Or 'Lestenyt, lordings,' or 'Of one that is so fair and bright;' and my favourite, 'The Seven Virgins,' set among the ballads lost none of its lovely candour. But on the whole, and sorely against my will, it had to be allowed that our most typical carols will not bear an ordeal through which many of the rudest ballads pass safely enough. So it will be found, I suspect, with the carols of other nations. I take a typical English one, exhumed not long ago by Professor Flugel from a sixteenth century MS. at Balliol College, Oxford, and pounced upon as a gem by two such excellent judges of poetry as Mr. Alfred W. Pollard and Mr. F. Sidgwick:-- "_Can I not sing but Hoy! The jolly shepherd made so much joy!_ The shepherd upon a hill he sat, He had on him his tabard[1] and his hat, His tar-box, his pipe and his flagat;[2] And his name was called jolly, jolly Wat, For he was a good herd's-boy, Ut hoy! For in his pipe he made so much joy." "The shepherd upon a hill was laid His dog to his girdle was tayd, He had not slept but a little braid But _Gloria in excelsis_ was to him said Ut hoy! For in his pipe he made so much joy. "The shepherd on a hill he stood, Round about him his sheep they yode,[3] He put his hand under his hood, He saw a star as red as blood. Ut hoy! For in his pipe he made so much joy." The shepherd of course follows the star, and it guides him to the inn and the Holy Family, whom he worships:-- "'Now farewell, mine own herdsman Wat!' 'Yea, 'fore God, Lady, even so I hat:[4] Lull well Jesu in thy lap, And farewell Joseph, with thy round cap!' Ut hoy! For in his pipe he made so much joy." [1] Short coat. [2] Flagon. [3] Went. [4] Am hight, called. Set beside this the following Burgundian carol (of which, by the way, you will find a charming translation in Lady Lindsay's _A Christmas Posy_):-- "Giullo, pran ton tamborin; Toi, pran tai fleute, Robin. Au son de ces instruman-- Turelurelu, patapatapan-- Au son de ces instruman Je diron Noel gaiman. "C'eto lai mode autrefoi De loue le Roi de Roi; Au son de ces instruman-- Turelurelu, patapatapan-- Au son de ces instruman Ai nos an fau faire autan. "Ce jor le Diale at ai cu, Randons an graice ai Jesu; Au son de ces instruman-- Turelurelu, patapatapar-- Au son de ces instruman Fezon lai nique ai Satan. "L'homme et Dei son pu d'aicor Que lai fleute et le tambor. Au son de ces instruman-- Turelurelu, patapatapan-- Au son de ces instruman Chanton, danson, santons-an!"