Songs and Carols from a Manuscript in the British Museum of the Fifteenth Century

Edited by Thomas Wright for the Warton Club

London: T. Richards, 1856

From the Sloane Manuscript
Number 2593
In the British Museum

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Note from the Preface by Wright.

The Sloane MS., from which the present collection is printed, has been generally ascribed, from the character of the writing, to the reign of Henry VI [1422 to 1461]. I have thought, therefore, that it would not be unacceptable to the readers of our old poetry, if I gave a complete edition of the Sloane Manuscript, as a companion to the volume printed for the Percy Society.

Songs and Carols Now First Printed From a Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century
Published by Richards for the Percy Society, 1847
Now in the Bodleian Library and known as "MS. Eng. poet. e. 1."

Both manuscripts are believed to have been owned by 15th Century Minstrels.

Editor's Note:

Twenty songs from this manuscript were printed earlier by Mr. Wright in Songs and Carols Printed From A Manuscript in the Sloane Collection in the British Museum (London: William Pickering, 1836).

Mr. Wright was the editor of many volumes, including

• Songs and Carols Printed From A Manuscript in the Sloane Collection in the British Museum (London: William Pickering, 1836). Twenty songs and carols from Sloane MS 2593.

• Specimens of Old Christmas Carols Selected from Manuscripts and Printed Books (London: The Percy Society,  1841).

• Reliquiæ Antiquæ. Two Volumes. (London: John Russell Smith, 1845). With co-editor James Orchard Halliwell.

• Songs and Carols Now First Printed From a Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (London: The Percy Society, 1847).  From MS. Eng. poet. e. 1 now in  the Bodleian Library; believed to have been owned by 15th Century Minstrel.

• Festive Songs Principally of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (London: Printed for the Percy Society by Richards, 1848).

• Songs and Carols from a Manuscript in the British Museum of the Fifteenth Century (The Warton Club, 1856). Songs and carols from Sloane MS 2593. Believed to have been owned by 15th Century Minstrel.

• Songs and Ballads, With Other Short Poems, Chiefly of the Reign of Philip and Mary (London: J. B. Nichols, 1860). Composed of 77 songs and ballads in 212 pages. For the Roxburghe Club, from a 16th Century Manuscript by Richard Sheale in the Library of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, MS. Ashm. No. 48. The reign of Queen Mary was from 1553-1558; she was succeed by her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I.

Concerning the Sloane MS 2593.

The following account is from William Chappell, The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time (London: Chappell & Co., 1859), pp. 41-43:

A curious collection of the songs and Christmas carols of this reign (Henry VI.) have been printed recently by the Percy Society. (Songs and Carols from a Manuscript in the British Museum of the Fifteenth Century (The Warton Club, 1856) from the Sloane MS #2593.)

The editor of the MS. (Mr. T. Wright) observes that “The great variations in the different copies of the same song, show that they were taken down from oral recitation, and had often been preserved by memory among minstrels, who were not unskilful at composing, and who were not only in the habit of, voluntarily or involuntarily, modifying the songs as they passed through their hands, and adding or omitting stanzas, but of making up new songs by stringing together phrases and lines, and even whole stanzas from the different compositions which were imprinted on their memories.” But what renders the manuscript peculiarly interesting, is, that it contains the melodies of some of the songs as well as the words. From this it appears that the same tune was used for different words. At page 62 is a note, which in modern spelling is as follows: “This is the tune for the song following; if so be that ye will have another tune, it may he at your pleasure, for I have set all the song.” The words of the carol, “Nowell, Nowell,” (Noel) are written under the notes, but the wassail song that follows, and for which the tune was also intended, is of a very opposite character, “Bryng us in good ale.” I have printed the first verse of each under the tune, but it requires to be sung more quickly for the wassail song than for the carol.

 

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Table of Contents

Note: The full Table of Contents is reproduced, although only songs related to the Christmas-tide are reproduced on this site.

Editor's Note: Because Middle English contains letters not found in modern English, I've used a special font, "Junicode" created by Professor Peter S. Baker, Professor of English, University of Virginia on some pages.  I will note on the individual carol's page which ones need this font. You can obtain a copy of this font from his website Old English at the University of Virginia (select "Windows TrueType," or right click here, and then select "Save File As" to save a copy of the zipped file to your computer).  This font must be downloaded and installed before these pages will display accurately.

Note: I have just begun to extract songs and carols from this collection, but limited to songs of the Christmas-tide, which I define as from the first Sunday in Advent through the Presentation in the Temple, February 2. There are other songs and carols not for the Christmas-tide in this collection, however. Please check back soon. Additional historic songs and carols from other collections edited by Thomas Wright will also be forthcoming.

As I found myself retyping, formatting and attempting to add new-to-me songs, I found that I already had that song or a similar song from another collection. For this reason, I've attempted to go through the collection, and have added one or more links for some entries. Those links will be removed when the song is added from this collection, or is identified as being an identical song from another collection.

