“ CHRISTMAS PROVENDER.
Provide for Christmas ere that it do come,
To feast thy neighbor good cheer to have some;
Good bread and drink, a fire in the hall,
Brawn, pudding, souse, and good mustard withal.
Beef, mutton, pork, and shred pies of the best,
Pig, veal, goose, capon, and turkey well drest;
Apples and nuts to throw about the hall,
That boys and girls may scramble for them all.
Sing jolly carols, make the fiddlers play,
Let scrupulous fanatics keep away;
For oftentimes seen no arranter knave
Than some who do counterfeit most to be grave. ”

“ Thy people, and thy story, and thy Son,
Mary of Nazareth! So long agone
Bearing us Him who made our christendom,
And came to save the earth, from heav'n, His home.
So many hill-sides, crowned with rugged rocks!
So many simple shepherds keeping flocks
In many moonlit fields! but, only they—
So lone, so long ago, so far away—
On that one winter's night, at Bethlehem,
To have white angels singing lauds for them!
They only—hinds wrapped in the he-goat's skin—
To hear heaven's music, bidding peace begin!
Only for those, of countless watching eyes,
The "Glory of the Lord" glad to arise ”

“ Fancy, if you will, Gentle Reader, that, between the intervals of tale-telling,—the Yule-log still ruddy upon the visages of your fellow-guests from many lands,—fancy that a quiet traveller draws out of his side-pocket a little, well-worn pair of books from which he reads some scrap of verse or some melodious Christmas poem. Fancy, too, that, beneath the inn windows, in the snow outside, an occasional band of the Waits strikes up an ancient carol with voice and horn, begging, when the music is done, admittance to the glowing warmth within doors and a share in the plenteous cakes and ale. ”

“ Where cake, bread, and cheese are brought for your fees
To make you the longer stay;
At the fire to warm 'twill do you no harm,
To drive the cold winter away.
When Christmas's tide comes in like a bride
With holly and ivy clad,
Twelve days in the year much mirth and good cheer
In every household is had;
The country guise is then to devise
Some gambols of Christmas play,
Whereat the young men do best that they can
To drive the cold winter away. ”

“ Your voices sing through the Christmas-tide,
And wintry winds emblend their tones
At the minster-eaves with the organ groans:
The carols meet with laughter sweet
In a gay embrace mid the drifting sleet.
Anon the weary sun's at rest,
And clouds that hovered all day by,
Like silver arras down the sky
Enfold him—while the winds are whist—
But not the Christmas jollity,
For, little space, and wassail high
Flows at the board; and hautboys sound
The tripping dance and merry round. ”

“ The "Angel of the Lord," visible, sure,
Known for the angel by his presence pure
Whereon was written love, and peace, and grace,
With beauty passing mortal mien and face.
So when the Angels were no more to see,
Re-entering those gates of space,—whose key
[Pg 165] Love keeps on that side, and on this side death—
Each shepherd to the other whispering saith,
Lest he should miss some lingering symphonies
Of that departing music, "Let us rise
And go even now to Bethlehem, and spy
This which is come to pass, shewed graciously
By the Lord's angels." ”

“ Imagine this, if you will, and choose, from the pages to come, whatever of old or new will fit well into the conceit; for not a few carols or legends lie there which have done service under the snow-covered gables or by the crackling wood, and which will help, with their quaint heartiness or simple beauty, to realize the charm of Christmas the world around,—that charm which flows from hearty and generous good-will towards men; which has for its inner light the kindly desire for peace on earth. ”

“ The priests do roar aloud, and round about the parents stand,
To see the sport, and with their voice do help them and their hand.
Thus wont the Coribants perhaps upon the mountain Ide,
The crying noise of Jupiter, new born, with song to hide,
To dance about him round, and on their brazen pans to beat,
Lest that his father, finding him, should him destroy and eat.
Then followeth Saint Stephen's Day, whereon doth every man
His horses jaunt and course abroad, as swiftly as he can. ”

“ The "Glory of the Lord" around each head:
Broke, be it deemed, o'er hill and over hollow,
On the inner seeing, the sense concealed, unknown,
Of those plain hinds—glad, humble, and alone—
Flooding their minds, filling their hearts; around,
Above, below, disclosing grove and ground,
The rocks, the hill, the town, the solitude,
The wondering flocks,—agaze with grass half-chewed,—
The palm-crowns, and the path to Bethlehem,
As sight angelic spies. ”

“ Of your good Christmas-pie;
Except thereat I have a pull,
I think I sure shall die.
Good master, stand my loving friend,
For Christmas-time is short,
And when it comes unto an end
I may no longer sport;
Then while it doth continue here,
Let me such labor find
To eat my fill of that good cheer
That best doth please my mind.
Then I shall thank my dame therefore,
That gives her kind consent
That Jack, your boy, with others more,
May have this Christmas spent
In pleasant mirth and merry glee,
As young men most delight ”

