epherds though ye be?
_Nowell, etc._

"Shepherds should of right
Leap, and dance, and sing;
Thus to see you sit
Is a right strange thing."
_Nowell, etc._

Quoth these fellows three,
"To Bethl'em town we go,
To see a Mighty Lord
Lie in manger low."
_Nowell, etc._

"How name ye this Lord,
Shepherds?" then said I.
"Very God," they said,
"Come from Heaven high."
_Nowell, etc._

Then to Bethl'em town
We went two and two,
And in a sorry place
Heard the oxen low.
_Nowell, etc._

Therein did we see
A sweet and goodly May,
And a fair old man;
Upon the straw she lay.
_Nowell, etc._

And a little Child
On her arm had she;
"Wot ye who is this?"
Said the hinds to me.
_Nowell, etc._

Ox and ass Him know,
Kneeling on their knee:
Wondrous joy had I
This little Babe to see.
_Nowell, etc._

This is Christ the Lord:
Masters, be ye glad!
Christmas is come in,
And no folk should be sad.
_Nowell, etc._

_William Morris._

_The Worship Of The Babe._

"Rejoice, our Saviour He was born
On Christmas day in the morning."

_Old Carol._

TO HIS SAVIOUR, A CHILD; A PRESENT, BY A CHILD.

Go, pretty child, and bear this flower
Unto thy little Saviour;
And tell Him by that bud now blown,
He is a Rose of Sharon known.
When thou hast said so, stick it there
Upon His bib or stomacher;
And tell Him, for good handsel too,
That thou hast brought a whistle new,
Made of a clean, strait oaten reed
To charm His cries at time of need.
Tell Him for coral thou hast none,
But if thou had'st He should have one;
But poor thou art, and known to be
Even as moneyless as He.
Lastly, if thou can'st win a kiss
From those mellifluous lips of His,
Then never take a second on
To spoil the first impression.

_Robert Herrick._

HONOR TO THE KING.

Yet if his majesty our sovereign lord
Should of his own accord
Friendly