The Wexford Carol

Anglo-Irish, 15th century

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Our Hymn of the Week, one whose haunting Irish melody seems to have been composed in heaven by the angels on that very same winter night long ago, isn’t in a lot of hymnals, but it sure does deserve to be. We could call it by its first words, “Good People All,” but that doesn’t seem to do justice to it, and after all, there are some rousing folk carols that go by a special name, like “The Boar’s Head Carol” and, a favorite at our house, “The Boys’ Carol,” or “On This Day Earth Shall Ring.” Why the Wexford Carol? Because that’s where a folklorist and professor of Irish music, William Grattan Flood, found it, and he was in the right place for it, as he was the longtime organist at Saint Aidan’s Cathedral in the town of Enniscorthy. And he set it to an Irish folk melody, and if you ever find one of those that isn’t lovely, you’d better let people know, because I swear, the end of the world must be near!

County Wexford is in the southeast of Ireland, facing England across the Irish Sea, and that’s been important in history. It was one of the first areas of Ireland to hear the gospel, in the fifth century, when Saint Patrick, who had first come to Ireland as a young man taken captive by pirates and learned its language and poetry, returned as a missionary of Jesus Christ. You’ll recall that his name was Patricius, a Latin name, though we’re not really sure where he came from. It’s pleasant to consider another Roman fellow, Gioacchino Pecci, born just outside of Rome, so pleased by Flood’s work with Irish and sacred music that he raised him to the rank of “Chevalier” — that Roman would be Pope Leo XIII.

Well, in the twelfth century the Normans came, half invited to invade, speaking French and English and probably Welsh and a bit of the Irish, too. Maybe it’s good to have a carol like this that brings people together who haven’t always wanted to be. I’ve found two verses in Irish, not English, and in one of the Irish verses we sing about what Eve lost and what Mary has recovered, and about the King who has been born to set us free — and that doesn’t appear in the English, though it certainly is something to make us rejoice. In the other Irish verse I’ve found, the angels are telling the shepherds to go to Beithil to see the Meisias: that’s the third English verse below.

As in all fine folk poetry, the language of the Wexford Carol is simple, elemental, not overwrought, not a parade of learning. “Consider well and bear in mind” — can it be said more simply than that? And what are we to bear in mind? “What our good God for us has done / In sending His beloved Son.” This isn’t social commentary, it isn’t a view of the history of mankind; it’s deeply personal and beautifully quiet. God is “our God,” and the “good God,” and what he has done for us can’t be summed up in some kind of formula. He is the Father who loves us, and so he sends us his Son.

The verses take us from the time just before Jesus was born, as Mary and Joseph sought a place to stay, to the night of his birth, to the arrival of the angel-instructed shepherds, to the coming of the Wise Men from afar. Perhaps we should heed the gentle appeal of the carol: let us consider it well, and bear it in mind, who Jesus is, and why he came to dwell among us.

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending His beloved Son.
With Mary holy we should pray,
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon that morn,
There was a blessed Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide,
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas,
As was foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble ox's stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep,
To whom God's angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
"Prepare and go," the angels said
"To Bethlehem, be not afraid,
For there you'll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus, born."

With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God's angel had foretold
They did our Savior Christ behold
Within a manger He was laid,
And by his side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.

There were three wise men from afar
Directed by a glorious star,
And on they wandered night and day
Until they came where Jesus lay.
And when they came unto that place
Where our beloved Messiah lay,
They humbly cast them at His feet,
With gifts of gold and incense sweet.

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Word & Song is an online magazine devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true. We publish six essays each week, on words, classic hymn, poems, films, and popular songs, as well a weekly podcast, alternately Poetry Aloud or Anthony Esolen Speaks. To support this project, please join us as a free or paid subscriber.

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