His stable is
a Prince’s courte,
a Prince’s courte,
The cribbe His
chaire of State;
chaire of State;
The beastes
are parcell of
His pompe,
are parcell of
His pompe,
The wodden dishe,
His plate.
Robert Southwell His plate.
The Lion's Noël
A Book of Christmas Beasts
V. Ye Byrds Nowell
The Storke
A Christemas
Ballad
The Storke
shee rose on Christemas Eve
And sayed unto her broode,
I nowe muste
fare to Bethlehem
To viewe the Sonne of God.
Shee gave to
eche his dole of mete,
Shee stowed them fayrlie in,
And faire
shee flew and faste shee flew
And came to Bethlehem.
Nowe where is
He of David’s lynne?
Shee asked at house and halle.
He is not
here, they spake hardlye,
But in the maungier stalle.
Shee found
Hym in the maungier stalle
With that most Holye Mayde;
The gentyle
Storke shee wept to see
The Lorde so rudelye layde.
Then from her
panntynge brest shee plucked
The fethers whyte and warm;
Shee strawed
them in the maungier bed
To kepe the Lorde from harm.
Nowe blessèd
bee the gentyle Storke
Forever more quothe Hee
For that shee
saw my sadde estate
And showed me such pytye.
Full welkum
shall shee ever bee
In hamlet and in halle,
And hight
henceforth the Blessèd Byrd
And friend of babyes all.
From the fly-leaf of King Edward VI’s prayer book, 1549
(in a less fancy typeface)
The Storke
A Christemas Ballad
The Storke shee rose
on Christemas Eve
And sayed unto her broode,
I nowe muste fare to
Bethlehem
To viewe the Sonne of God.
Shee gave to eche his
dole of mete,
Shee stowed them fayrlie in,
And faire shee flew
and faste shee flew
And came to Bethlehem.
Nowe where is He of
David’s lynne?
Shee asked at house and halle.
He is not here, they
spake hardlye,
But in the maungier stalle.
Shee found Hym in the
maungier stalle
With that most Holye Mayde;
The gentyle Storke
shee wept to see
The Lorde so rudelye layde.
Then from her
panntynge brest shee plucked
The fethers whyte and warm;
Shee strawed them in
the maungier bed
To kepe the Lorde from harm.
Nowe blessèd bee the
gentyle Storke
Forever more quothe Hee
For that shee saw my
sadde estate
And showed me such pytye.
Full welkum shall shee
ever bee
In hamlet and in halle,
And hight henceforth
the Blessèd Byrd
And friend of babyes all.
From the fly-leaf of King Edward VI’s prayer book, 1549
(in a more modern style)
The Stork
A Christmas Ballad
The Stork she rose on Christmas Eve
And said unto her
brood,
I now must go to Bethlehem
To see the Son of
God.
She gave to each his piece of meat,
She tucked them
tightly in,
And fair she flew and fast she flew
And came to
Bethlehem.
Now where is He of David’s line?
She asked at
house and hall.
He is not here, they said, in fine
He lies in manger
stall.
She found Him in the manger stall
With that most
Holy Maid;
The gentle Stork, she wept to see
The Lord so
rudely laid.
Then from her panting breast she plucked
The feathers
white and warm;
She strawed them in the manger bed
To keep the Lord
from harm.
Now blessèd be the gentle Stork
Forevermore said
He
For that she saw my sad estate
And showed me
such pity.
Full welcome shall she ever be
In hamlet and in
hall,
And called henceforth the Blessèd Bird
And friend of babies all.
From the fly-leaf of King Edward VI’s prayer book, 1549
The Carol of the Birds
When rose the eastern star
The birds came from afar,
In that full night of glory.
With one melodious voice
They sweetly did rejoice,
And sang the wondrous story
Sang, praising God on high,
Enthroned above the sky,
And His fair Mother, Mary.
The eagle left his lair,
Came winging through the air,
His message loud arising.
And to his joyous cry
The sparrow made reply
His answer sweetly voicing.
"Overcome are death and strife,
This night is born New Life,"
The robin sang, rejoicing.
When rose the eastern star
The birds came from afar.
