orta salus invenitur.
Ergo nostra contio psallat iam in lustro,
Benedicat domino salus regi nostro.
Gaudete, gaudete
Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine
Gaudete
|
||||
10. |
The King
01:26
|
|||
Joy, health, love and peace
Be all here in this place
By your leave we will sing
Concerning our King.
Our King is well dressed
In silks of the best
In ribbons so rare
No king can compare.
We have traveled many miles
Over hedges and stiles
In search of our King
Who unto you we bring.
We have powder and shot
To conquer the lot
We have cannon and ball
To conquer them all.
Old Christmas is past
Twelfth Night is the last
And we bid you adieu
Great joy to the new.
|
||||
11. |
In the month of January
03:53
|
|||
It was in the month of January, the hills all clad with snow,
It was over hills and valleys my true love he did go.
It was there I met a fair young maid with a salt tear in her eye,
She held a baby in her arms and bitter she did cry.
“Oh, cruel was my father to bar the door to me,
And cruel was my mother, that dreadful crime to see.
Cruel was my own true love that he changed his mind for gold,
And cruel was that winter's night that pierced my heart with cold.”
For the taller that the palm tree grows, oh, the sweeter is the bark,
And the fairer that a young man speaks, oh, the falser is his heart.
Oh, he'll kiss you and embrace you till your favour he has won;
Then he'll go away and leave you all for some other one.
So come all you pretty fair maids, and a warning take by me,
Never try and build your nest at the top of a high tree,
For the green leaves they will wither and the branches all decay
And the beauty of a false young man must all soon fade away.
|
||||
12. |
The January Man
02:33
|
|||
The January man he walks abroad
In woollen coat and boots of leather
The February man still shakes the snow
From off his hair and blows his hands
The man of March he sees the Spring and
Wonders what the year will bring
And hopes for better weather
Through April rains the man goes down
To watch the birds come in to share the summer
The man of May stands very still
Watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young
And wants to lend a hand
And grins at each new comer
And in July the man in cotton shirt
He sits and thinks on being idle
The August man in thousands takes the road
To watch the sea and find the sun
September man is standing near
To saddle up and lead the year
And Autumn is his bridle
The man of new October takes the reins
And early frost is on his shoulder
The poor November man sees fire and wind
And mist and rain and Winter air
December man looks through the snow
To let eleven brothers know
They're all a little older
And the January man comes round again
In woollen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn and walk along
The icy road he knows so well
The January man is here for
Starting each and every year
Along the road for ever
|
If you like Phil Edwards, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp