Christmas And Its Carols

. len the angels ini. ii' ering u i r tho gtall-craxtle of the infani and songs have ever been timas, and antiquarians withalltheirreseari have nul been able lo li v a. dat.' r.r whieh the popular idea of celebrating the Xativit.v ;;■■ nol carried out by singing and merry-making. The oíd carola, however, were aot the long religioua now popular amongthe peasantrj oí England, and which were substituted by those close cropped encniies t music and mirth, the Puritans, but dittiea of goo and drinking and general joïlitj may be learned from a vari' manuscript ■ f the Fifteenth Century; The lewld peple than algatea ngre, And i . ii rvrri' eri de, Not vvitl) Bbanuastcnea ici jocoi Aml bolev bov gb.es aboute; nul ::1 i e hem eten, and hem dril And langhen niereli, and maken route, ,iii! pjpe,and dansen,and liei irinkc Ño noc thyujfc els, twalve daye tnei woldi is the earliesi allusion to tl' eust. in of keeping u]) the Christhmas festivities for twelve days, which accounts lor i nr modern Twefith Night, a great iral and general holiday in V.nland, lm) to which no attentionis paid in thia country. The ancien! caro] ai the bringing in of the boar's head ■'■'■ Chrlst■ iüici-s. still at Queen's kllege, Oxford, is as old as thefirst Hcnry, for : liis ooronation, in 1170. wc learn that ii was i ■ - - 1 as follows: Aprl defero, Reddens laudes Domino, The borea head in band bilí Witli garlandea gaj aml roeemar; I pray yon al! sume, merreta Qul cstis n convivio The borca hear I understande Is the cblei service in tliis Linde Loke wherever it be fandc Servitc cum cántico. Almost all the old carola have Latin burdens or intormixtures, showing their monastic origin, and it was when the Englisll Ki-tonnalicin had i'.-taliii.shcd the Episcopal liturgy that these Latin scraps were banished trom the jovial songs of Merrj Christmas, the time when everybodj was iVast cd, and when the meanesl Berving man, the lowliesl peasani vas welcömed to the most lordly banqui hall, placed beneath the galt, and among Üie nobles and fair ladies, sang bis rude carola and played bis merrj pranks; as we ivad in au old autlior. "among tl 10 ■ mas husbandlie fare, good drink, a good lire in the hall, bra'wne, pudding Rnd souse, and mustard withal, Ij-''Í. tuutton and pork shred, pies of the best, pig, real, goose, capon, and turkev, e, apples, and nut-, with a jollx to the umi. oí 'King Solomon.' " Mam of Üo earlj Curistmag carola rude in structure, dofectíve in rhyme, and of a chilclish simplicity in matter which appear very cómica] to our enliglitoned n, whilo some deal wit'n miraclea appertaJuing to the incar:i. of whicli nothing short o) il juimii Caro! ol Iloly ■ c t lirrry Tree, still, in :i somewhat modernized form, miii: by the peasantry and lead minera of the Derbyshire Peafc. U oom(nenees: Joseph was ;ui old man And au old man was U Ainl lic tnarried Mary, Queen i l (iiililcr. Christnias earols wore no( coufiued to the birtli and boyhood of Christ, bul were tnoulded on othcr Scriptural subici-. one being called Dives and Lazarus, commencing in tho following whtmsical manner, whieb, when drayled out solemnlj by a Derbyshire psalni-singer, has a ino.-t tudicrous effecl : : ü fel] oui apon a day, rich Dives si and lied, There came two serpènts out of liell, hl t hí-1-.-iü ti i iinlc, 1 Riee up, rise ap, brother Dlves, and eonjealong itii nie ï"öryou'vea place provldett Ja heil, tosit on a ■ 's , tus, Aiiother very curiooa caro] of Christmas-timo printed on bailad paper, in black letter, may yet occasionally bo fonnd pastecl on a Derbyshire cottage wall, v.iiiih is headed "Christus Natus Est," :md which is ornamented with a rudo wood-cut of the Nativity, in which are 8eon n nuinber of domestic animáis wil h labels issuing from their mouths. Thus the rooster crows, Christus natus est. The raven asks, Quandoi The crow nnswers, Hac ni-tc ox bellows, Ubií r,i.' The sheep bleats, BethlelKm, while the dove, coming out of a cloud, bears in its beak the legend, Qloria in Exa Isis. Wit iiiuny oí the early carols have been rrevocably lost, as they werehanded down orally from generation to goneration and aever becamo iiaprisoned in iic. and those of the most singular character, too. Old oronea crooned them over to the cradled babes, and yoting maidens learned them from their granYniothei-8, bul cheap literature and national schools have banished these ctisloms. and tho carols have gradunüy faded trom memory, a fragment, a -lanza. or a line here and tliere being heard trom the '-i's of n shepherd-lad or a Derbyshir niilkmaid. Thus the glad songs of Christma8-tidc nrhich enlivened the testivities of royalty in thedayswhen Chrlstraas bad its Chrlutinaa carols Aud ladies' sldcs were bóopod llkc bsrrels, descended to tin: serving men and humble laborei' and have cventuallj 'x'1-'" lost. "The well bolov'd servant" who, as Sonthey telLs it-s. "ín bis lord's castlc bead ■ lias n, tor tliu m i iinii. irtalized bj Punch, and even the Carísimas invul itselfhas nol escapedthe degeneration of modei but has been nsed as i medium for advertising, as ís seen in ■■.V Christmas Carol on Pekoo Tea," wherein we aro told How Cihrlal bórn, An,l God dweil n a bush of tboru, Whicü bush of thoi n me Tii. the Pol and after a long rigmarole of religious fervor and elieap groeery zeal, Dnds with the devout wish tliai All who do these trnths con Ne'er ta te one single drop oí tliL'in . r In v-v. Jernsalem, with the added Information that Pekoe d and fine may ind grateful and uaeful all the year round, froin Ohrlstmaa to Christma is Hoifinan's, at the sign of tlic Golden Caddio on. Tower HiB, London. 'l'his caro! wa dedicated to "Queen Caroline and the Princess Carolina and all tho Royal Famüy," and was published 11 172!.' In jiilc of modern chango and novel ; manaers, there seems to pe b growing fondaess for making much of Christmas, and long may il be before ita i ,i shall become obsolete as ite carols. Tho merry time is al hand au aro able to BÍng in the words of ont; of the oldest of Hic.sc English folksongs: : thU in the morn When ('liri-f Sai liar I"1 n ■■ ru; .1! in a atable bo lowlce, At Bethlehem in (ialilee, Rejoicel onr Savlour he was born On Cbristmaa day in tho morntng.