Number	Page	Burden or Chorus (C)	First Line
1	1	Thou wost wol lytyl ho is thi foo	Man, loke thou have this gys
2	2	Now bething the, gentilman	In the vale of Abraham
3	4	Alle maydenis, for Godes grace	Seynt Nicholas Was Of Gret Posté
4	5	God that alle mytes may	This word, lordingges, I understonde
5	7	O flos de Jesse virgula	Adam Our Fader Was In Blis
6	9	Eya, Jhesus hodie	Blyssid be that mayde Mary
7	10	Gay, gay, gay, gay	Every day thou myȝ lere
8	11	Wommen be both good and trewe	Of hondes and body and face arn clene
9	12	Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu	Jhesu, as thou art our savyour
10	13	No go gyle, gyle, gyle	Gyle and gold togedere arn met
11	14	Syng we alle and sey we thus	Quan I have in myn purs i-now
12	15	Synful man, for Godis sake	Thow thou be kyng of tour and town
13	16	Of a rose, a lovely rose	Lestenyt, Lordynges, Bothe Elde and 3ynge
14	18	Man, be war, be war, be war	Thi tunge is mad of fleych and blod
15	19	God be with trewthe qwer he be	A man that xuld of trewthe telle
16	20	I drukke, I dare, so wil I may	I am a chyld, a born ful bare
17	21	Gay, gay, to be gay	Ȝyng men that bern hem so gay
18	22	Be war, sqwyer, ȝeman, and page	If thou serve a lord of prys
19	23	A, a, a, a Nunc gaudet Maria.	Mary Is A Lady Bry3t
20	24	Man, be war, er thou be wo	Pryde is out, and pride is ine
21	26	I may synge of a may	The Ferste Joye, As I 3ou Telle
22	27	Man, be war of thin wowyng	Loke, er thin herte be set
23	28	Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia	Salvator mundi, Domine
24	29	Nowel el el el el el el el el el el el	Mary moder, meke and mylde
25	30		I syng a of a mayden; see I Sing Of A Maiden That Is Makeles (Chambers and Sidgwick, 1907)
26	31		I have a gentil cook
27	32		Omnes gentes plaudite
28	32		Adam lay i-bowndyn
29	33		I have a ȝong suster
30	34	Al the meryere is that place	The sunne of grace hym schynit in
31	35		I have a newe gardyn
32	36	That born was of Marie (C)	Out of the blosme sprang a thorn
33	38	Of alle the spyees that I knowe	Qwete is bothe semely and sote
34	40	The sterre hym schon bothe nyȝt and day	Jhesu was born in Bedlem Judé
35	42	Robynn lyth in grene wode bowndyn	I herde a carpyng of a clerk
36	45	Eya nobis annus est (C)	Procedenti puereo For the Nativity
37	46	So blyssid be the tyme (C)	A new yer! a new yer! a chyld was i-born
38	48	Moder, qwyt as lylie flour	As I me ros in on morwenyng
39	49	Reges de Saba venient	Now is the twelthe day i-come
40	53		As I went throw a gardyn grene
41	56		Be the way wanderyng as I went
42	60	Worchyp we bothe more and lesce	It is bred for hevene cam
43	61	Synge we, synge we, Gloria tibi, Domine.	Man, if thou hast synnyd owth
44	63		Seynt Stevene was a clerk
45	65	Nowel el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el	Mary moder, cum and se
46	66	A, a, a, a	Lestenytȝ, lordynges, bothe grete and smale For St. Thomas of Canterbury
47	68	Man, ge glad in halle and bour	In this tyme Cryst hast us sent
48	69	M and A, and R and I	It Wern Fowre Letterys Of Purposy
49	70	How hey, is is [non] les	Ȝyng men, I warne ȝou everychon
50	71	Synge we, synge we, Regina celi, letare	Holy Maydyn, Blyssid Thou Be
51	73	Synge we nowe alle and sum	A newe song I wil begynne
52	73	Man, be wys, and arys And thynk on lyf that lestenit ay.	Thynk, man, qwerof thou art wrout For Repentance of Sin
53	75	Go beg, peny, go bet, go	Peny is an hardy knyȝt
54	76	We ben chapman lyȝt of fote	We bern abowtyn non cattes skynnys
55	77		Ave Maria Stella
56	78	Man, be glad in halle and bour	In this tyme a chyld was born
57	79	Nowel, el, el, el	A babe is born al of a may
58	80	Man, be merie as bryd on berie	This tyme is born a chyld ful go
59	81	I may seyn to most and lest, Verbum caro factum est.	Jhesu Of His Moder Was Born For Second Advent?
60	83	Nowel, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el, el.	Nowel el bothe eld and ȝyng
61	84	Prenegard, prenegard	Lestenit, lordynges, I ȝou beseke
62	86	I may seyn, and so mown mo	Semenaunt is a wonder thing
63	87	Kep thi tunge, thi tunge, thi tunge	Ther is non gres that growit on ground
64	88	Alma Redemptoris mater	As I lay upon a ny3t
65	90		Non pudescit corpore
66	92		Meum est propositum in taberna mori
67	93		If I synge ȝe wyl me lakke
68	93	Wolcum, ȝol, thou mery man	Wolcum be thu, hevene kyng
69	94	Lullay, myn lykyng, my dere sone, myn swetyng	I saw a fayr mayden syttng and synge (Burden: Lullay, myn lykyng)
70	95	Hostis Herodis impie, Christum venire quid times ? Non erpit mortalia	Enmy Herowde, Thou Wokkyd Kyng For the Epiphany
71	96		As I me lend to a lend
72	98	Mak me merthe for Crystes berthe	The ferste day of yol we han in mynde
73	99	Mak ȝe merrie, as ye may	In Patras Ther Born He Was For the Feast of St. Nicholas
74	100	Kyrie, so kyrie, Jankyn syngyt merie, with aleyson	As I went on ȝol day

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