CHRISTMAS CAROLS.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 30, 29 December 1883, Page 6

CHRISTMAS CAROLS.

It was after the Reformation that they ceased to sing Latin hymns in the churches, and substituted the sweet Christmas carols ; but in Scotland carol-singing has been unknown since the days of John ICnox ; whilst it is kept up in Ireland till the present daj'. These are of a devotional character, one of them representing the Virgin contemplating the birth of the Divine Infant : — "He neither shall be clothed In purple nor in pall, But all in fair linen, As \yere babies all. He neither shall be rocked In silver nor in gold, But in a a\ ooden cradle That rocks on the mould." And another curious one entitled, Diva and Lazarus, is still sung :—: — " As it fell upon a day Rich Divo3 sickened and died, There came two serpents out of hell His soul therein to guide. " Rise up. rise up, Brother Dives, And come along with me. For you've a place provided in hell, To sit upon a sei'pcnt's knee." A writer describes the effect of this carol when the words "serpent's knee" are solemnly drawn out to their utmost length by a Warwickshire chanter, and as solemnly listened to by a well-disposed crowd, who seem, without difficulty, to believe that Dives sits upon a serpent's knee. The idea may have been presented to the poet's mind by the old pictures which represented Lazarus as sitting upon Abraham's lap, or other picture^ which represented the patriarch as holding Lazarus out in his arms to see Dives writhing in torments below. The famous Christmas carol of Oxford, which is sung when the boar's head, gay with garlands and green herbs, is brought to the table with great ceremony, runs thus :—: — " The boar's hoad, I understand. Is the chief service in this land, Look, wherever it be- f and, Servite cum cantico." and so on. Some of these carols are inexpressibly sweet ; and of these we give two examples : — " This winter's night I saw a sight— A star as bright as day, And ever among A maiden sung. Lullay, by-by, lullay S " Caput apri defero Reddens laudes Domino, The boar's head in hand bring I, With garlandsgay and rosemary I pray you all sing merrily, Qui estis in convivio." " This lovely lady sat and sang, And to her child she said, ' My son, my brother, and my father doo. Why lyest thou thus in hayd ? My sweet bird, Though it betide Thou be not king verray, But nevertheless, I will not cease To sing by-by, lullay!' " The child then spoke in his talking, And to his mother he said, ' It happen'th, mother, 1 am a king, In crib though I be laid ; For angels bright, Did dow n alight, Thou knowest it is no nay, And of that sight Thou niay'stbe light To 3ing by-by, lullay 1" " ' Nay, sweet son, since thou art a king, Why art thou laid in stall? Why not ordain thy bidding In some great king, his hall? We think 'tis right That king or night Should be in good array, And them among It were not wrong To sing by-by, lullay.' " ' Mary, mother, I am thy child, Though I be laid in stall ; Lords and Dukos shall worship me, And so shall Kings all. And ye shall see That Kings three Shall come on The twelfth day. For ftiis behest, Give me thy breast, And sing by-by, lullay ! ' " Our other example is : — " Behold 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 Oriental pearl is often found In depth of dirty mire. " Weigh not his crib, his wooden dish, Nor beasts that by him feed. Weigh not his mother's poor attire, Nor Joseph's simple weed. The stable is a Prince's court, The 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 prized there. With joy approach, O Christian wight, Do homage to thy King, And highly praise his humble ponip, Which he from heaven doth bring." Finally, on Christmas Eve, the bellman went through the streets merrily singing his carols also, which often had a voice of warning in it, as he gaily notified all good housewives that the merry Christmastide had come, and that all should be ready for the festival. Thus sang the bellman : — This night (you may my almanac see) Isr the return of famous Christmas Eve ; Yo virgins, then, your cleanly rooms prepare, And let the windows, bays, and laurels wear ; Some rosemary preserve to dress your beef, 'for forget me, which I advise in chief. The singer undoubtedly I'eceived this gratuity wjjich he expected, especially when he spurred on the housewifery with his carols : — Now, Mrs Betty, pray get up and rise, If you intend to make your Christmas pies ; : Scouring the pewter falls to Cecily s sharo,

And Marjory must clean the house with care ; And let Doll's ingenuity be scon In decking all the windows up with green. Not content with giving vocal utterance to his advice, the bellman, ceasing a little while from singing out the chimes, went his rounds, leaving at the different houses copies of verses containing tho good wishes of the seasons, similarly to a practice of the present newspaper deliverers.