ALL YOU THAT ARE TO MIRTH

INCLINED.

[THIS rude old Carol is still an especial favourite with the peasantry. Hone mentions it in his list, and I find that nearly all the broadside printers include it in their yearly sheets. The word "mirth" was certainly not used by the author in that irreverent sense which it now usually conveys. Religious joy was intended, not boisterous merriment. In an old edition of Deloney's Garland of Good-will, this Carol is given under the title of " The Sinner's Redemption."]

LL

you that are to mirth inclined, Consider well and bear in mind

What our good God for us hath done

In sending his beloved son.

And to redeem our souls from thrall,

He is the Saviour of us all.

Let all your songs and praises be
Unto his Heavenly Majesty,

And evermore among your mirth Remember Christ our Saviour's birth.

And to redeem, &c.

The five-and-twentieth of December, Good cause have you for to remember, In Bethlehem upon this morn

There was our blessed Saviour born.

And to redeem, &c.

The night before that happy tide
The spotless Virgin, and her guide,
Went long time seeking up and down,
To find them lodging in the town.

And to redeem, &c.

And mark how all things came to pass, The inns and lodgings so filled was, That they could have no room at all,

But in a silly1 ox's stall.

And to redeem, &c.

Old word for simple or inoffensive.

No costly robes or rich attire

Did Jesus Christ our Lord desire.
No musick nor sweet harmony,

Till glorious Angels came from high.

And to redeem, &c.

If choirs of Angels did rejoice,

Well may mankind with heart and voice Sing praises to the God of Heaven,

That unto us his Son is given.

And to redeem, &c.

[SINGING short stories of the birth of our Saviour as Carol. lullabys to infants appears to have been common in early times. In those ages no occasion seems to have been lost sight of for narrating impressive portions of the story of Christ. Rhyming narratives of the wicked Herod, and the poor little infants, were also general in the nurseries. Portions of these lullabys tacked to hymns, or carols altered to suit the infant comprehension, are now occasionally met with.

Latin choruses to Godly Songs or Carols in the vernacular arose from the use of Latin prayers and chants in the churches in those days. Education, prior to the Reformation, being for the most part conducted at or under supervision of the monasteries, Monkish Latin was tolerably familiar to the people.]

HERE is a Child born of our blessed

Virgin;

I heard a Maid lullaby to sing:

"Peace, my dear Child, of thy weeping,
For thou shalt be our Heavenly King."
Now sing we, and now sing we,
To the Gloria tibi, Domine.

"O Mother! O Mother! your wishes are nought; It is not for me such carols are wrought;

Such carols were never by woman thought

To the Gloria tibi, Domine."

Now sing we, &c.

"O my dear Son, why sayest thou so?
Thou art my Son, I have no moe;
When Gabriel bespoke thee full of grace,
Thou needest not to tell me of this case."

Now sing we, &c.

"O, they will thrust, Mother, my head from my hair, With a crown of sharp thorns they me will not

spare,

And with sharp spears my heart will tear,

To the Gloria tibi, Domine.

Now sing we, &c.

"O come you here, Mother, and

you

shall see

My hands and feet nailed to the rood tree,
And my feet, Mother, are fastened thereby,
A vile sight, Mother, for you to see."