1 OLD CHRISTMAS RETURNED. And drink of their moisture contented and free 66 My honest good fellow, come, here is to thee!" And when they are hungry, full to their relief, Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef. Young gallants and ladies shall foot it along, The cooks and the scullion, who toil in their frocks, There are very few that do live on the earth Yea, those that are charged to find all relief, Then well may we welcome Old Christmas to town, pass the cold winter away with delight. We feast it all day, and we frolic all night; Then let all curmudgeons, who dote on their wealth, WASSAILING FRUIT TREES. The custom of Wassailing the fruit trees on the eve of Twelfth-day has been before alluded to. It seems to have been the practice, on the part of the Devonshire farmers, to proceed to their orchards in the evening, accompanied by their farm servants, and carrying with them a large pitcher or milk-pail filled with cyder, with roasted apples hissing therein. They forthwith encircled one of the best bearing trees, and drunk the following toast three times. The remains of the wassailing liquor was then thrown against the trees, under the idea that a fruitful year would be the result. 66 HERE'S to thee, old apple-tree, Whence thou may'st bud, and thou may'st blow! Two out of the three subjoined Carols will be recognised as old familiar friends. Though in all probability more than a century and a-half old, they are the Carols of the People even at the present day, and, independent of their claim on this score, to be admitted into the present work, there is a pleasing simplicity about the one, and a quaintness pervading the other, sufficient to cause them to be admired in spite of their commonness. [Day. For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas In Bethlehem in Jewry This blessed babe was born, And laid within a manger Upon this blessed morn; The which his mother Mary Nothing did take in scorn. O tidings, &c. From God, our Heavenly Father, And, unto certain shepherds, Brought tidings of the same; How, that in Bethlehem was born The Son of God by name. O tidings, &c. Fear not, then said the Angel, Of virtue, power, and might, So frequently to vanquish all O tidings, &c. The Shepherds at those tidings, Rejoiced much in mind, And left their flocks a-feeding In tempest, storm, and wind, And went to Bethlehem straightway, This blessed Babe to find. O tidings, &c. But when to Bethlehem they came, Where as this infant lay, CAROL, WITH LULLABY. They found Him in a manger His mother Mary kneeling Unto the Lord did pray. Now to the Lord sing praises, All you within this place, And with true love and brotherhood Each other now embrace, This holy tide of Christmas All others doth deface. O tidings, &c. CAROL, WITH LULLABY. LULLA, la lulla, lulla lullaby, My sweet little baby, what meanest thou to cry? Be still, my blessed babe, though cause thou hast to mourn, And lo, alas, behold what slaughter he doth make, Lulla, la lulla, lulla lullaby, &c. Three kings this King of kings to see, are come from far, |