Twelfe Night

Or King and Queene

Source: William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: Richard Beckley, 1833)

    Now, now the mirth comes,
    With the cake full of plums,
Where beane's the king of the sport here;
    Beside we must know,
    The pea also
Must revell as queene in the court here.

    Begin then to chuse,
    This night as ye use,
Who shall for the present delight here;
    Be a king by the lot,
    And who shall not
Be Twelfe-day queene for the night here.

    Which knowne, let us make
    Joy-sops with the cake;
And let now a man then be seen here
    Who unurg'd will not drinke,
    To the base from the brink,
A health to the king and the queene here.

    Next crowne the bowle full
    With gentle lambs-wooll;
Adde sugar, nutmet, and ginger,
    With store of ale too;
    And thus ye must doe
To make the wassaile a swinger.

    Give then to the king
    And queene wassailing,
And though with ale ye be whet here,
    Yet part ye from hence,
    As free from offence
As when ye innocent met here.

Sandys' Note:

This [is] from Herrick's Poems, 2 vols. Edinb. 1823. Herrick was born in 1591, and the first edition of the "Hesperides" was published in 1648.

Editor's Note: See: Twelfth Day Ceremonies From Sandys

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