Merry Olde England

I've been posting quite a few Old English songs here during this year's holiday season, primarily because several branches of my family were from rural England and I have an affinity for the music.  Here's yet another, a New Year carol that is thought to have originated in the 17th century in the area of Oxford or Norfolk. It's sung to the tune of "Greensleeves".

The old year now away is fled,
The new year it is entered;
Then let us all our sins down tread,
And joyfully all appear.
Let's merry be this holiday,
And let us run with sport and play,
Hang sorrow, let's cast care away
God send us a happy new year!

For Christ's circumcision this day we keep,
Who for our sins did often weep;
His hands and feet were wounded deep,
And his blessed side, with a spear.
His head they crowned then with thorn,
And at him they did laugh and scorn,
Who for to save our souls was born;
God send us a happy New Year!

And now with New Year's gifts each friend
Unto each other they do send;
God grant we may our lives amend,
And that truth may now appear.
Now like the snake cast off your skin
Of evil thoughts and wicked sin,
And to amend this new year begin:
God send us a merry new year!

And now let all the company
In friendly manner all agree,
For we are here welcome all may see
Unto this jolly good cheer.
I thank my master and my dame,
Which are the founders of the same,
To eat, to drink now is no shame:
God send us a happy new year!

Come lads and lasses every one,
Jack, Tom, Dick, Bess, Mary and Joan,
Let's cut the meat unto the bone,
For welcome you need not fear.
And here for good liquor you shall not lack,
It will whet my brains and strengthen my back;
This jolly good cheer it must go to wrack:
God send us a happy new year!

Come, give's more liquor when I do call,
I'll drink to each one in this hall,
I hope that so loud I must not bawl,
So unto me lend an ear.
Good fortune to my master send,
And to our dame which is our friend,
Lord bless us all, and so I end:
God send us a happy new year!

Keep Christmas With You

When I was a kid, however many years ago now that was, we had a Christmas tradition of playing certain records while we were putting up the decorations as well as while taking them down.  One song from a Sesame Street holiday album stuck with me, called Keep Christmas With You.  It's rather appropriate, more so now with the younger generation being so occupied with trends and stuff instead of personal relationships.

When Christmas time is over and presents put away, don't be sad
There'll be so much to treasure about this Christmas day and the fun we've had
So many happy feelings to celebrate with you
And, oh, the good times hurry by so fast.
But even when it's over there's something you can do to make Christmas last

Keep Christmas with you all through the year,
When Christmas is over, you can keep it near.
Think of this Christmas day when Christmas is far away.

Keep Christmas with you all through the year,
When Christmas is over, save some Christmas cheer.
These precious moments, hold them very dear
And keep Christmas with you all through the year.

Christmas means the spirit of giving peace and joy to you,
The goodness of loving, the gladness of living;
These are Christmas too.

So, keep Christmas with you all through the year,
When Christmas is over, save some Christmas cheer.
These precious moments, hold them very dear
And keep Christmas with you all through the year.

It's Just Stuff

Now that Christmas has passed and we've all indulged in the gifts and the food, I find myself wondering, like Charlie Brown does in the classic Christmas TV special, about the real meaning of the holidays.  Don't get me wrong, I certainly appreciate spending time with family, friends, and loved ones.

But I'm also saddened by the adverts that appear on TV saying that even though we can make better things we have trouble making things better because poverty and homelessness still exist in this rich country of ours.  I have friends who struggle with loneliness, illness, addiction, lack of money, and unemployment.

I've also seen young people crow over their latest "in" video game or toy, but what I really see is just "stuff": a piece of plastic made from non-renewable resources that will eventually be tossed aside in favour of the next "in" thing.  A blogger I follow (garbagefinds.com) writes about his trash-picking in affluent neighbourhoods and what he finds in others' discards is astounding.

How can people can be so caring and yet so terribly wasteful?  It's like the human race is two-faced with one side apparently blind to the other.

I still remember last summer when the ceiling caved in at my father's house due to a water leak, and Dad was beside himself that several pieces of furniture had to be refinished due to water and impact damage.  But it's just stuff, my brother and I told him.  Nobody was in the affected room at the time, and the rest of the house was secure, so he didn't have to be so upset about it.

People assign either too much or not enough value to the wrong things.  It's still stuff.

Feast of Stephen

"Good King Wenceslaus looked out on the feast of Stephen; when the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even."

The 26th of December is known in the Western Christian churches as Saint Stephen's Day.  Stephen was a deacon in one of the early churches in Jerusalem; he was appointed by the Apostles to distribute aid to the poorer members of the community.

