Be glad, lordynges, be ye more and lesse

Words and Music: Traditional English
(From MS. Harl. No. 5396, p. 18. This MS. appears to have been written in the north; for on the page which contains the present carol are written, in nearly a contemporary hand, the words, "Wylȝam Northe of Yorke.")

Source: Thomas Wright, Specimens of Old Christmas Carols Selected from Manuscripts and Printed Books (London: The Percy Society, 1841), No. XXII, p. 33.

Compare: Be Glad, Lordings, Be Ye More Or Less (Puer nobis natus est) (Rickert)
Lystenyt, lordyngs, more and lees - Thomas Wright
Puer Nobis Natus Est (Chambers & Sidgwick)

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See notes in F A Q

Puer nobis natus est,
de virgine Maria

Be glad, lordynges, be ye more and lesse
I bryng ȝou tydynges of gladnesse,
As Gabryel me beryth wetnesse,
                    dicam vobis quia.

I bryng ȝou tydynges that ben gode,
Mary hath borne a blysful foude,
That boȝt us all upon the rode,
                    sua morte pia.

For the trespas of Adam,
For the fadyr of hevyn he cam,
Here-to myrthhe us bygan,
                    teste profecia.

Mary, modr and leve virgyn,
That bare of child wyth-outen syn,
Kepe us all fro hell pyn,
                    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) [This page]

• 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)

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 (Of a rose singè we), 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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