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P. 59. From Harl. MS. 5937. (one of Bagford's collection,) being on a leaf of an old Almanack, the corresponding leaf having the date 1625, black letter. This is also similar to a more modern carol in the Second Part called " Man's Duty." (p. 133.)
P. 61. The carols contained in the Second Part, with the exception of the last four, are selected from upwards of one hundred obtained in different parts of the West of Cornwall, many of which, including those now published, are still in use. Some few of them are printed occasionally in the county, and also in London, Birmingham, and other places, as broadside carols; others have appeared, with some variation, in Mr. Gilbert's collection, having been derived from similar sources; but a large portion, including some of the most curious, have, I believe, never been printed before.
P. 62. " Where oxen and asses/' The common tradition of the ox and the ass in the manger is not mentioned in the New Testament, but is supported by many of the early fathers. The Bee Hive of the Romish Church (p. 198. b.) says, that the idea is taken from Isaiah, chap. i. v. 3. " The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib."
P. 74. " To three poor Shepherds." According to some legends the number was four, called Misael, Achael, Cyria-cus, and Stephanus, and these, with the names of the three Kings, were used as a charm to cure the biting of serpents, and other venomous reptiles and beasts. In the seventh of the Chester Mysteries, the Shepherds, who there are but three, have the more homely names of Harvey, Tudd, and Trowle, and are Cheshire or Lancashire boors by birth and habits. Trowle's gift to our Saviour is "a pair of his wife's old hose."
P. 78. "Joseph being an aged man." It has been the custom in all the legends to represent Joseph as a very aged man. The Apocryphal New Testament describes him so in various places; and in the tenth pageant of the Coventry Mysteries (Cotton. MS. Vespasian, D. viii.) which represents the choice of the Virgin Mary's husband by the |
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