His sermons included his views concerning the history of Israel, which were challenged by other synagogues. Although he bested his challengers through legal debate, he was nonetheless declared a blasphemer and stoned to death, thus becoming the first martyr of Christianity.  Relics of his are said to be preserved in the Church of St. Stephen in Jerusalem.

Apart from the New Testament book of Acts of the Apostles, Saint Stephen has little mention outside of the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslaus" as quoted above.  In many nations where the religion was historically Catholic, the day is a public holiday and celebrated with feasting.

Trim up the Tree!

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff
Trim up the town with goowho gums
And bizilbix and wums

Trim every blessed window and trim every blessed door
Hang up whoboohoo bricks
Then run out and get some more!
Hang pantookas on the ceiling
Pile pankunas on the floor

Trim every blessed needle on the blessed Christmas tree
Christmas comes tomorrow!
Trim you, trim me!

Trim up your pets with fuzzle fuzz
And whiffer bloofs, and wuzzle wuzz
Trim up your uncle and your aunt
With yards of whofut flant

Trim every house in Whoville
From the cellar to the roof
Hang up a mile of dafflers
And three miles of snaffer snoof!

Hang dang-donglers on the bathtub
Trim the occupant with floof

To every home in Whoville and to every blessed Who
Christmas comes tomorrow!
Trim me, trim you!

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff
Trim up the town with goowho gums
And bizilbix and wums
Trim up the tree with bizilbix and wums

To Carry or Not to Carry

A news story out of Cincinnati Ohio described how three teens, disappointed and angry that they were unable to buy the shoes they wanted, accosted a pair of adult shoppers outside the store.  One teen pulled a gun and demanded the adults hand over their recently-purchased shoes.  One of the adults who had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, pulled his gun and shot the teen dead.

A friend of mine who is a strong pro-gun activist, commented, "This is why you carry.  Another thug bites the dust."

This was no thug, it was a misguided kid.  A kid who is now dead.  Over a pair of shoes.  That kid must have had a family, friends, and people who loved him, who will now have to bury their child instead of celebrating Christmas.

Things like this occur every single day - both reported and not reported - and there seems to be no end in sight.  This isn't the Old West any more, where the only law in town was the Sheriff and disputes were settled with shootouts in the street.  However we seem to be heading back in that direction.

I wrote a short time ago about escalation.  We're seeing that as well.  A person starts out with a .38 revolver, his rival has a .357 Magnum, so he upgrades to a Glock, the other person gets a .22 rifle, so then he gets an AK-15 and so on.  Where does one draw the line?

A gun is designed for only one thing.  It's not for target shooting, it's not for "protection", or however you want to define it.  It's made to kill another living creature.

Remember that little rule that says "Thou shalt not kill"?  That seems pretty clear to me.

Not to mention, how many soldiers overseas were killed by improvised explosives?  Those soldiers were equipped with some of the best weaponry and body armour available, but that was of no help to them.  Or that Aurora Colorado shooting where a guy marched into a movie theater and killed 12 people?  It was dark, the gunman had set off tear gas, and people were panicking.  Even if people in the audience had been armed, their guns would have been no help.

As far as the Cincinnati situation goes, the smart thing for the man to have done was to hand over the shoes to the kid instead of shooting him.  Then nobody would have been hurt.  It's just stuff.  Stuff can be replaced.  Lives can't.  That man will have to live with his decision for the rest of his life.

Class Act

Yesterday afternoon was our daughter's school Christmas concert, which is held every year to give the students a chance to show their hard work to their parents.  There were songs sung, tunes played on the recorder, and general merriment.  It was clear that the kids had done a lot of preparation, although there were the expected accidents such as a kid dropping an instrument or a music stand falling over.

But the audience.  Oh my goodness, the audience!

I have been to many concerts, both as an observer in the audience and as a performer on stage.  I have never seen such an ill behaved audience in my life.

Many parents talked while the classes were changing in between sets, to the point where the music director had to ask them to stop.  When their kids walked up on stage people called out or stood and waved, thus distracting the kids and delaying the performance further.  Some people were even talking during the musical numbers (including three women who were behind me) and I saw others texting on their phones.  Later one kid told me that she had seen someone actually dozing off.

Has it gotten to the point where people must be taught proper behaviour while in a concert?  Apparently.

I've seen people texting in movie theaters, talking on the phone at a library, listening to music while biking; the last being not only dangerous but illegal.  If you don't have respect for the people around you, how can you expect people to respect you?

