Coventry Carol
The Coventry Carol is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th Century. The author is unknown, but the carol was performed in Coventry as part of a play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Massacre of the Innocents, an episode from the Gospel of Matthew in which Herod orders all male infants in Bethlehem killed. The lyrics of this haunting carol represent a mother's lament for her doomed child. It is notable as a well-known example of a Picardy third. There is an alternate setting of the carol by Kenneth Leighton.
Lyrics
- Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
- By, by, lully, lullay.
- Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
- By, by, lully, lullay.
- O sisters too, how may we do,
- For to preserve this day
- This poor youngling for whom we sing
- By, by, lully, lullay.
- Herod the king, in his raging,
- Charged he hath this day
- His men of might, in his own sight,
- All children young to slay.
- That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
- And ever morn and day,
- For thy parting neither say nor sing,
- By, by, lully, lullay.
Cover Versions
- 1966 - Joan Baez - Noël
- 1987 - Alison Moyet - A Very Special Christmas
- 1989 - John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers - Christmas with the Cambridge Singers
Media
External links
- Easybyte - free easy piano music for Coventry Carol
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