Christmas Carols

Angels from the realms of glory
Wing your way o'er all the earth.
Ye, who sang creations story
Now proclaim Messiah's birth.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn king.

* * *

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood.
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

* * *

Good Christian men rejoice
With heart and soul and voice.
Give ye heed to what we say:
News, news, Jesus Christ is born today.
Ox and ass before him bow,
And he is in his manger now.
Christ is born today!
Christ is born today!

I love the music of Christmas, love to hear it and to sing it. These carols we seldom sing, at least in my society, and they were running through my head as I woke this morning. I wanted to put them here, so I did. From memory.

The Holly and the Ivy has six verses, and I'm sure of only four of them. As you see, I included only two.

This last is a carol my brother Sterling and I sang together. He played the guitar and we both sang. I've never seen it written, and I just sang the words he remembered. Performances were quite spontaneous, as I recall, but always a pleasure for me. I wish we could do that again this year. Here is the song as we sang it.

Virgin Mary had a little baby.
Oh, glory hallelujah!
Oh, pretty little baby.
Glory be to the newborn king.

What shall we call this pretty little baby?
Oh, glory hallelujah!
Oh, pretty little baby.
Glory be to the newborn king.

Some call him one thing. People call him Jesus.
Oh, glory hallelujah!
Oh, pretty little baby.
Glory be to the newborn king.

Some call him one thing. I call him Savior.
Oh, glory hallelujah!
Oh, pretty little baby.
Glory be to the newborn king.