Noel Sing We

Here is another 15th century Old English carol.
It can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9CBkw3DDuY

Noel sing we both all and some,
Now Rex pacificus is ycome.

Exortum est in love and lyss,
Now Christ His gree He gan us gyss,
And with His body us bought to bliss,
Both all and some.

Noel sing we both all and some,
Now Rex pacificus is ycome.

De fructus ventris of Mary bright,
Both God and man in her a light,
Out of disease He did us dight,
Both all and some.

Noel sing we both all and some,
Now Rex pacificus is ycome.

Puer natus to us was sent,
To bliss us bought, fro bale us blent,
And else to woe we had ywent,
Both all and some.

Noel sing we both all and some,
Now Rex pacificus is ycome.

Lux fulgebit with love and light,
In Mary mild His pennon pight,
In her took kind with manly might,
Both all and some.

Noel sing we both all and some,
Now Rex pacificus is ycome.

Gloria tibi, ay and bliss,
God unto His grace He us wysse,
The rent of heaven that we not miss,
Both all and some.

Escalation

One hundred and thirty two children died today.

Members of a Taliban militant group, seeking revenge on the Pakistani military for their losses, charged into a school where many students were children of military officers.  The military responded and the Taliban members were eventually tracked down and killed.  But the price was 141 lives.  Now the Pakistani military is planning larger-scale assaults on the militants.

We've seen this far too often.  Everywhere.  Group A kills a few of Group B.  Group B sends someone to shoot an entire family belonging to Group A.  Group A blows up a place of worship that's frequented by many members of Group B.  And so on.  With a higher body count each time one of these "revenge" attacks occurs.

It won't stop until either side, or possibly both, has been destroyed.

Those who have the good fortune to live in a country that is not at war or otherwise in conflict with another state might believe that they have peace.  However conflict invariably affects a greater area than just the originating groups, as militants expand their territory and refugees flee the fighting.  Everyone is at risk.

For the last century there hasn't been a time where there has not been conflict on the planet somewhere, with the exception of a short period following the end of World War II.  At this time of the year we might sing and pray about peace on Earth, but given the varying religions, social structures, and availability of resources, true world peace is sadly unattainable.

Holiday Blindness

As the holidays approach I wonder about how many people know what they really mean. Retailers are concerned about how much money they'll be making.  Consumers are concerned about the prices and availability of certain "must-have" items.  Economists are saying that even with the country in the throes of financial difficulties, this is no time to be sitting on your cash. Spend spend spend.

Stop already!

There are numerous holiday specials on TV every year that emphasize the spirit of giving and the appreciation of the ones you love. The sentiments seem more relevant now than ever. My father is elderly and his memory is not what it once was.  My husband has not been working for months and neither of us has been able to find new employment.  Every day I am thankful that we are all doing reasonably well for now and we don't want for anything.

The fancy electronics and glittery clothing that dominate the catalogues and store shelves are not necessary to have a good life. Many people in the world live well on less. We ought to remember that.

I Hate Christmas

No, I don't really hate Christmas, I'm just having a little fun today with a song that was recorded on the 1975 album Merry Christmas from Sesame Street.  Oscar the Grouch sings about how Grouches prefer their holidays. (I can't help agreeing with the part that it goes on much too long, however.)

I can't think of anything that's dumber.
To a Grouch, Christmas is a bummer!

Beaming faces everywhere, happiness is in the air
I'm telling you, it isn't fair! I hate Christmas!
People loaded with good will, giving presents, what a thrill
That slushy nonsense makes me ill. I hate Christmas!

I'd rather have a holiday like normal grouches do:
Instead of getting presents, they take presents back from you!
Heh heh!

Here comes Santa, girls and boys. So, who needs that big red noise!
I'll tell him where to put his toys! I hate Christmas!

And if you want the truth, I ain't so crazy about Easter or Labor Day either!

Christmas carols to be sung, decorations to be hung
Oh, yeah? Well, I stick out my tongue! I hate Christmas!
Christmas bells play loud and strong, hurts my ears, all that ding dong
Besides it goes on much too long! I hate Christmas!

I'd rather have a holiday with a lot less joy and flash
With a lot less cheerful smiling, and a lot more dirty trash, yeah!

Christmas Day is almost here, when it's over then I cheer
I'm glad it's only once a year! I hate Christmas!

And who put all this mistletoe all over my trash can?!
Phooey and bah humbug!

