The Sinner's Redemption

For Christmas.

Words: English Traditional
 See: All You That Are To Mirth Inclined - Notes

To the tune of, The bleeding heart. Or, In Creet, &c.

Source: Thomas Delaney, The Garland of Good Will, Divided Into Three Parts. The Second Part.  (London: Printed for J. Wright at the sign of the Crown, on Ludgate Hill, 1678). Reprinted by the Percy Society as The Garland of Good-Will by Thomas Deloney, edited by James Henry Dixon.  (London: Printed for the Percy Society by T. Richards, 1851), pp. 71-76, plus notes on pages 140 and 149.

Compare: All You That Are To Mirth Inclined (Sandys, 1833)

THE SINNER'S REDEMPTION:
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD & SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST,
WITH HIS LIFE ON EARTH, AND PRECIOUS DEATH ON THE CROSS.

All you that are to mirth inclin'd,
Consider well, and bear in mind
What our good God for us hath done,
In sending his beloved son.

Let all our songs and praises be
Unto His heavenly majesty;
And evermore amongst our mirth,
Remember Christ our Saviour's birth.

The five and twentieth of December,
Good cause we have for to remember;
In Bethlehem, upon this morn,
There was our blest Messias born.

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

And mark how all things came to pass;
The inns and lodgings so fill'd was,
That they could have no room at all,
But in a silly ox's stall.

This night the Virgin Mary mild,
Was safe deliver'd of a child;
According unto heaven's decree,
Man's sweet salvation for to be.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their herds and flocks of feeding sheep;
To whom God's angel did appear,
Which put the shepherds in great fear.

Prepare, and go, the angel said,
To Bethlehem! be not afraid;
There shall you see this blessed morn,
The princely babe, sweet Jesus, born.

With thankful hearts, and joyful mind,
The shepherds went this babe to find;
And as the heavenly angel told,
They did our Saviour Christ behold.

10. Within a manger was he laid,
The Virgin Mary by him staid,
Attending on the Lord of life,
Being both mother, maid, and wife.

Three eastern wise men from afar,
Directed by a glorious star,
Came boldly on, and made no stay
Until they came where Jesus lay:

And being come unto the place
Wherein the blest Messias was,
They humbly laid before his feet,
Their gifts of gold and odours sweet.

See how the Lord of heaven and earth,
Shew'd himself lowly in his birth;
A sweet example for mankind
To learn to bear an humble mind.

No costly robes, nor rich attire,
Did Jesus Christ our Lord desire;
No musick, nor sweet harmony,
Till glorious angels from on high,

Did in melodious manner sing
Praises unto our heavenly king;
All honour, glory, might, and power,
Be unto Christ our Saviour.

If choirs of angels did rejoyce,
Well may mankind with heart and voice
Sing praises to the God of heaven,
That unto us a son hath given.

Moreover, let us every one
Call unto mind, and think upon
His righteous life, and how he dy'd
To have poor sinners justified.

Suppose, O! man, that thou shouldst lie
In prison strong, condemn'd to die,
And that no friend upon the earth
Could ransom thee from cruel death,

Except you can some party find,
That for your sake will be so kind,
His own heart's blood for to dispense,
And lose his life in thy defence.

Such was the love of Christ, when we
Were lost in hell perpetually,
To save us from the gulph of woe,
Himself much pain did undergo.

Whilst in this world he did remain,
He never spent one hour in vain;
In fasting, and in prayer divine,
He daily spent away the time;

He in the temple daily taught,
And many wonders strange he wrought.
He gave the blind their perfect sight,
And made the lame to walk upright:

He cur'd the lepers of their evils,
And by his power he cast out devils.
He raised Lazarus from the grave,
And to the sick their health he gave.

But yet for all these wonders wrought,
The Jews his dire destruction sought.
The traytor Judas was the man
That with a kiss betray'd him than.

Then was he led to Justice-hall,
Like one despis'd amongst them all;
And had the sentence given, that he
Should suffer death upon a tree.

Unto the execution-place
They brought him on with much disgrace;
With vile reproachful taunts and scorns,
They crown'd him with a wreath of thorns.

Then to the cross, through hands and feet,
They nail'd our blest Redeemer sweet;
And further to augment his smart,
With bloody spear they pierc'd his heart.

Thus have you seen and heard aright,
The love of Christ, the Lord of might;
And how He shed his precious blood,
Only to do us sinners good.

Editor's Note: This text corresponds closely with the text on the Broadside contained in the Roxburghe Collection, Sinners Redemption - Roxburghe 2.422 (ca 1662-1692); EBBA ID #30888. Total = 28 verses, the same as the two other versions from the Roxburghe collection. Both texts contained 705 words. There were a total of five word differences between the two.

The Roxburghe Broadside was printed by George Conyers, who was also the publisher of the 1709 edition of Deloney's Garland of Good Will. According to the Preface, this volume was based on the 1709 edition, with additions and corrections from the 1678 edition, which was printed by J. Wright.

The editor of the 1851 edition, James Henry Dixon, wrote in the Preface (pp. ix-x):

"In preparing our edition of the Garland, we have printed from a copy of Conyers' [1709] edition, lent for the purpose by Mr. Halliwell, but the text has been collated with the edition of 1678, and wherever any variation has occurred, as for instance in the title-page, we have abided by the readings of what we must consider as the more authoritative copy: indeed the name of the publisher of the earlier edition is some guarantee for its correctness; for John Wright was one of the leading booksellers of the age, and not, as some have erroneously asserted, a mere publisher of ballads and penny histories, like the Marshalls and Catnachs of the present [19th] century."

Note From Delaney, "Notes," Page 140.

The Sinner's Redemption. In a copy of this popular carol in the Roxburgh collection, it is said to be "To the tune of My Bleeding Heart, or, In Creet". The carol is ancient, but much more modern than the time of Deloney [1543 – April 1600]. The Editor of the present work has been favoured with a communication from W. Sandys, Esq., F.S.A., (the compiler of the best collection of carols extant), from which the following is an extract:—

" The carol, 'All you that are to mirth inclined', is rather a favourite, and has been, I expect, regularly printed at the Christmas anniversary for many years back. I got two copies, with a great many other MS. carols, from an harmonious (but I fear bibulous) blacksmith in the west of Cornwall some five-and-twenty years since. Davies Gilbert, F.R.S., published a copy in his small collection. I have, I believe, three copies by Bloomer of Birmingham, (with variations) and broadside copies by Pitts, Thomson, and Batchelar of London. The copy printed in my Carols, p. 84, is shorter than these (except Gilbert's) by several verses; as I adopted the shortest copy I got from Rowe the blacksmith. My copy also differs somewhat from that in The Garland; where it is called the Sinner's Redemption, which name is retained to the present time."

Mr. Sandys, in the same communication, observes, "I looked into Deloney's book previous to printing, but I could not meet with a black-letter copy". This carol is also to be found in a small, but very good collection of carols, without date, but printed at Bilston, and entitled, " A new Carol Book for Christmas".

Note from Delaney, "Remarks on Tunes Mentioned In The Garland of Good-Will," p. 146.

The Sinner's Redemption, is, according to the Roxburgh copy, to be sung "to the tune of My Bleeding Heart, or In Creet".  Dr. Rimbault thinks that two tunes are here alluded to; neither of them is known. The carol is now generally sung to a tune which is a version of the one sung to "Death and the Lady".

Editor's Note: There are a number of carols on this website with similar titles or lyrical themes, and some of which are derived from a single source. See: All You That Are To Mirth Inclined - Notes.

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