“ Not ours the fault, dear angels! Prove the dream
Waking and true! sing once again, and make
Moonlight and starlight sweet for earth's sad sake!
Or, if heaven bids ye lock in silence still
Conquest of peace, and coming of good-will,
Till times to be, then—oh, you placid sheep!
Ah, thrice-blest shepherds! suffer if we creep
Back through the tangled thicket of the years
To graze in your fair flock, to strain our ears
With listening herdsmen, if, perchance, one note
Of such high singing in the fine air float ”

“ In vain the Tyrian maids their wounded Thammuz mourn.
And sullen Moloch, fled,
Hath left in shadows dread
His burning idol all of blackest hue;
In vain with cymbals' ring
They call the grisly king,
In dismal dance about the furnace blue;
The brutish gods of Nile as fast,
Isis, and Orus, and the dog Anubis, haste.
Nor is Osiris seen
In Memphian grove or green,
Trampling the unshower'd grass with lowings loud:
Nor can he be at rest
Within his sacred chest;
Naught but profoundest hell can be his shroud ”

“ Of cursed devils, sprites and bugs, of conjurings and charms,
So much this king can do, so much the crosses bring to pass,
Made by some servant, maid or child, or by some foolish ass!
Twice six nights then from Christmas they do count with diligence,
Wherein each master in his house doth burn up frankincense:
And on the table sets a loaf, when night approacheth near,
Before the coals and frankincense to be perfumed there:
First bowing down his head he stands, and nose, and ears, and eyes
He smokes, and with his mouth receives the fume that doth arise ”

“ In a wild part of North England, there lived once two wild men,
Inhabiting one homestead, neither a hovel nor hut,
Time out of mind their birthright: father and son, these,—but,—
Such a son, such a father! ”

“ New Christmas Carols, A.D. 1661.
[Pg 193]
CHRISTMAS ALMS.
Now that the time is come wherein
Our Saviour Christ was born,
The larders full of beef and pork,
The garners filled with corn;
As God hath plenty to thee sent,
Take comfort of thy labors,
And let it never thee repent
To feast thy needy neighbors.
Let fires in every chimney be
That people they may warm them;
Tables with dishes covered,—
Good victuals will not harm them.
With mutton, veal, beef, pig, and pork,
Well furnish every board;
Plum-pudding, furmety, and what
Thy stock will them afford. ”

“ Of the mountainous man, whereon his child's rash hand like a feather weighed.
Nevertheless at once did the mammoth shut his eyes,
Drop chin to breast, drop hands to sides, stand stiffened,—arms and thighs
All of a piece—struck mute, much as a sentry stands,
Patient to take the enemy's fire: his captain so commands.
Whereat the son's wrath flew to fury at such sheer scorn
Of his puny strength by the giant eld thus acting the babe new-born:
And "Neither will this turn serve!" yelled he. "Out with you! Trundle, log!
If you cannot tramp and trudge like a man, try all-fours like a dog!" ”

“ Speaketh with such, heaven's mercy is drawn nigh!
Well did we counsel, journeying to this place!
Yon hour-old Babe, milking that breast of grace,
The world will praise and worship, well-content."
Then, fearing Herod, to their homes they went
Musing along the road. But he alway
Angered and troubled, bade his soldiers slay
Whatever man-child sucked in Bethlehem.
Lord! had'st Thou been all God, as pleaseth them
Who poorly see Thy godlike self, and take
True glory from Thee for false glory's sake:
Co-equal power, as these—too bold—blaspheme,
Ruler of what Thou camest to redeem ”

“ To be my Lord and King.
"Not Herod, nay, nor Cyrus, nay,
Not any king at all;
For I would choose a new-born child
Laid in a manger-stall."
[Pg 43] "'Tis well," the black King Casper cried,
"For mighty men are ye;
But no such humble king were meet
For my simplicity.
"A star is small and very far,
A babe's a simple thing;
The very Son of God himself
Shall be my Lord and King!"
Then smiled the King Balthazar;
"A good youth!" Melchior cried;
And young and old, without a word,
Along the hills they ride,
Till, lo! ”

“ Shall wait on honey love,
While youthful revels, masques, and courtly sights
Sleep's leaden spells remove.
The time doth well dispense
With lovers' long discourse;
Much speech hath some defence,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well:
Some, measures comely tread,
Some, knotted riddles tell,
Some, poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys,
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys,
They shorten tedious nights.
Thomas Campion.
[Pg 79]
A CHRISTMAS CATCH. ”

