Make We Jow In This Fest
For Christmas
Words and Music: Traditional English
Source: Thomas Wright, Songs and Carols Now First Printed, From a Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (London: The Percy Society, 1847), Song #44, printed verbatim from a manuscript probably owned by a professional musician, and apparently written in the latter half of the fifteenth century, circa 1471-1485.
Make we jow in this fest, in quo Christus natus est,
A patre unigenitus, to a mayden is cum to us,
Syng we of hymn and sey wolcum, veni, redemptor gencium,
Agnoscat omne seculum, a bryth stare kyngges mad cum,
For to take with her presens Verbum superum prodiens.
A solis ortus cardine so myty a lord is non as he.
And to owre lord he hath greth. [missing phrase]
Marya ventre concepit, the holy gost was ay byr with;
Of hyr in Bedlem now born he is, consors paterni luminis,
Alme beata trinitas, that lay betwyn an ox an a as,
By hys modyr maydyn fre, gloria tibi, Domine.
Editor's Note:
The third verse, missing a phrase here, from Richard R. Terry, Two Hundred Folk Carols:
3. A solis ortus cardine
So mighty a Lord was none as He;
For to our kind He hath given peace,
Adam parens quod polluit. Refrain
This text lacked any apparent structure, and has been edited from a copy of the carol that occurs in Richard Greene, ed., A Selection of English Carols (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1962), #12, p. 65. The text, however, was not changed.
Note:
Latin translations from Edith Rickert's Glossary:
In quo Christus natus est. = On which Christ was born .
1. A Patre Unigenitus = The only Son of the Father
Veni, Redemptor gencium = Come, Redeemer of mankind2. Agnoscat omne seculum = Let all the world acknowledge Thee
Verbum supernum prodiens = Showing forth the high Word3. A solis ortus cardine = Arisen from the quarter of the sun
Adam parens quod polluit = Which Adam, the parent, did pollute (Source: San Francisco Bach Choir, Make We Joy).4. Maria ventre concepit, = Conceived in Mary’s womb (Source: San Francisco Bach Choir, Make We Joy).
Consors paterni luminis = Consort of the light of the Father5. O lux beata Trinitas = O blessed light of the Trinity
Gloria tibi, Domine = Glory to Thee, O Lord
Note: Some of the translations of Latin phrases from Rickert are different on the page from the translations by the San Francisco Bach Choir. As I have (thus far) been unable to become literate in Latin, I am not in a position to make a recommendation one way or the other.
Versions of this carol on this web site:
Make We Joye Nowe In This Fest (Richard Leighton Greene)
Make We Joy Now In This Fest (From George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1902) (with sheet music)
Make We Joy Now In This Fest (Richard R. Terry, ca. 1923; with sheet music)
Make we jow in this fest (Thomas Wright, 1847) [this page]
Make We Joy In This Feast (From Edith Rickert, 1914)
The Selden Manuscript was the source for A Medieval Carol Book by Rev. Terry. Scans of the manuscript pages are on-line at the Bodleian Library; see Selden MS B26 (opens in a new window at an exterior site).
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