Book III.

PHILADELPHIA J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 1900.

Copyright, 1891, by J. B. Lippincott Company.

Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.

[Pg 3]

BETWEEN THE TALE-TELLING.

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.

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.

ILLUSTRATIONS, BOOK III.

[Pg 5]

CONTENTS OF BOOK III.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] By the courtesy of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

[B] By the courtesy of The Century Company.

[C] By the courtesy of Messrs. Funk & Wagnalls.

Legends in Song.

Frederick Tennyson.

[Pg 11]

THE HALLOWED TIME.

Shakespeare.

[Pg 12]

ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY.

THE HYMN.

John Milton.

[Pg 23]

THE FIRST ROMAN CHRISTMAS.

Alfred H. Domett.

[Pg 25]

THE THREE DAMSELS.

(SUGGESTED BY A DRAWING OF DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI'S.)

Algernon Charles Swinburne.

[Pg 29]

KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

[Pg 33]

HALBERT AND HOB.

Robert Browning.

[Pg 39]

GOOD KING WENCESLAS.

Translated from the Latin, by J. M. Neale.

[Pg 41]

THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST.

A. Mary F. Robinson.

[Pg 46]

CHRISTMAS AT SEA.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

[Pg 50]

"LAST CHRISTMAS WAS A YEAR AGO."

(THE OLD LADY SPEAKS.)

James Whitcomb Riley.

As It Fell Upon A Day.

Poor Robin.

[Pg 59]

A CHRISTMAS "NOW."

George Wither.

[Pg 63]

CHRISTMAS EVE CUSTOMS.

I.

II.

Robert Herrick.

FOOTNOTE:

[D] Burn.

[Pg 64]

MERRY SOULS.

Round About Our Coal Fire.

[Pg 66]

CHRISTMAS IN THE OLDEN TIME.

Sir Walter Scott.

[Pg 68]

CEREMONIES FOR CHRISTMAS.

Robert Herrick.

FOOTNOTE:

[E] Burning.

[Pg 69]

BRINGING IN THE BOAR'S HEAD.

Ritson's Ancient Songs.

[Pg 70]

THE BOAR'S HEAD CAROL.

SUNG AT QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD.

[Pg 71]

TO BE EATEN WITH MUSTARD.

SUNG AT ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, CHRISTMAS, 1607.

[Pg 72]

CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING.

Bishoprick Garland, A.D. 1834.

[Pg 73]

PRAISE OF CHRISTMAS.

FIRST PART.

SECOND PART.

[Pg 78]

WINTER'S DELIGHTS.

Thomas Campion.

[Pg 79]

A CHRISTMAS CATCH.

Thomas Weelkes, A.D. 1597.

[Pg 80]

THE EPIC.

MORTE D'ARTHUR.

Lord Tennyson.

[Pg 89]

THE COUNTRY LIFE.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 90]

CHRISTMAS OMNIPRESENT.

Leigh Hunt.

[Pg 94]

AN OLD ENGLISH CHRISTMAS-TIDE.

H. S. M.

[Pg 97]

SIGNS OF CHRISTMAS.

Edwin Lees.

[Pg 99]

THE MISTLETOE.

Bryan Waller Proctor.

[Pg 101]

CHRISTMAS OF OLD.

IN GERMANY.

From the German of Thos. Kirchmaier, A.D. 1553.

FOOTNOTE:

[F] White bread.

[Pg 112]

A PLEA FOR A PRESENT.

Ben Jonson.

[Pg 114]

A NEW-YEAR'S GIFT SENT TO SIR SIMEON STEWARD.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 116]

THE NEW-YEAR'S GIFT.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 117]

AN INVITATION TO THE REVEL.

[Pg 120]

A CHRISTMAS DITTY.

[Pg 121]

AT THE END OF THE FEAST.

New Christmas Carols, A.D. 1642.

[Pg 123]

TWELFTH NIGHT; OR, KING AND QUEEN.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 125]

CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMAS EVE.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 126]

ANOTHER CEREMONY.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 127]

THE CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMAS DAY.

Robert Herrick.

ANOTHER CEREMONY.

Robert Herrick.

[Pg 128]

SAINT DISTAFF'S DAY, THE MORROW AFTER TWELFTH DAY.

Robert Herrick.

The Shepherds.

Milton.

[Pg 131]

ON OATEN PIPES.

Coventry Mysteries.

[Pg 132]

PIPE-PLAYING.

Tyrle, Tyrle, so Merrily the Shepherds began to Blow.

Wright's Songs and Carols.

[Pg 134]

THE FIRST CAROL.

[Pg 137]

IN BETHLEHEM.

Christmas Carolles, A.D. 1550.