Questions and No Cookies

"That what wrong with the media today. All they have is questions, questions, questions - they never have cookies!" - Cookie Monster, "Sesame Street: MacNeil Report"

There are four questions asked during every job interview that everyone hates to answer.

"Will you tell me about yourself?"
"What's your biggest weakness?"
"Why should we hire you?"
"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

I'm of the opinion that these questions are useless.  With the amount of information that people put in their resumes and online profiles, it only takes a bit of effort for a recruiter to find out whether or not a person might be a good fit for the company.

Some will say that there's only so much that can be determined from reading profiles.  Asking these questions causes an applicant to think and frame their answers in such a way to present themselves in a good light and shows that they have something intelligent to say.

That might be true.  But it's also wrong.

What it does is put the job-seeker on the defensive and sours the whole process.  Since the applicant has no idea what the interviewer is really looking for by asking these sorts of questions, the onus on her/him to do extensive preparations ahead of time.  There are many methods to pick and choose from; "Spin the Table" (turn the questions around to find out more about the company) and "Pain Speech" (put oneself in the hiring manager's position and talk about their job) are but two.

Why does there have to be so much involved with this?  What has happened to good old-fashioned communication?  Stop being lazy and beating around the bush with irrelevant questions, convoluted response strategies, and form letters.  Sit down and talk straight.  I'm willing to bet that will get much better results for all parties.

Jesus was a Show-Off

"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." -- Matthew 7:12

I don't begrudge people of any faith for their beliefs, it's their personal choice to believe in whatever religion they see fit.  However at this time of year, I can't help but poke some fun at people who say that the son of God was a perfect example at how a human should behave toward his fellows.  Nobody is perfect, apparently not even Jesus; there's an old English folk song called The Bitter Withy and it goes as follows:

As it fell out on a bright holiday,
Small hail from the sky did fall,
Our Saviour asked of His mother mild
If He might go play at ball.

"At ball, at ball, my own dear Son,
It is time that you were gone,
But I don't want to hear of any doings,
Tonight when you come home.”

It was up the hill and down the hill,
Our sweet young Saviour run,
Until he met three rich young lords,
"Good morning, sirs, each one".

"Good morn, good morn, good morn," said they,
"Good morn," then said He,
"Which one of you three rich young lords
Will play at ball with me?"

"We all are lords' and ladies' sons,
Born into bower and hall,
And you are nothing but a poor maid's child
Born into an ox's stall."

"If I am naught but a poor maid's child
Born in an ox's stall,
I will make you believe at your latter end
That I'm an angel above you all."

Our Saviour built a bridge with the beams of the sun,
And over the river crossed He,
And the rich young lords they followed Him,
And drowned they were all three.

It was up the hill and down the hill,
The young lords' mothers run,
Crying: “Mary mild, fetch home your child,
For ours he's drowned each one!”

So Mary mild fetched home her child,
And laid Him across her knee,
And with a whole handful of withy twigs
She gave Him slashes three.

“Oh, withy! Oh, withy! The bitter withy
That causes me to smart!
So the withy shall be the very first tree
To perish at the heart!”

I believe that this song also has another theme: when one has power, whether financial, political, or whatever, one should learn how to use it for non-selfish reasons.  Using power selfishly always brings some form of punishment in the end.

Light Displays

Winter can be a depressing time.  You wake up in the dark, endure short grey days, and the sun sets at the obscene time of 4:15 PM.  It's little wonder why many cultures have festivals of lights in late December and early January.  Montrealers are no strangers to winter, and we've made some terrific light displays in the city to compensate for the long nights.

Place Ville Marie Tree
The lighting of this artificial tree in the Place Ville Marie plaza has been a downtown tradition since the opening of the PVM office complex in 1962.  Made in New York by Donald H. Gorman and Associates, the conical sculpture stands 19.2 meters high and measures 7.92 meters wide, and shines with over 13,000 lights.  The tree is installed in the plaza on the first Monday in November and remains until the middle of the following January.

Photo courtesy Susan Moss, 2012

Light Idea-O-Rama
Mount Royal Avenue takes pedestrians into a comic book world for the holidays.  One hundred light-boxes have been attached to lamp posts and public structures along the length of the avenue, depicting the work of Montreal-based illustrators Mireille St-Pierre and Michel Hellman.  Each panel humorously shows off the difficulties and the joys of winter life in Montreal.  The display will be visible until March 2015.

