CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 73, 20 December 1920, Page 7

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Christmas carols aro the folk-songs of tho, Churoh, and out of tho «ffort now beinj'made to rovivo thom has come, wo ,aro sure, a vory'great deal of delight and pure gaiety. . That they cve-r can as folksongs bo Tevived' seems to the present WTiter moro than doubtful, seeing that if the point of view, of tho "folk" who loved them had not changed they would never have beon in danger of being lost. The sentiment'of tho carol is no longer th,e eentimbnt of the people. Its appeal can Ho longer be quite direct, unless it bo to children, who aro tho true and perfect conservatives of the ivorld whom nothing changea. The opening chapters of fit.' Lulw are for all time. "Can man 'forgot the slory P" Bbn Jonson at the end of his' own Christmas carol, *i-hich ha wrote without tho least desire to 'imitate' tho "traditional" type, without n trace of our modern cult of tho modiaeiplism which was so much nearer to him. , The impressions, however, produced by Bt. I/iik'o's eternal picture of the Nativity alter very much with tho n»M. The Impression it made upon the mediaeval i>easant has come down to. us in tho carols, and it is lovely, simple, and to tha modern world strange. The carols touch us and cause is-to, smiio. They are intensely humnn, and, like tho serious talk"-of young children, they go to the root of tho matter; but they belong Somehow to "childish" things—to the things whioh tho modern world has "put 'away," not out of sight, bnt among its •intiquo treasures, to be shown, under due protection and with-adequate explanation, to those who know and. those jrho may ,bo taught. \ Ploughmen sang "In Dulce Iubilo" to Its =• traditional melody, supremely sweet nnd joyous; they sang it as the .birds sang, when latin wns as familiar as their prayers; but they are not like the birds— they "progress." The .upward road leads past somo very ugly, places where poetry Becomes as much a dead language as liturgical Latin. But joyous as some, of tie carols arf\ an -undertone of 6adnesi belongs to most of them. "Set sorrow aside,.' cry the sinjfers as though it w-are too often there. "The very ancient "Hemember, O Thou Man," is grave and almost tragic. A strange grimness lurks in the pofetry, as though wars and plagues and all the darlc side of the ages of faith had cast a shadow of doubt acroffl the Naznrene stable "Eomember, O thou man, 0 thou man, O thou man, . ' Ewnember, O' thou man, •' . Thy time is spent: . * Eemember, 0 thou man, . How'thou'art dead and gone, " And I did-what I can, Therefore repent." The need for redemption and consolation was a more universally felt thing in a worso and moro unhappy world:— "In Bethlehem Hb was bom, , . For mankind' 9 sake: * In Bethlehem He was born For us that were forlorn. " •: And therefore took.no Our .flesh to taka." ffhe words "no- scorn" are constantly r.otoeated in carols. That the scene of the Incarnation was-laid among the poor, is a fact which was an ever r present source of thankfulness and pleasuro. The cold, the meagre shelter, tho lack of fine clothes for the Holy Child are constantly, dwelt on, : but the Maid Mother "did nothing take in scorn," and therefore the heart of the humblo is drawn out to her! , "To teftch" us humility all this was done, , That so we 'might lean haughty l pride for to shun," ; tuns a more didactic and less splendid Christmas song.. Tho. obeisanco of tho Kings made a tremendous' ■ impression Jipon peonle accustomed to acquiesce in a ■ Jowly position; also confidence placed in "certain poor shepherds in fields where they. lie" who' were chosen to faring the news Of the world's redemption. Herod's cruelty is simply mentioned, without tage .or .desiro for righteous vengeance. He did riot'know with Whom, he had to 'deal. the Inoarnation come to him—of a (jwl born in a. stable:— "This did. Herod sore afray, , • And grievously bowiider,'. ■ ■ So he gave "the- word to slay, And slow the little childer." Some ancient carols have their origin in Christian legend outside the' Gospel; for instance, "The Cherry-Tree ' Carol," in. which Mary walking in an orchard with Joseph begs him to gather cherries for her. He refuses, and the tree im-' mediately bows itself so that she should gather for herself :— "As Joseph was a-walkip? . There did an Angel sing; ' . And Mary's child at midnight Was born to be our King," . The story.is very slight; we suppose the tpring-like picture and the homeliness of the incident must account for its popularity. Another longer and less simple pna preserves a far moro impressive lccond. The child out to play with other children at' the well. His mother dismisses Him as - any' village matron might dot—' "To. play now get you gone, And let me hear of no complaint At night when you oome home." She children are lords' and ladies' chilflren.- They will not play with the Holy Child, Who was-"but a maiden's child." "Upon His return with this "complaint" His mother is "angry:— ''Sweet Jesus, go' down into yonder town, .And as far as the holy well,' 'And take away'those 6inful souls, And dip them deep in" hell." The, Divine Child.'will not hear of this revenge. All sinful souls are crying, Ho Replies, for His help. At this answer appears an angel: J 'o .then spoke the-Angsd Gabriel: Upon one suio set stoven, 'Although you 'are but a maiden's child,' ■, You are the King of Heaven.'" That Gabriel should.seo in this power, of lovo and forgiveness a proof. ; of divinity renders the story .more valuable than the cutss of apocryphal tales. ' Some of tho very simple and reiterative carols have a charm not easy to explain,:. There is a fascination and wizardry about them which cast a spell over their oldest reader nnd make him remember tho sensations of a child who Walces •"a little ifcefora 'tis day" to the sound of bells- and the expectation' of gifts:— . ' "I saw three ships come' sailing by ■■ On Chriitmas Day in tho morning. ; And all the bolls on earth shall ring', . On Christmas Day in the morning. - And all tho angels in heaven shall sing, On Christmas Day in the morning." 'Another childish oarol is* the one beginning "Hero wo como a-wa,wail-ing. .'. . • Hero wo como a-wandering." ■ Lovely as these stories and these verses are—and all our'readers can add to them frc-m-memory—they do not belong to the groyn-up world of to-day.. Their sentitapiit is foreign to us now. They .como to'us from "other folk." Here and there as we turn over tho jpages of any modem collection wo may come across one really ancient, carol so happily rendewd Into English from the Latin as to preserve its original charm, with something superadded of latter-day ' gravity and quiot cheerfulness. An instance in point is the cEnglish version of the thirteenthcentury carol "Ecce Novum Gaudium . "Hero is joy for ev'ry age, . Ev'ry geiwration; Prince and peasant, chief and sago. Ev'ry tongue and nation; Ev'ry' tongue and nation, Ev'ry rank and station, .Hath to-day salvation: ■ AUeluya. "When the world drew near its close, Camo our Lord and Leader; From the lily sprang the. rose, 1 From the bush the cedar; From th.e bush the cedar,.. . From tho judged the pleader, From tho faint tho- feeder; • . Allcluya. . God, that camo on earth this morn,' ■ In a manger lying, Hallow'd birth by'being born, . Vnnqtiish'd death by dying, Vanquish'd death by dying, Rallied back tho living, Ended sin and sighing; Allcluya."