The West Midland counties seem to have been great carol country and there's an interesting range of styles. As you'd possibly expect, While Shepherds is West Gallery style, whereas The Bewdley Carol sounds more like a hunting song. The two versions of Come All Ye Faithful Christians (completely different songs) use tunes more associated with other songs. The Herefordshire carol uses a variant of Van Dieman's Land, while the Worcestershire version uses a tune collected elsewhere in the county for Adieu My Lovely Nancy.
Sung by Mrs Keyworth of Upper Beobridge, Claverley, who had learnt it from an old shepherd at her family home at King's Nordley, Shropshire (six miles south-east of Bridgnorth), Collected by Miss R. Dawtry of Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
All seated on the ground,
The Angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around,
And glory shone around,
And glory shone around.
Sung by Mrs M. Millward and Mrs N.Edwards, 1974
The last lovely morning
So bright and so clear
Was pressed in the offing
And soon shall appear.
Chorus
When the mighty, mighty, mighty trump
Sounds come, come away
Oh, may we be ready
To hail that great day
And on that bright morning
In splendour appear
With Christ our Redeemer
We'll rise up and cheer
The blast of the trumpet
So loud and so shrill
Will shortly re-echo
O'er mountain and hill
The graves they shall open
The dead shall arise
And with our Redeemer
Mount up to the skies
So let us all gather
In tuneful accord
To greet our Redeemer
The thrice-risen Lord.
Sung by Peter Jones, Bromsash, near Ross, Herefordshire, August 18th 1952. Collected by Maud Karpeles and Pat Shaw.
The holly and the ivy,
Now they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly tree bears the crown.
Chorus
The rising of the sun,
The running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing all in the choir.
The holly tree bears a blossom,
As white as any flower,
As Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
To be our sweet saviour.
The holly tree bears a berry,
As red as any blood,
As Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
To do poor sinners good.
The holly tree bears a bark
As bitter as any gall,
As Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
For to redeem us all.
The holly tree bears a prickle,
As sharp as any thorn,
As Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
On Christmas Day in the morn
.
Sung by Mr Thomas Colcombe, Herefordshire, 1905. Collected by Miss A.M. Webb.
The Moon shines bright, and the stars give a light,
A little before it was day,
The Lord our God, he called on us,
And bid us awake and pray.
Awake, awake good people all;
Awake, and you shall hear,
Our Lord our God died on the cross,
For you He loved so dear.
There is six days in every week
Is for the labouring man;
And on the seventh you must serve the Lord,
The Father and the Son.
And when you goes into the Church,
Down on your two knees fall,
And pray unto the living Lord
For the saving or your souls.
And for the saving of your souls
Christ died upon the cross;
We never shall do for Jesus Christ
As He has done for us.
And for the saving of your souls
Christ died upon the tree;
We never shall do for Jesus Christ
As He has done for we.
Bring up your children well, dear man,
They have but little thought;
It's better for them to be unborn,
Than them to be untaught.
Today a man's alive, dear man,
With many a hundred pound;
Tomorrow morn he may be dead
And his corpse be underground.
With one turf at your head, dear man,
And another at your feet;
Then your good deeds and bad ones
Before the Lord shall meet.
And when you are dead and in your grave,
And covered over with clay;
The worms shall eat your flesh, dear man,
And your bones shall mould away.
Sung by Mrs Wheeler, aged about 70, charwoman at Weobley, Herefordshire, 1904. Collected by Miss A.M. Webb.
Come all ye faithful Christians,
That dwell within this land,
That pass your time in rioting,
Remember you are but man,
Be watchful of your latter end,
Be ready when you're called,
There's many a changes in this world,
Some rises, and some falls.
Remember Job, the patient man,
The wise man of the East;
He was brought down to poverty,
His sorrows did increase.
He bore them all most patiently,
And never did repine,
And always trusted in the Lord,
And soon got rich again.
Come all ye worthy Christians,
That are so very poor,
Remember how poor Lazarus
Stood at the rich man's door,
A-begging for the crumbs of bread
That from his table fell;
The Scriptures doth inform us
He now in Heaven do dwell.
Now poor, we are contented,
Nor riches do we crave;
Riches is all vanity
On this side of the grave
Although there's many rolls in riches,
Your glasses will run out;
No riches we brought in this world,
Nor none we can take out.
Sung by Mr William Phillips and family, Leigh, Worcestershire, January 11th 1899. Collected by Miss W. Norbury.
Have you not heard of our dear Saviour's love?
And how he suffered like a harmless dove?
But if we in our wickedness remain
Christ will not shed his blood for us again
If you were going to be put to death,
It would be hard to find a friend on earth
Who would lay down his life to set you free,
Yet Christ with patience shed His blood for me.
Consider what our Lord did undergo,
For to preserve us from the gulf of woe;
Repent in time, your wickedness remain
Christ will not shed His blood for us again.
To love each other, as we ought to do,
Is God's command, although it's kept by few;
For little love can in this world be found,
Nothing but spite and malice doth abound.
There is a thing which Scripture plainly shows,
To pray for them which are our greatest foes
And if you ever wish to enter heaven,
You must forgive as you would be forgiven.
'Tis very apt in some to curse and swear,
But let us now persuade you to forbear,
And do no more abuse the name of God,
Lest He should smite you with His heavy rod.
The sin of drunkenness leave off in time.
For that's another sad, notorious crime
Lead sober lives, and lay that sin aside
Nay, likewise too, that odious sin of pride.
Some make their riches as their god, I know,
And on the poor they nothing will bestow.
'Tis good to help the poor in their distress,
Relieve the widow and the fatherless.
