GBMD: Christmas Song

Frosty Chippenham Station at Sunset - January 2009
The trees all are bare not a leaf to be seen
And the meadows their beauty have lost.
Now winter has come and 'tis cold for man and beast,
And the streams they are,
And the streams they are all fast bound down with frost.

'Twas down in the farmyard where the oxen feed on straw,
They send forth their breath like the steam.
Sweet Betsy the milkmaid now quickly she must go,
For flakes of ice she finds,
For flakes of ice she finds a-floating on her cream.

'Tis now all the small birds to the barn-door fly for food
And gently they rest on the spray.
A-down the plantation the hares do search for food,
And lift their footsteps sure,
Lift their footsteps sure for fear they do betray.

Now Christmas is come and our song is almost done
For we soon shall have the turn of the year.
So fill up your glasses and let your health go round,
For I wish you all,
For I wish you all a joyful New Year.

Source: Tune and text from the singing of the Copper family, Sussex: a family who've been singing and preserving songs for generations.

This was my favourite of the songs we learned at the Forgotten Carols Workshop in November. It's rather apt for today as we've just had our first hard frost of the winter. That's it for now as far as my Dahlias are concerned :(
Garden Bloggers' Muse Day is hosted by Carolyn Choi at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

Comments

  1. The bike shed1 December 2009 at 09:28

    Great pic - though I think we are seeing its best side.

    Re blog comment - Pity Me; I know it well. My family came from Greenside which is nearby. My first job was for the newspaper was visiting the retailers in County Durham: Pity Me, Esh Winning, Langley Park, Consett. Great place, lovely people

    ReplyDelete
  2. Helen1 December 2009 at 11:53

    VP, Congratulations, yourself. Thanks for sending me off on that crazy venture. And thanks for today's muse.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rose1 December 2009 at 13:14

    This carol certainly illustrates the season well, VP. We've had frosty morns, too, with a forecast for snow tomorrow. Sorry about your dahlias; that's a sure sign that winter is here to stay.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1 December 2009 at 13:50

    Lovely, VP. The idea of forgotten carols is very appealing on so many levels. Our dahlias are done as well with the succession of hard frosts we have experienced since Thanksgiving last Thursday.

    Frances

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tatyana@MySecretGarden1 December 2009 at 13:54

    I love the carol! And the photo is great. We are still waiting for our first frost.

    ReplyDelete
  6. VP5 January 2010 at 21:09

    Mark - it's amazing what a bit of weather and lighting can do to a scene! I did have another picture looking the other way, but it was half as moody.

    Helen - thank you :)

    Rose - it's got even colder and I'm praying they survive this one!

    Frances - we sang some of them again at our choir's Christmas Cabaret. I'm so pleased we did :)

    Tatyana - I bet you've had many frosts by now!

    ReplyDelete

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