The Wexford Carol
| TYPE | 3 - Complex Melody |
| TOPIC | The Nativity |
| TUNE STRUCTURE | aa'ba' (4 bars) |
| VERSE STRUCTURE | 4v 8l |
| TIME SIGNATURE | 34 |
| KEY SIGNATURE | ♯ |
| TONAL CENTRE | G |
| INCIPIT | GGF♯GABC'D'D'C'BG |
| GENRE | Carol |
| TEXT SOURCE | Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams, eds. The Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1928), no.14 |
| TUNE SOURCE | as above |
| FIRST LINE | Good people all, this Christmas time |
| NOTATED INCIPIT | |
| The Irish musicologist William Grattan-Flood (1859-1928) collected this carol from a singer in Enniscorthy Co. Wexford and published it in The Oxford Book of Carols. The carol is linked to a publication of similar songs from the eighteenth century: Willaim Devereux, A New Garland Containing Songs for Christmas (1728). According to Nóirin Ní Riain: ‘Research remains to be done on tune sources and on the liturgical and theological context that carried these carols down through the centuries.' (See 'Kilmore Carols' in Encyclopedia of Music in Ireland, eds. White and Boydell, 2 vols. [Dublin, 2013], I pp.568-9.) | |
Wexford CarolGood people all, this Christmas time,Consider well and bear in mindWhat our good God for us has doneIn sending his beloved sonWith Mary holy we should pray,To God with love this Christmas DayIn Bethlehem upon that morn,There was a blessed Messiah bornThe night before that happy tideThe noble Virgin and her guideWere long time seeking up and downTo find a lodging in the townBut mark right well what came to passFrom every door repelled, alasAs was foretold, their refuge allWas but a humble ox's stallNear Bethlehem did shepherds keepTheir flocks of lambs and feeding sheepTo whom God's angel did appearWhich put the shepherds in great fearArise and go, the angels saidTo Bethlehem, be not afraidFor there you'll find, this happy mornA princely babe, sweet Jesus, bornWith thankful heart and joyful mindThe shepherds went the babe to findAnd as God's angel had foretoldThey did our Saviour Christ beholdWithin a manger he was laidAnd by his side a virgin maidAttending on the Lord of LifeWho came on earth to end all strifeThere were three wise men from afarDirected by a glorious starAnd on they wandered night and dayUntil they came where Jesus layAnd when they came unto that placeWhere our beloved Messiah layThey humbly cast them at his feetWith gifts of gold and incense sweet.