Attend thy church, the Sabbath don't neglect;
All work by Scriptures well thy path direct,
And ever let it be thy constant care
To serve the Lord by daily fervent prayer.
Some do by gaining lose their whole estate,
And then are sorry, when it is too late.
'Tis better to live in darkness here on earth,
Than lose the light of heaven after death.
Now, one thing more I to you wish to say:
Your tender parents honour and obey.
'Tis they took care to bring you up, indeed,
You ought to help them in their time of need.
So now I will conclude, and make an end,
For these few lines which are sincerely penned
Now buy the book, the price is very small
God grant it may be for the good of all
Sung by Mr Gallett, Leigh Sinton, Worcestershire, January 23rd 1902. Collected by Miss W. Norbury.
Come, all ye faithful Christians
That dwell upon the earth,
Come, celebrate the morning
Of our dear Saviour's birth.
This is the happy morning,
This is the happy morn
When to save our ruined race
The Son of God was born.
Behold the Angel Gabriel,
In scripture it is said,
Did with his holy message
Come to the Virgin Maid.
"Hail, blest among all women!"
He thus did greet her then,
"Lo! thou shalt be the mother
Of the Saviour of all men."
Oh! then replied the Virgin,
"These things I know full well,
That there are no such wonders,
No, not in Israel!
That I should be a mother,
How could it be? or can?
For me to conceive a Saviour,
That never knew a man?"
Oh! then replied the Angel
"These things shall surely be,
The powers of the Almighty
Shall overshadow thee.
Rejoice at these glad tidings,
That come forth from the Lord."
"Be it unto thy handmaiden
According to thy word."
Her time, it being accomplished,
She came to Bethlehem.
And there she was delivered
Of the Saviour of all men
No princely pomp attended Him,
His honours were but small;
A manger. was His cradle.
His bed an ox's stall.
At twelve years oId they found Him
Within the Temp!e sit
Among the learned Doctors,
The most renowned for wit,
Hearing and asking questions,
At which they wondered all.
For, full well, they knew that
His learning was but small.
Then He did many wonders,
Likewise from time to time
He turned the purest water
Into the best of wine;
He cured the bloody issue,
He made the lame to walk:
The blind had sight restored them,
Likewise the dumb to talk.
Then He did many wonders,
Likewise from day to day,
Until the traitor Judas
He did our Lord betray
Into the hand of sinners,
The evil-minded Jews,
And they with many torments
Did basely Him abuse.
They brought Him before Pilate,
Who Governor was then,
And had sentence passed upon Him,
The vilest of all men.
Though innocence pretending,
They did Him crucify.
Thus by the hand of sinners
The Lamb of God did die.
While on the cross was suffering,
To His Father He did call,
"They know not what they are doing,
So pray forgive them all".
For the space of six hours
Was darkness o'er the earth,
While the whole creation
Was trembling at His death.
The rocks were burst asunder,
The Temple rent in twain.
The graves they did open,
The Lamb o( God was slain;
Each thing was struck with horror
At this most dismal sight;
Then spake the bold Centurion,
"This was the God of might!"
Then Joseph came to Pilate
And did His body crave,
And did His body bury
Within a new-made grave.
The third day when He had passed
The regions of the dead,
He arose, and then by Angels
To heaven He was led.
Now up to Him ascended
Then let your praises be,
That we His steps might follow,
And He our pattern be.
That when our lives are ended
May hear the blessed call
"Come, souls, receive the Kingdom
Prepared for you all"
Sung by Mrs Reservoir Butler (aged 68), Armscote, Worcestershire, June 17th 1913. Collected by Mrs Stanton and Cecil Sharp.
O God's in France all Sunday,
All with His holy hand
He made the sun fair on the moon,
Like water on dry land.
There's six good days all in a week,
All for a labouring man,
The seventh day's to serve the Lord,
Both Father and the Son.
It's when you go to a church, dear man,
Down on your knees down fall,
And a-praying to our living Lord
For the saving of your soul.
For the saving of your soul, dear man,
Christ died along the road;
We shall never do for our Saviour Christ,
As He has done for we.
Three drops of our good Saviour's blood
Were shed on Calvary
We shall never do by our Saviour Christ,
As He has done for we.
Come teach your children well, dear man,
The whiles that you are here
It will be better for your soul, dear man,
When you lies upon the bier.
Sung by Mrs Prudence Handy (aged 67), Ilmington, Warwickshire, September 24th 1910. Collected by Cecil Sharp.
Christmas day is now a-drawing near at hand;
Pray, saith the Lord, and be at His command;
It's for a portion God He will provide,
And give a blessing to our souls beside.
Can you remember that man that he was made of clay?
All in this world we have got not long to stay,
This wicked world will never give content
With all the blessings which our Lord God sent.
Down in the garden where flowers grow by ranks,
Down on your knees and turn the Lord God thanks;
Down on your knees and pray both night and day,
And leave off sin and leave off pride, I.pray.
Some proud and lofty do some people go,
Great many take their life and pleasure too,
They patch, they paste, they dress with idle stuff
As though God had not made them fine enough.
Sung by Mrs Ellen Plumb (aged 85) at Armscote, Warwickshire, April 13th 1911. Collected by Cecil Sharp.
There was a star in David's land,
In David's land appeared
And in King Herod's chamber
So bright it did shine there
The Wise Men they soon spied it
And told the king a-nigh
That a princely babe was born that night
No King shall e'er destroy
If this be the truth, King Herod said
That thou hast told.to me
That roasted cock that lies in the dish
Shall crow full senses three.
O the cock soon thrustened and fattened well
By the work of God's own hands
And he did crow full senses three
In the dish where he did stand.