Down In Yon Forest

Down in yon forest be a hall
Sing May Queen May sing Mary
'Tis is coverleted over with purple and pall
Sing all good men for the new born baby

Oh, hail yon hall where none can sin
Sing May Queen May sing Mary
'Cause it's gold outside and silver within
Sing all good men for the new born baby

Today we listened to Bruce Cockburn's excellent Christmas album, on which this carol appears. (I cribbed the lyrics from here.) It's a strange piece of work; Cockburn calls it “spooky” for good reason. The music sounds (to my barely trained ear) both very English and very old, in a mode not quite minor. And the lyrics clearly evoke the Grail myth or—as Cockburn himself suggests—perhaps something even older.

But the words also without doubt refer to the Passion; indeed, the song is here called “a Eucharistic Carol.” Is it a strange thing to look ahead to the Child's future while celebrating His Nativity?

Perhaps not.

Blessed Christmas, all.