[Pg 139]

A CAROL IN THE PASTURES.

Edward Bolton.

[Pg 141]

THE SHEPHERDS.

Henry Vaughan.

[Pg 144]

ON SHEPHERDS' PIPES.

William Drummond.

[Pg 145]

ANGEL TIDINGS.

William Drummond.

[Pg 146]

THE NEWS-BEARERS.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

[Pg 149]

HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS-DAY.

(BEING A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THREE SHEPHERDS.)

Jeremy Taylor.

[Pg 150]

A HYMN OF THE NATIVITY.

(SUNG AS BY THE SHEPHERDS.)

Richard Crashaw.

[Pg 155]

SUNG BY THE SHEPHERD.

New Christmas Carols.

[Pg 158]

FROM "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD."

AT BETHLEHEM.

Sir Edwin Arnold.

It Brings Good Cheer.

"You may talk of Country Christmasses, Their thirty pound butter'd eggs, their pies of carps' tongues; Their pheasants drench'd with ambergris; the carcasses of three fat wethers bruised for gravy to make sauce for a single peacock!"

Massinger.

[Pg 179]

OLD CHRISTMAS RETURNED.

Evans' Old Ballads.

[Pg 184]

THE TRENCHERMAN.

New Christmas Carols.

[Pg 186]

BAN AND BLESSING.

Poor Robin's Almanac.

[Pg 187]

THRICE WELCOME!

Poor Robin's Almanac.

[Pg 188]

CHRISTMAS PROVENDER.

Poor Robin's Almanac.

[Pg 189]

GLEE AND SOLACE.

New Christmas Carols, A.D. 1661.

[Pg 191]

ON SAINT JOHN'S DAY.

New Christmas Carols, A.D. 1661.

[Pg 193]

CHRISTMAS ALMS.

Poor Robin's Almanac.

[Pg 195]

CHRISTMAS AT THE ROUND TABLE.

John Hookham Frere.

Lullaby.

Tennyson.

[Pg 199]

A CAROL AT THE MANGER.

Coventry Mysteries.

[Pg 200]

A DREAM CAROL.

Sandy's Christmas Carols.

FOOTNOTES:

[G] Last.

[H] Content.

[Pg 202]

THE KING IN THE CRADLE.

Byrd's Psalmes, Sonets, etc., A.D. 1588.

[Pg 205]

MADONNA AND CHILD.

FOOTNOTES:

[I] Endris night: last night.

[J] Hay.

[K] Nevertheless.

[L] Peace.

[Pg 209]

A ROCKING HYMN.

George Wither.

[Pg 212]

A CRADLE-SONG OF THE VIRGIN.

Translated from the Latin by Rev. H. R. Bramley.

[Pg 214]

WHISPERING PALMS.

Lope de Vega.

[Pg 215]

A CHRISTMAS LULLABY.

John Addington Symonds.

[Pg 216]

THE VIRGIN'S CRADLE-HYMN.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

[Pg 217]

THE SOVEREIGN.

Martin Peerson, A.D. 1620.

[Pg 219]

BY THE CRADLE-SIDE.

William Blake.

[Pg 221]

THE VIRGIN MARY TO THE CHILD JESUS.

Milton.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

[Pg 224]

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

[Pg 227]

X.

XI.

[Pg 228]

XII.

XIII.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

FOOTNOTE:

[M] It is a Jewish tradition that Moses died of the kisses of God's lips.

[Pg 230]

A BEDSIDE DITTY.

Algernon Charles Swinburne.

[Pg 231]

GIVEN BACK ON CHRISTMAS MORN.

(A MOTHER WATCHES BY HER SICK BABE.)

(THE MOTHER SINGS.)

[Pg 233]

(THE MOTHER SINGS.)

Thomas Hood.

[Pg 237]

A LULLING SONG.

Isaac Watts.

[Pg 239]

GOOD-NIGHT.

H. S. M.

END OF BOOK III.

Transcriber's Notes:

A number of the poems contain archaic and varied spelling. This has been left as printed, with the exception of the following few printer errors:

Page 51—nothin.' amended to nothin'.—"Jes sayin' nothin'. That was why ..."

Page 59—joyfulst amended to joyful'st—"So, now is come our joyful'st feast,"

Page 70—convivo amended to convivio—"Quot estis in convivio."

Illustrations have been shifted slightly, so that they are not in the middle of poems. Captions have been added from the List of Illustrations. The first illustration was located as a frontispiece in the book, but has been moved closer to the page number given in the List of Illustrations here.

Page 97 contains the line "Bears home the huge unwieldly logs,"—unwieldly may or may not be a printer error, so it has been left as printed.