Man, Be Merry As Bird On Berry,
And All Thy Care Let Away
Words: English Traditional, Fifteenth Century
Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), pp. 48-9.
Compare: This tyme is born a chyld ful go - Thomas Wright
1. This time is born a Child full good,
He that us bought upon the Rood;
He bound the devil that is so wode,1
Till the dreadful Doomesday.
2. When the Child of mickle might
Would be born of Mary bright,
A token He sent to King and Knight,
A star that shone both night and day.
3. The star (it) shone as bright as fire,
Over all the world both far and near,
In token He was withouten peer;
And peerles He shall lasten ay.
4. The eighty day He was circumcised,
For to fulfil the prophesie(s);
The prophets (all) with wordės wise
Him present with rich array.
5. The Twelfth Day come kingės three,
Out of the East, with heartės free,
To worship Him they kneeled on knee
With gold and myrrh and frankincense.2
Notes:
1. Wild. Return
2. Note from Rickert: "The abrupt conclusion hints that the carol is incomplete, while the lack of rhyme in the last line shows corruption of the text." Return
