"To play, to play, sweet Jesus shall

And to play now get you gone,

And let me hear of no complaint,

At night when you come home."

go,

Sweet Jesus went down to yonder town,

As far as the Holy Well,

And there did see as fine children

As any tongue can tell.

He said, "God bless you every one,

May Christ your portion be;

Little children, shall I play with you?
And you shall play with me."

But they made answer to him, " No,” They were lords' and ladies' sons; And he, the meanest of them all, Was born in an ox's stall.

Sweet Jesus turned him around, And he neither laugh'd nor smil'd, But the tears came trickling from his

Like water from the skies.

D

eyes

Sweet Jesus turned him about,

To his mother's dear home went he,

And said, "I have been in yonder town,

As after you may see.

"I have been in yonder town,

As far as the Holy Well;

There did I meet as fine children

As any tongue can tell.

"I bid God bless them every one, And Christ their bodies see;

Little children, shall I play with you?
And you shall play with me.

"But then they answered me, They were lords' and ladies' sons; And I, the meanest of them all,

Was born in an ox's stall."

No,'

"Though you are but a maiden's child, Born in an ox's stall,

Thou art the Christ, the King of heaven, And the Saviour of them all.

"Sweet Jesus, go down to yonder town,

As far as the Holy Well,

And take away those sinful souls,

And dip them deep in hell."

66

Nay, nay," sweet Jesus mildly said,

Nay, nay, that must not be,

For there are too many sinful souls
Crying out for the help of me."

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.