Alternate Title: Gloria Tibi Domine
Source: William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: Richard Beckley, 1833)
1. There is a Child born of our blessed Virgin;
I heard a Maid lullaby to sing:
Peace, my dear Child, of thy weeping,
For thou shalt be our Heavenly King.
Chorus
Now sing we, and now sing we,
To the Gloria tibi Domine.
2. O Mother! O Mother! your wishes are nought;
It is not for me such carols are wrought;
Such carols were never by woman thought
To the Gloria tibi Domine. Chorus
3. O my dear Son, why sayest thou so?
Thou art my Son, I have no moe;
When Gabriel begot thee, full of grace,
Thou needest not tell me of this case. Chorus
4. O they will thrust, Mother, my head from my hair,
With a crown of thorns they will me not spare,
And with the sharp spears my heart will tear,
To the Gloria tibi Domine. Chorus
5. O come you here, Mother, and you shall see
My hands and my feet nailed to the rood tree,
And my feet, Mother, are fastned thereby,
A vile sight, Mother for you to see.
Now sing we, and now sing we,
To the Gloria tibi Domine.
And now sing we more or less,
And welcome be this merry Christmas.
Note from Joshua Sylvestre, Christmas Carols - Ancient and Modern (circa 1861, reprinted A. Wessels Company, New York, 1901):
Singing short stories of the birth of our Saviour as Carol-lullabys to infants appears to have been common in early times. In those ages no occasion seems to have been lost sight of for narrating impressive portions of the story of Christ. Rhyming narratives of the wicket Herod, and the poor little infants, were also general in the nurseries. Portions of these lullabys stacked to hymns, or carols altered to suit the infant comprehension, are now occasionally met with.
Latin choruses to Godly songs or carols in the vernacular arose from the use of Latin prayers and chants in the churches in those days. Education, prior to the Reformation, being for the most part conducted at or under supervision of the monasteries, Monkish Latin was tolerably familiar to the people.
Note that Hugh Keyte, an editor of The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992) believes that "Joshua Sylvestre" is a pseudonym for a collaboration between William Sandys (1792-1874) and William Henry Husk (1814-1887). See Appendix 4.
