Now Sing We Right As It Is
For Christmas
Words: English Traditional from the Hill Ms., Balliol College Ms. 354
Music: Not Stated
Source: E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick, eds., Early English Lyrics (London: A. H. Bullen, 1907), #LX, p. 116.
Now sing we right as it is,
Quod puer natus est nobis.
This babe to us now is born,
Wonderfull werkes he hath wrought,
He wold not lesse that was forlorn, 5
But again he hath us bought.
And thus it
is,
For soth
iwis,
He asketh no thing but that is his.
A dulefull deth to him was
mente, 10
Whan on the rode his body was spred,
And as a theff he was there hente,
And on a spere his liff was lede.
And thus it
is, etc.
' Man, why art thou unkind to
me ? 15
What woldest thou I did for thee more ?
Geve me thy trew harte, I pray thee.
If thou be dampned, it ruthe me sore.'
And thus it
is, etc.
' Man, I love thee ; whom
loveste thou ? 20
I pray thee torne to me again,
And thou shalt be as welcom nowe
As he that never in sin was seyn.'
And thus it
is, etc.
Notes:
12. hent, taken.
23. seyn, seen.
Note to #LX, p. 350.
Balliol 354. Printed Anglia, xxvi. 254; Flügel, W.L., 76.
Another version in T.C.C., O. 3. 58; printed Fuller Maitland, 8-9 and 36-7.
Extended Citations:
Balliol 354.
Balliol 354. Paper, 11 1/2 x 4. Commonplace book of Richard Hill, who
describes himself as ‘seruant with Mr. Wyngar, alderman of London.' John Wyngar,
grocer, was alderman in 1493, mayor 1504, and died 1505. Richard Hill married in
1518 Margaret, daughter of Harry Wyngar, haberdasher, 'dwellyng in bowe parishe
in London,' and the births of his seven children are recorded in the MS. from
1518 to 1526. The MS. is a miscellany of the widest character, English, French,
and Latin, poems, romances, fabliaux, extracts from Gower and Sir Thomas More,
receipts, legal notes, London customs, etc. Some pieces, signed by Hill, must be
in his own hand ; so probably is most of the MS. The latest date in it is 1535,
but part must have been written before 1504. Rimbault, 120, refers apparently to
the MS. in 1851, (see notes on CXXXI), and said he intended to print it entire.
Chappell (1855-59), 50, notes that this MS. had been 'recently found in the
library . . . , where it had been accidentally concealed, behind a bookcase,
during a great number of years.' Extracts printed by Flugel, W.L., in
1894; and thence by Pollard, 1903 ; also in Flugel, N.L. Edited, almost
complete, with full table of contents, by Flugel in Anglia, xxvi, 94,
printing 126 items. Source: Notes, p. 307-308.
See:
Editor's Note:
See also
Balliol Ms. 354 is available on-line at Early Manuscripts at Oxford University; see Balliol Ms. 354.
Anglia, xxvi. 254;
Ewald Flügel, ed., “Liedersammlungen des XVI Jahrhunderts, Besonders Aus
Der Zeit Heinrichs VIII. III. 6. Die lieder des Balliol Ms. 354,” in Eugen
Einenkel, ed., Anglia - Zeitschrift Für Englische Philologie. Band
XXVI. (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1903), p. 254.
Flügel, W.L., 76.
Ewald Flügel, "Englische Weihnachtslieder aus einer Handschrift des
Balliol College zu Oxford," in Forschungen zur deutschen Philologie:
Festgabe fur Rudolf Hildebrand, (Leipzig, 1894), p. 76. Some carols from Balliol Ms. 354 are also found in Ewald Flügel,
Neuenglisches Lesebuch (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1895) , pp. 111 ff.
T.C.C., O. 3. 58
Trinity College Library, O. 3. 58. (James, no. 1230). Parchment roll 7 inches
wide, and 6 feet 7 inches long. One side bears a Latin ecclesiastical treatise;
the other 13 carols and poems with music, perhaps by John Dunstable (see Bodl. Selden B. 26). Df the XV cent.; the forms of the
words indicate northern origin. A variant of the Agincourt song is the only
secular poem. The MS. was presented in 1838 to the College by H. O. Roe, Esq.
Described in James, iii. 247. Edited with a facsimile and added vocal parts by
J. A. Fuller Maitland and W. S. Rockstro in 1891,
English Carols of the Fifteenth Century,
from a MS. Roll in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Fuller Maitland, 8-9 and 36-7.
J. A. Fuller Maitland, ed.,
English Carols of the Fifteenth Century,
from a MS. Roll in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. With added
vocal parts by W. S. Rockstro. (London: The Leadenhall Press, E.C., ca. 1891),
pp. 8-9 and 36-7.
Editor's Note.
This carol is found in two manuscripts. Versions of this carol from these two manuscripts on this website include:
I. Balliol Ms. 354, the Richard Hill Commonplace Book
Now Sing We Right As It Is (Chambers and Sidgwick, 1907)
Now Unto Us A Babe Is Born (Weston, 1911)
This Babe To Us Now Is Born (Segar, 1915)
This Babe To Vs Now Is Born (Flügel, 1903)
II. Trinity College O.3.58 (1230), Cambridge UK
Now may we syngyn as it is (Fuller Maitland, 1891, 15th Century text), with sheet music
Now May We Singen As It Is (Fuller Maitland, 1891), Trinity College, Modern text with sheet music.
Now May We Singen As It Is (R. R. Terry, 1932), with sheet music.
This Babe To Us That Now Is Born (Rickert, 1914)
And see also John Stevens, ed. Mediaeval Carols. Musica Britannica 4. (London: Stainer and Bell, 1952, 2nd ed. 1958), p. 4.
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