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ANGLO-NORMAN CAROL.

He makes his neighbour freely drink,
So that in sleep his head doth sink
Often by day.

May joys flow from God above,
To all those who Christmas love.

Lords, by Christmas and the host
Of this mansion hear my toast-
Drink it well—

Each must drain his cup of wine,
And I the first will toss off mine:

Thus I advise,

Here then I bid you all Wassail,

Cursed be who will not say Drinkhail.*

The following very carly Carols, with their mixture of Scriptural allusions and invitations to hard drinking, are such as were doubtless sung by the tribe of professional minstrels during the several periods of feasting into which the day of Yule was divided. A peculiar instance, showing, that even in a subsequent age, music and singing were held in greater account than devotion, and that eating and drinking were rated far above all, is found in the accounts of the Stationers' Company for the year 1510, which contain the following entry:

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The first of the two following Carols is among the additional MSS. in the British Museum. The other will be found in the Sloane MSS.‡ Ritson considers this latter manuscript to be of the time of Henry VI.; but in all probability the Carols themselves belong to a considerably carlier date. In the original version of the first Carol, some of the phrases are in French; these have been translated, and the spelling has been modernised in both instances, for it was so corrupt, and the abbreviations were so numerous, that, had they been followed, the Carols could only have been deciphered with considerable labour.

Wassail and Drinkhail are both derived from the Anglo-Saxon. They were the common drinking pledges of the age. Wassail is equivalent to the phrase, "Your health," of the present day. Drinkhail, which literally signifies "drink health," was the usual acknowledgment of the other pledge.

+ No. 5665, fol. 6, vo.

No. 2593, fol. 79, ro.

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NOWEL, Nowel, Nowel, Nowel,

Who is there, that singeth so, Nowel,

I am here, Sir Christmas,

Nowel, Nowel?

Welcome my lord Sir Christmas,

Welcome to all both more and less;

Come near Nowel.

God be with you, Sir, tidings I you bring,

A maid hath born a child full young,

The which causeth me to sing,

Nowel.

Christ is now born of a pure maid,

In an ox stall he is laid,

Wherefore sing we all at abraid,†

Nowel.

Great and small.

+ Suddenly, or loudly.

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THE three subsequent poems are, perhaps, the best specimens that could be selected of the religious Carols of the fifteenth century, so far as these have been preserved in the manuscripts of the period, for we fancy that more of the hand of the poet than of the monk may be recognised in their composition. In the last of the series there is a gracefulness and tenderness in many of the touches, not often met with in poems of this early date. No further liberties have been taken with them, beyond the modernizing of the spelling, and some occasional transpositions, with here and there the substitution of a modern word for one of obsolete character, except in the case of the first poem, which has been perfected from two different versions existing in contemporary manuscripts; one belonging to the Harleian collection, the other in the possession of Thomas Wright, Esq., who has reprinted both versions in works edited by him for the Percy Society. A third copy of this Carol, with numerous variations, may be seen among the Sloane MSS.

No. 541, fol. 414, ro.

THE THREE KINGS.

OW is the time of Christmas come,
Together joined are Father and Son,
And with the Holy Ghost are one,
In fere-a,

God send us a good new year-a.

I would now sing, if that I might,

Of a child so fair to sight

A maiden bare this winter's night,
So still-a;

And as it was his will-a.

There came three kings from Galilee

To Bethlehem, that fair citie,

To seek him that should ever be,

By right-a,

Lord, and king, and knight-a.

+ Christmas Carols, 1841. Songs and Carols, 1847.

THE THREE KINGS.

As they went forth with their offering,
They met Herod, that moody king,

He asked them of their coming

That way-a;

And thus to them 'gan say-a:

"From whence come ye, you kings three?”

"Out of the East, as you may see,

To seek him that should ever be,
By right-a,

Lord, and king, and knight-a.”

"When you to this child have been,

Come you home this way again,

And tell me all that ye have seen,
I pray-a;

Go not another way-a."

Then of Herod, that moody king,

They took their leave both old and young,

And forth they went with their offering,
By light-a

Of the star that shone so bright-a,

Till they came to that blissful place

Where Jesus and his mother was;

There they offered with great solace,
In fere-a,

Gold, incense, and myrrh-a.

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