New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-20

virgin anu bbotUls SIX HlAtA Ae hAAtNAAAiH =
angels attending; a man playing on the
bagpipes; a woman with basket OF
fruit on her head; a sheep bleating, and
an OK lowing on the ground; a raven
croaking, and crow cawing on the
hayrack; a cock growing above them;
and angels singing in the sky. The
animals have labels from their mouths
(the account is Hone's), bearing Latin
inscriptions. Down the side of the
woodcut is the following explanation:
"A religious man inventing the con-
ceits of both birds and beasts, drawn
in the picture of our Saviour's birth,
doth thus express them: The cock
croweth Christus natus est, Christ Is
born. The raven asked, Quando, When?
The COW replied, Hac nocte, This Night.
The OK crieth out, Ubi? Ubi? Where ?
Where? The sheep bleateth out, Bethle-
hem. Bethlehem. Voice from heaven
sounded, Gloria in EXcelsis, Glory be
on high"
The Cherry Tree Carol.
We are in the midst of q revival of
other ancient customs besides the sing
ing Of carols. The Morris dance IS
coming into its own again IN England,
and a large collection IS making OF
English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish folk
songs. The old pageants are once more
becoming a popular form of amuse-
ment. with n large infusion of the in
structive element, and the stage OF to-
dav has exhibited mysteries and moral
tiles old and new. An optimist might
almost think that the mind of the peo-
pie, weary of the sordidness OF mod
ern life and excessive symbolism IN
art, was turning again TO the simple
and sincere likings of the long ago.
Old songs and old customs are hard TO
nut down. The acts of Parliament In
Puritan days in England could not end
the caroling and wassailing Of the peo-
nile. and though it was thought that
the singing Of carols was all but eX-
tinct in the beginning Of the nineteenth
century, Hone printed the titles OF
eighty-nine carols which had been
printed on broadsides in his day, and
we're sold as the popular songs and
ballads used TO be sold in Chatham
Square and the neighborhood when ]
came TO New York. Like so many other
things connected with the Christmas
festival, the singing Of carols had It's
origin in Pagan times, and was not
wholly associated with the winter
feasts. The Welsh had summer carols
as well. and Easter carols have long
had vogue. A bishop prohibited them
in the seventh century from being sung
at the midsummer festivals, like that
of st. John and other saints, but they
would not down, and an Anglo-SaXon
writer of the tenth century, describing
the services of the day, tells how al the
third hour archbishops and ministers
worshipped and monks observed the
hour "mid kyriole and engla lofge-
sange"-that is. with carols and angelic
songs of praise, or lauds. One OF the
old carols for which Hone expresses a
peculiar affection was The Cherry
Tree Carol" the antiquity of which can
he Guessed from the fact that it forms
a mart of the Coventry Mystery, "The
Miraculous Birth and the Midwives,"
preserved in the Cotton Ms. Joseph
warns Mary of the decree of the Ro-
man Emperor commanding tribute, and
Mary agrees to fare forth with him for
safety. On their journey Mary espies
a cherry tree in fruit. The following
dialogue ensues:
Mary: A my swete husbond! wolde ye
telle to me
What tire is yon standing vpon
yon hylle?
Joseph: For suthe Mary it is yclept a
cherry tire;
In tyne of yer ye might ffede
VOW theron fylle.
Mary: Turn a geyn, husbond, & be
holde yon ire
How that it blomyght, now, so
swetly.
Joseph: Cum on Mary, that we wern
at yon Cyte,
or ellys we may be blayd,
l telle VOW lythly.
Mary: Now my Spouse, pray VOW to
be hold
How the cheryes grove vpon
yon tire;
flor to have them, Of right,
ffayn ! void.
& it plsyl VOW TO labor so
mech for me.
Joseph: Yo' desyr to ffulfylle | schsll
assy sekyrly:
0w, to .plucke VOW of these
cherries, it is a werke
wylde!