Puer nobis natus est,
De virgine Maria

Words: English Traditional, About 1456

Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), p. 22.

Compare: Be glad, lordynges, be ye more and lesse - Thomas Wright
Lystenyt, lordyngs, more and lees - Thomas Wright
Puer Nobis Natus Est (Chambers & Sidgwick)

Puer nobis natus est,
De virgine Maria

1. Be glad, lordings, be ye more and less,
I bring you tidings of gladness,
As Gabriel me bearetgh witness,
    Dicam vobis quia.

2. I bring you tidings that be good,
Mary hath borne a blissful Fode,
That bought us all upon the Rood,
    Sua morte pia.

3. For the trespass of Adam,
Fro the Father of heaven He came,
Hereto to myrthe us began,
    Teste profecia.

4. Mary, mother and lief virgin,
That bare a child withouten sin,
Keep us all fro helle pain,
    De virgine Maria.

Editor's Note:

Other versions of this carol on this website:

"Listen, Lordings, Both More and Less" (Burden: Puer nobis natus est de Virgine Maria)

• Be glad, lordynges, be ye more and lesse (Thomas Wright, 1841)

• Lystenyt, lordyngs, more and lees (Wright, 1845)

• Puer Nobis Natus Est (First line: Be glad, lordinges, bethe more and lesse,) (Chambers & Sidgwick, 1907)

• Be Glad, Lordings, Be Ye More and Less (Rickert, 1916) [This page]

There are other carols on this web site with similar first lines or burdens, although they have very separate themes and lyrics, including:

"Listen, Lordings, Both Old and Young"

• Lestenyt, Lordynges, Bothe Elde and 3ynge (Wright, 1836 & 1856, from Sloane 2593) (Burden: Of a rose, a lovely rose)

• Of A Rose, A Lovely Rose (Chambers & Sidgwick, 1907 from Sloane 2593) (First Line: Lesteneth, lordinges, bothe elde and yinge) [This page]

• Lyth and lystyn, both old and young (Wright, 1847, from MS. Eng. poet. e. 1.) (Burden: Of A Rose, A Lovely Rose)

• Of A Rose, A Lovely Rose (Rickert, 1914 from MS. Eng. poet. e. 1.) (First Line: Hearken to me, both old and ying)

• Off A Rose, A Louely Rose (Flügel, 1903 from Balliol Ms. 354) (First line: Herkyn to me both olde & yonge)

• Hearken To Me Both Old And Young, (Pollard, 1903, from Balliol MS 354) (Burden: Of A Rose, A Lovely Rose)

This Rose is Railed on a Ryse, Text Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), p. 11, from Ms. Selden B 26, folio 9v.

• Text and Sheet Music from Richard Runciman Terry, Two Hundred Folk Carols (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne Limited, 1933), Carol #176, pp. 10-11.
• Text and Sheet Music from Sir Richard Runciman Terry, A Medieval Carol Book: The Melodies Chiefly from MMS. in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., 1932), Carol #5, pp. 10-11.

"Listen, Lordings, Both Great and Small" (Burden: A, a, a, a, Nunc gaudet ecclesia):

• Lestenyt3, lordynges, bothe grete and smale (Wright, 1856)

• Listeneth, lordings, both great and small (Rickert, 1914)

"Listen, Lordings, both leve and dear" (Nowell, -ell, both Old and Young):

• Nowel el bothe eld and õyng - Thomas Wright (Wright, 1841)

• Nowell, Ell, Both Old and Ying (Rickert, 1914)

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