Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan Part 13

_The Third._ Fast agane will I flyng, Abyde ye me there. [_He goes back._]

Mak, take it to no grefe, if I com to thi barne."

Mak tries to put him off, but the shepherd will have his way:--

"Gyf me lefe hym to kys, and lyft up the clowtt.

What the devill is this? he has a long snowte."

So the secret is out. Mak's wife gives a desperate explanation:--

"He was takyn with an elfe, I saw it myself.

When the clok stroke twelf Was he forshapyn."

136 Naturally this avails nothing, and her husband is given a good tossing by the shepherds until they are tired out and lie down to rest.

Then comes the "Gloria in excelsis" and the call of the angel:--

"Ryse, hyrd men heynd! for now is he borne That shall take fro the feynd that Adam had lorne: That warloo[59] to sheynd,[60] this nyght is he borne, G.o.d is made youre freynd: now at this morne He behestys, At Bedlem go se, Ther lygys that fre[61]

In a cryb fulle poorely, Betwyx two bestys."

The shepherds wonder at the song, and one of them tries to imitate it; then they go even unto Bethlehem, and there follows the quaintest and most delightful of Christmas carols:--

"_Primus Pastor._

Hail, comly and clene, Hail, yong child!

Hail, maker, as I meene, Of a maden so milde!

Thou has wared,[62] I weene, The warlo[63] so wilde; The fals giler of teen,[64]

Now goes he begilde.

Lo! he merys,[65]

Lo! he laghes, my sweting.

A welfare meting!

I have holden my heting.[66]

Have a bob of cherys!

_Secundus Pastor._

Hail, sufferan Savioure, For thou has us soght!

Hail, frely[67] foyde[68] and floure, That all thing has wroght! 137 Hail, full of favoure, That made all of noght!

Hail, I kneel and I cowre.

A bird have I broght To my barne.

Hail, litel tine mop![69]

Of oure crede thou art crop;[70]

I wold drink on thy cop, Litel day starne.

_Tertius Pastor._

Hail, derling dere, Full of G.o.dhede!

I pray thee be nere When that I have nede.

Hail! swete is thy chere;[71]

My hart wolde blede To see thee sitt here In so poore wede, With no pennys.

Hail! Put forth thy dall![72]

I bring thee bot a ball; Have and play thee with all, And go to the tenis!"{17}

The charm of this will be felt by every reader; it lies in a curious incongruity--extreme homeliness joined to awe; the Infinite is contained within the narrowest human bounds; G.o.d Himself, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, a weak, helpless child. But a step more, and all would have been irreverence; as it is we have devotion, human, nave, and touching.

It would be interesting to show how other scenes connected with Christmas are handled in the English miracle-plays: how Octavian (Caesar Augustus) sent out the decree that all the world should be taxed, and learned from the Sibyl the birth of Christ; how the Magi were led by the star and offered their symbolic gifts; how the raging of the boastful tyrant Herod, the 138 Slaughter of the Innocents, and the Flight into Egypt are treated; but these scenes, though full of colour, are on the whole less remarkable than the shepherd and Nativity pieces, and s.p.a.ce forbids us to dwell upon them. They contain many curious anachronisms, as when Herod invokes Mahounde, and talks about his princes, prelates, barons, baronets and burgesses.[73]

The religious play in England did not long survive the Reformation. Under the influence of Protestantism, with its vigilant dread of profanity and superst.i.tion, the cycles were shorn of many of their scenes, the performances became irregular, and by the end of the sixteenth century they had mostly ceased to be. Not sacred story, but the play of human character, was henceforth the material of the drama. The rich, variegated religion of the people, communal in its expression, tinged everywhere with human colour, gave place to a sterner, colder, more individual faith, fearful of contamination by the use of the outward and visible.

There is little or no trace in the vernacular Christmas plays of direct translation from one language into another, though there was some borrowing of motives. Thus the Christmas drama of each nation has its own special flavour.

If we turn to France, we find a remarkable fifteenth-century cycle that belongs purely to the winter festival, and shows the strictly Christmas drama at its fullest development. This great mystery of the "Incarnacion et nativite de nostre saulveur et redempteur Jesuchrist" was performed out-of-doors at Rouen in 1474, an exceptional event for a northern city in winter-time. The twenty-four _establies_ or "mansions" set up for the various scenes reached across the market-place from the "Axe and Crown"

Inn to the "Angel."

139 After a prologue briefly explaining its purpose, the mystery begins, like the old liturgical plays, with the witness of the prophets; then follows a scene in Limbo where Adam is shown lamenting his fate, and another in Heaven where the Redemption of mankind is discussed and the Incarnation decided upon. With the Annunciation and the Visitation of the Virgin the first day closed. The second day opened with the ordering by Octavian of the world-census. The edict is addressed:--

"A tous roys, marquis, ducs et contes, Connestables, bailifs, vicomtes Et tous autres generalment Qui sont desoubz le firmament."

Joseph, in order to fulfil the command of Cyrenius, governor of Syria, leaves Nazareth for Bethlehem. A comic shepherds' scene follows, with a rustic song:--

"Joyeus.e.m.e.nt, la garenlo, Chantons en venant a la veille, Puisque nous avons la bouteille Nous y berons jusques a bo."

When Joseph and Mary reach the stable where the Nativity is to take place, there is a charming dialogue. Joseph laments over the meanness of the stable, Mary accepts it with calm resignation.

_Joseph._

"Las! vecy bien povre merrien Pour edifier un hostel Et logis a ung seigneur tel.

Il naistra en bien povre place.

_Marie._

Il plait a Dieu qu'ainsy se face.

_Joseph._

Ou sont ces chambres tant fournies De Sarges, de Tapiceries 140 Batus d'or, ou luyt mainte pierre, Et nates mises sur la terre, Affin que le froit ne mefface?

_Marie._

Il plait a Dieu qu'ainsy se face.

_Joseph._

Helas! cy gerra povrement Le createur du firmament Celui qui fait le soleil luire, Qui fait la terre fruis produire, Qui tient la mer en son es.p.a.ce.