by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

A lullaby of the Nativity
Language: English 
  Lullay, my liking, my dere son, 
    my sweeting.
  Lullay, my dere herte, my owen
    dere derling.

I saw a fair maiden 
Sitten and sing:
She lulled a little child, 
A swete lording.

That eche Lord is that
That made alle thing:
Of alle lordes he is Lord, 
Of alle kinges, King.

Ther was mekil melody 
At that childes berth:
Alle tho wern in Hevene blis
They made mekil merth.

Aungele bright they song that night,
And seiden to that child:
'Blissed be thou, and so be she 
That is bothe mek and mild.'

Pray we now to that child, 
And to his moder dere,
Graunt hem his blissing,
That now maken chere.

Confirmed with Medieval English Lyrics: A Critical Anthology, edited by Reginald Thorne Davies, Northwestern University Press, 1964, in a section titled Fifteenth Century, page 166.

Glossary (from the edition above)
liking = beloved
eche = eternal
mekil = much
Alle tho wern in Hevene blis = All those that were in the bliss of Heaven
mild = gracious, gentle
hem = them


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Gustav Holst, Richard Runciman Terry.
  • Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Libby Larsen.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2020-05-18
Line count: 24
Word count: 113