"So Herod was deceived

By the work of God's own hand, And further he proceeded

Into the Holy Land.

"There's thousands of children young, Which for his sake did die,

Do not forbid these little ones,
And do not them deny.

"The truth now I have spoken,

And the truth now I have shown;

How the blessed Virgin,

She brought us forth a Son."

THE ANGEL GABRIEL FROM GOD.

[THE birth of our Saviour was a mystery upon which the old divines and carolists were ever fond of dwelling. The familiar expressions used towards the Virgin, the angel Gabriel, and the other distinguished personages of the event, served to enlist the sympathies of rustics, and rendered the outlines of the narrative easier to their understanding. In most of the Carols of this kind the plainness of the language employed prevents their being reprinted in any other than in a purely antiquarian work. The following Carol, however, although exhibiting the most indifferent poetry, shadows forth the spirit of its class, and is more free from the objections alluded to than any other I have fallen in with.]

HE Angel Gabriel from God

Was sent to Galilee,

Unto a Virgin fair and free,

Whose name was called Mary.

And when the Angel thither came,

He fell down on his knee,

And looking up in the Virgin's face,

He said, "All hail, Mary.”

Then, sing we all, both great and small,

Noel, Noel, Noel;

We may rejoice to hear the voice

Of the Angel Gabriel.

Mary anon looked him upon,
And said, "Sir, what are ye?
I marvel much at these tidings

Which thou hast brought to me.
Married I am unto an old man,
As the lot fell unto me;
Therefore I pray depart away,

For I stand in doubt of thee."

Then sing, &c.

'Mary," he said, “be not afraid,

But do believe in me:

The power of the Holy Ghost

Shall overshadow thee;

Thou shalt conceive without any grief,

As the Lord told unto me;

God's own dear Son from Heaven shall come,

And shall be born of thee."

Then, sing, &c.

This came to pass as God's will was,

Even as the Angel told.

About midnight an Angel bright
Came to the Shepherds' fold,

And told them both where and when
Born was the child, our Lord,

And all along this was their song,
"All glory be given to God."

Then, sing, &c.

Good people all, both great and small,
The which do hear my voice,

With one accord let's praise the Lord,

And in our hearts rejoice;

Like sister and brother, let's love one another

Whilst we our lives do spend,

Whilst we have space let's pray for

And so let my Carol end.

grace,

Then, sing, &c.

THE HOLY WELL.

[THIS popular Carol preserves in quaint and simple verse the outlines of an old legend of the dark ages. The people were anxious to learn more about the first years of the life of Jesus than the Scriptures supplied, and the priests and monks invented various pleasing stories to amuse and instruct them. The Apocryphal Books of the New Testament, also, afforded a great many religious tales. Some of these were put into A specimen may be seen in the following. On the broad-sheet (printed at Gravesend in the last century), it is stated to be " A very Ancient Carol."]

verse.

S it fell out one May morning,1

And on a bright holiday,

Sweet Jesus asked of his dear mother,

If he might go to play.

1 I might mention, as an indication of the probable date of this simple composition, that several ballads of the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth began in this style—

“As it fell out on a holiday,

As it fell out on a Whitsunday," &c.

The whole piece has a strong ballad flavour.