“ The first doth sprout doth surely bear the name of their good man.
Their husband's nature eke they seek to know and all his guise:
When as the sun hath hid himself, and left the starry skies,
Unto some woodstack do they go, and while they there do stand,
Each one draws out a fagot stick, the next that comes to hand,
Which if it straight and even be, and have no knots at all,
A gentle husband then they think shall surely to them fall ”

“ To make them strong, so do the maids to make them fair and fine.
Then comes the day that calls to mind the cruel Herod's strife,
Who seeking Christ to kill, the King of everlasting life,
Destroyèd all the infants young, a beast unmerciless,
And put to death all such as were of two years age or less. ”

“ But thou shalt live and reign, as sibyls hath foresaid,
As all the prophets prophesy, whose mother, yet a maid
And perfect virgin pure, with her breasts shall upbreed
Both God and man that all hath made, the son of heavenly seed:
[Pg 204] Whom caitives none can 'tray, whom tyrants none can kill:
O joy and joyful happy day when wretches want their will! ”

“ Brisk Ned hath bought a ruff of lawn
With droppings of the barrel;
And those that hardly all the year
Had bread to eat or rags to wear
Will have both clothes and dainty fare,
And all the day be merry.
Now poor men to the justices
With capons make their arrants;
And if they hap to fail of these,
They plague them with their warrants:
But now they feed them with good cheer,
And what they want they take in beer;
For Christmas comes but once a year,
And then they shall be merry.
[Pg 61] Good farmers in the country nurse
The poor that else were undone ”

“ Good kitchen-maid, draw near,
Thou art an honest cook,
And canst brew ale and beer;
Thy office show,
Before I go,
My bottle and bag come fill,
And for thy sake
I'll merry make
Upon the next green hill.
New Christmas Carols.
[Pg 158]
FROM "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." AT BETHLEHEM.
So many hills arising, green and gray,
On Earth's large round, and that one hill to say:
"I was his bearing-place!" On Earth's wide breast
So many maids! and she—of all most blest—
Heavily mounting Bethlehem, to be
His Mother!—Holy Maid of Galilee! ”

“ What then doth make the element so bright?
The heavens are come down upon earth to live.
[Pg 140] But hearken to the song,
Glory to glory's king,
And peace all men among,
These quiristers do sing.
Angels they are, as also (Shepherds) he
Whom in our fear we do admire to see.
Let not amazement blind
Your souls, said he, annoy:
To you and all mankind
My message bringeth joy.
For lo, the world's great Shepherd now is born
A blessed babe, an infant full of power:
After long night uprisen is the morn,
Renowning Bethl'em in the Saviour. ”

“ With pomp and great solemnity, they meet and make good cheer
With money either got by stealth, or of their parents eft,
That so they may be trained to know both riot here and theft.
Then, also, every householder, to his ability,
Doth make a mighty cake that may suffice his company:
Herein a penny doth he put, before it comes to fire,
This he divides according as his household doth require;
And every piece distributeth, as round about they stand,
Which in their names unto the poor is given out of hand. ”

“ Sindon o'er sindon, cere-cloth, cinglets, bands
Roll after roll, on head, breast, feet, and hands,
[Pg 173] Round some dead king, whose cold and withered palm
Had dropped the sceptre; drenched with musk and balm,
And natron, and what keeps from perishing;
So they might save—after long wandering—
The body for the spirit, and hold fast
Life's likeness, till the dead man lived at last. ”

“ To every man that to the faith would 'long,
Tyrle, tyrle.
The shepherds hied them to Bethlehem
To see that blessed sun's beam;
And there they found that glorious stream,
Tyrle, tyrle.
Now pray we to that meek Child,
And to his mother that is so mild,
The which was never defiled,
Tyrle, tyrle.
[Pg 133] That we may come unto his bliss,
Where joy shall never miss;
That we may sing in Paradise,
Tyrle, tyrle.
I pray you all that be here
For to sing and make good cheer,
In the worship of God this year,
Tyrle, tyrle.
Wright's Songs and Carols. ”

“ And shepherds heard the song, which angels bright did sing,
Giving all glory unto God for coming of this King,
[Pg 203] Which must be made away—King Herod would him kill;
O woe and woful heavy day when wretches have their will?
Lulla, etc.
Lo, lo, my little babe, be still, lament no more;
From fury thou shalt step aside, help have we still in store:
We heavenly warning have some other soil to seek;
From death must fly the Lord of life, as lamb both mild and meek:
Thus must my babe obey the king that would him kill;
O woe and woful heavy day when wretches have their will! ”

“ Of happy stuff that doth excel.
Twelve days we now have spent
In mirth and merriment,
And daintily did fare,
For which we took no care:
But now I sadly call to mind
What days of sorrow are behind.
We must leave off to play,
To-morrow's working-day;
According to each calling
Each man must now be falling,
[Pg 119] And ply his business all the year
Next Christmas for to make good cheer. ”