Based on a Catalan carol, performed by Joan Baez on her album NOËL, published by Carl Fischer
Follow this link to hear a performance of Peter Schickele's arrangement of this beautiful carol:
Here is another version:
Upon this holy night,
When God sets forth a light
And floods the earth with brightness
Birds' voices rise in song
And warbling all night long
Express their glad heart's lightness
The Nightingale is here
To bring his song of cheer,
And tell us of His gladness:
Jesus, our Lord, is born
To free us from all sin
And banish ev'ry sadness!
The answ'ring Sparrows say:
"God comes to earth this day
Amid the angels flying."
Trilling in sweetest tones,
The Finch his Lord now owns:
"To Him be all thanksgiving."
The Partridge adds his note:
"To Bethlehem I'll soar,
Where in the stall He's lying.
There, near the manger blest,
I'll build myself a nest,
And sing my love undying.
Traditional Catalan carol, translator unknown
Whence
Comes This Rush of Wings?
Whence comes this rush of wings afar,
Following straight the Noël star?
Birds from the woods in wondrous flight,
Bethlehem seek this Holy Night.
"Tell us, ye birds, why come ye here,
Into this stable, poor and drear?"
"Hast'ning we seek the newborn King,
And all our sweetest music bring."
Hark how the Greenfinch bears his part,
Philomel, too, with tender heart,
Chants from her leafy dark retreat,
Re, mi, fa, sol, in accents sweet.
Angels and shepherds, birds of the sky,
Come where the Son of God doth lie;
Christ on earth with man doth dwell,
Join in the shout, "Noël, Noël!"
Traditional
French carol
The Birds
From out of a wood did a
cuckoo fly,
Cuckoo,
He came to a manger with
joyful cry,
Cuckoo;
He hopped, he curtsied, round
he flew,
And loud his jubilation grew,
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.
A pigeon flew over to Galilee,
A pigeon flew over to Galilee,
Vrercroo,
He strutted, and cooed, and was full of glee,
Vrercroo,
And showed with jewelled
wings unfurled,
His joy that Christ was in the world,
Vrercroo, vrercroo, vrercroo.
A dove settled down upon Nazareth,
A dove settled down upon Nazareth,
Tsucroo,
And tenderly chanted with all his breath,
Tsucroo;
“O you,” he cooed, “so good
and true,
My beauty do I give to you –
Tsucroo, tsucroo, tsucroo.”
Traditional Czech Carol, Zezulka
z Lesa Vylítla,
translated by Percy
Dearmer, 1867-1936
"The Birds" in the original Czech (Zezulka z Lesa Vylitla)
From "Hamlet" Act I. Scene 1
Some
say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein
our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This
bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And
then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The
nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No
fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So
hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
|
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William Shakespeare
King Herod and the Cock
There was a star in David’s land
Which shed a
cheerful ray
Into King Herod’s chamber and
Where’er King
Herod lay.
The Wise Men soon espied it
And told the king
a-nigh,
A Princely Babe was born that night
No king could e’er
destroy.
“If this be true,” King Herod said,
That thou hast
told to me,
This roasted cock that lies in dish
Shall crow out
loud times three.”
The cock jumped up full featherèd
By the work of
God’s own hand;
And he did crow three times out loud
In the dish where
he did stand!
Anonymous, from "The Carnel and the Crane"
To Bethl'em I Would Go
To Bethl'em I would go
The tiny King to show
My black rooster, sleek and trim,
My cuckoo both brown and slim:
These will I give Him.
Rooster will crow away,
Making the Baby gay;
Little cuckoo perching near His head,
Calling sweetly will make His heart glad:
These will I give Him.
Coo, coo-coo! Coo, coo-coo!
They sing for Jezísku!
Coo, coo-coo! Coo, coo-coo!
Jesu, they sing for you!
Traditional Czech, Sel Bych Rád k Betlému, translated by Mary Vojácek Cochrane and George K. Evans
I would I were a bird or
star,
Fluttering in woods, or
lifted far
Above
this inn,
And road
of sin!
Then either star or bird
should be
Shining or singing still to
Thee.
Anonymous, From "Christ's Nativity"
Here ends
Ye Byrds Nowell
_______________________
Photograph: "Stork in Flight" from MacDonald Wildlife Photography, www.hoothollow.com
Bird design by William Morris
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