The carols of the past few days (as you may have noticed: Day 4, Peter Cornelius: The Three Kings, Day 5, Rejoice and Be Merry, Day 6, March of the Three Kings, and Day 7, Jonathan Dove: The Three Kings), have all focused on the story of the Three Kings who came to see the Christ-child. The Adoration of the Magi was one of the most popular subjects for pictorial and dramatic representation in the Middle Ages; but carols on the theme are few and far between. Today's carol on this subject, Now Is Christmas Ycome, is an ancient carol from the 15th century, and it comes down to us in a number of different versions, and under a variety of titles: Now ye Crystemas y-cum, Now Ys The Twelthe Day Cum, The III Kings, The Three Kings, I Would Now Sing For And I Might, The Golden Carol, and Now Is Christmas Ycome.
Now is Christemas ycome,
Father and Son together in one,
Holy Ghost, as ye be one, - in fere-a,
God send us good New Year-a!
I will you sing with I might,
Of a Child so fair in sight,
A maiden bare on Christmas night - so still-a,
As it was His will-a.
Three kingës came fro Galilee
To Bethlehem, that fair city,
All to offer and to see - by night-a,
It was a full fair sight-a.
As they came forth with their offering,
They met with Herod, that moody king,
He asked them of their coming - that tide-a,
And thus to them he said-a:
"From whence come ye, you kingës three?"
"Out of the east, as ye may see,
To seek Him that ever shall be - by right-a,
Lord and king and knight-a."
They took their leave, both eld and ying,
Of Herod, that moody king;
And forth they went with their offering - by light-a,
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