“In one unbroken course
There comes that ship to land,
It brings to us rich gifts,
Forgiveness is sent to us.”
Ritson also mentions the following lines, as sung at Christmas time, about the middle of the sixteenth century.
“There comes a ship far sailing then,
Saint Michel was the stieres-man;
Saint John sate in the horn.
Our Lord harped, our Lady sang,
And all the bells of heaven they rang,
On Christ’s Sonday at morn.”
A modern broadside carol, called ‘The Sunny Bank,’ gives these lines thus.
“O he did whistle, and she did sing,
And all the bells on earth did ring,
For joy that our Saviour he was born
On Christmas Day in the morning.”
Hone, in his Mysteries, mentions a carol printed by J. Bradford, Little Britain, 1701, having a large woodcut, representing the stable at Bethlehem; our Saviour in the crib, watched by the Virgin and Joseph; shepherds kneeling, and angels attending; a man playing on the bagpipes; a woman with a basket of fruit on her head; a sheep bleating, and an ox lowing on the ground; a raven croaking, and a crow cawing on the hay-rack; a cock crowing above them; and angels singing in the sky. The animals and birds have labels, which are thus explained. The cock croweth, Christus natus est, Christ is born. The raven asked, Quando? When? The cow replied, Hac nocte, this night. The ox cryeth out, Ubi? Ubi? Where? where? The sheep bleated out, Bethlehem, Bethlehem. Voice from heaven sounded, Gloria in Excelsis, Glory be on high. There is an old French mystery of the Nativity, referred to in “Noei Borguignon de Gui Barôzai,” where four animals are introduced, much in the same manner; the ox and ass of the manger, the cock of the passion, and the lamb of St. John the Baptist. The cock exclaims, with a piercing voice, Christus natus est. The ox, with a lengthened bellowing, demands Ubi? pronouncing it oubi. The lamb answers Bethleem, lengthening the first syllable; and the ass concludes, with hinhamus, hinhamus, signifying eamus.
Several carols refer to the crucifixion and resurrection, and, as formerly observed, are more adapted to Easter than Christmas; but there are also regular Christmas carols, which carry our Saviour’s history down to the time of his death. It may be readily supposed, that the cross itself has a legend attached to it, and its origin indeed dates from the death of Adam. When he was at the point of death, he directed his son Seth to apply to the angel of Paradise, for some of the oil of mercy, and obtained from him three kernels from an apple of the tree of life, which he was instructed to plant after Adam’s death; one in his mouth, and one in each nostril. From the tree which sprang from these kernels, the rod of Moses, with which he worked his miracles, was taken, and also the wood with which he cured the bitter water, and the pole whereon the brazen serpent was raised. At the time of building Solomon’s temple, the tree was cut down for use, but it was in every case found too long or too short, or with some other defect, and was thrown aside as unserviceable for the temple, and applied as a foot-bridge; but the Queen of Sheba, during her visit to King Solomon, refused to pass over it, stating it would prove the ruin of the Jews. It was then used as a seat, but the Sybil would not sit on it, predicting that the Redeemer would die triumphantly on it, for the salvation of mankind. It afterwards remained in the pool of Bethesda until the time of the crucifixion, when some difficulty arising in procuring proper wood for the cross, some of the Jews thought of this tree, which they found perfectly adapted for the purpose.
One of the versions of the legend states, that a smith being applied to, to make three nails to fasten our Saviour to the cross, he refused to do so, and feigned sickness, upon which his wife came forward and made them. After the crucifixion, the cross, with its nails, became buried in rubbish, and was lost sight of, until Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, went to Jerusalem, in 326, and after diligent search found it, together with the crosses of the two thieves, Titus (the penitent) and Dumachus, the former of whom had prevented the latter from robbing Joseph and Mary, on their flight to Egypt, and the child Jesus had then foretold that they would be crucified with Him, thirty years afterwards, and that Titus should go to Paradise.
Three crosses having been found by Helena, and the inscription having been detached, a difficulty arose how to identify the true one; but this was removed by placing them by the side of a lady who was dangerously ill, and she was immediately restored to health on the application of the real cross. She gave the nails and part of the cross to her son, and founded a church at Rome, where she placed the remainder, with the inscription. Constantine, it is said, placed one of the nails on the bridle of his war-horse, and one on his sword, and the third was cast into a dangerous gulf of the sea, to appease a storm.