Words: English Traditional, Fifteenth Century

Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), pp. 205-6.

Compare: The Seven Joys of Mary - Version 1 (Bramley and Stainer)
Off The 5 Joyes Of Owr Lady (Thomas Wright)

I may sing of a may,
Of joys five and mirthës most.

1. The first joy, as I you tell,
With Mary met Saint Gabriel.
"Hail, Mary, I greet thee well
    With Father, Son and Holy Ghost."

2. The second joy, in good fay,
Was on Christmas Day;
Born He was of a may
    With Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

3. The third joy, withouten strife,
That blissful Birth was full rife,
When He rose fro death to life,
    With Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

4. The fourth joy, in good fay,
Was upon Hallowed Thursday,
He rose to heaven in rich array,
    With Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

5. The fifth joy, withouten dene,¹
In heaven He crowned His mother clean,
That was well with the eye a-seen,²
    With Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Notes:

1. Doubt. Return

2. Text: wol wil the eyr a sene. Return