Old Montreal
During the holidays, the streets of historical Old Montreal are carefully decorated to evoke feelings of Christmases past.  Trees glitter with lights as well as snow, and statues are bathed in soft luminescent colours.  One of the best ways to see it is to join one of the Christmas Secrets walking tours where a professional guide introduces wanderers to the charms of New France and the sparkling windows of shops and museums.

Photo courtesy Aghear on flickr.com , 2010

Look Up
The streets aren't the only place to find light displays around the city.  Three of the most well-known installations in Montreal are above eye level. 1. The four-beam rotating beacon on the roof of the Place Ville Marie office tower can be seen as far as 50 km away.  The light belongs to the building's anchor tenant, the Royal Bank of Canada.  2.  The pyramid-shaped mechanical penthouse of the McGill Tower is normally lit white, but during certain holidays or events the colours are changed. Currently it's lit white, green, and red for Christmas.  3. The 31 meter high steel cross on the northeast summit of Mount Royal can be seen from most vantage points in the city, and it's made all the more striking when lit up at night by 158 18-LED bulbs.

Internships

The dictionary definition of an internship is "an opportunity offered by an employer to potential employees, called "interns", to work at a firm for a fixed, limited period of time.  Interns are usually undergraduates or students, and most internships last for any length of time between one week and 12 months."

The purpose of these positions is primarily to train people who are interested in the job, at little cost to the employer because most internships are unpaid.  They're supposedly a good way for people to gain valuable lessons in a job market where it's almost impossible to land a job without some form of experience.

Many recent articles in the media have decried this practice as companies trolling for "free work".  I could easily agree, seeing as I've been interning as a writer for an online magazine for the past six months and there has been no indication from anyone as to whether I'll be paid for my work any time soon, or even if they'll recommend me for a paid position elsewhere.

I'm registered on at least a dozen online job-search portals and I keep my profiles updated regularly.  Fully half of the "Recommended jobs for you" that they show me are unpaid internships.  Why?  I am not a student or a recent graduate.  I've fourteen years of office experience, half of those as a writer and editor.

The search engines themselves are partly to blame.  They use key words to find matches based on what's in a person's profile.  Early on I kept receiving job listings for Project Managers simply because I had the word "managed" in my online resume.  Once I reworded the appropriate section, the listings disappeared.

Perhaps now the search engines think that an internship would be a good fit for me because I have a sizable gap in my work experience due to the fact that I stopped working to raise a family.  Granted, it is a good way to get one's feet wet prior to returning to the workforce, but I feel I'm worth more than that.

It's like the old paradox: can't get a job without experience but can't get experience without a job.

http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/12/07

What I Want for Christmas

Whenever commercials show on television my daughter points out the various toys that she likes.  "I want that for Christmas, I want that, I want that..."

When asked what he wants, my husband usually jokes "a million dollars".  Whenever I try to discuss things seriously with him, he brushes me off.

Nobody has asked me what I want.

So here's what I want.  For starters, I want people to have the basic courtesy to return my communications.  I want to be able to talk candidly to the people around me and not have to bite my tongue whenever they object to controversial subjects.  I want to be appreciated for my talents and not have to retool my image every time I apply for a job.  I want to have a home to call my own and not worry about it being invaded or taken away.

I want to live in a place where people can walk down the street without fear of being robbed, hurt, or killed. I want children to be able to get the education of their choosing without regard for language, religion, or gender.  I want people to realize that the dogged pursuit of wealth, power, and perfection is terribly detrimental to the only planet that we can live on.

I want peace on Earth.

The tragic thing is, I'll probably never see most of those things happen.

Justice Denied

Trayvon Martin.  Michael Brown Jr.  Tamir Rice.  Eric Garner.  How many more must die before justice will be done?

I am deeply saddened today by the fact that no charges will be laid against the officers who basically choked an unarmed man to death.

Eric Garner was no threat.  He had made clear that he had been harassed previously and he just wanted it to stop.  The NYPD officers used an ILLEGAL hold on him, which triggered a health crisis that ultimately caused his death.

It's not just black people who are in apparent danger from the police.  It's everyone.  As I've written previously, there have been far too many incidents where police action has caused someone to be injured or killed and the officers involved get a slap on the wrist or are not charged at all.

Canada has had its fair share.  These are just a few.
Paul McKinnon, run over by a speeding police car.
Richard Barnabé, beaten into a coma after breaking a church window.
Marcellus François, shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity.
Fredy Villanueva, shot as police were trying to arrest his brother.
Robert Dziekański, died after being tasered at the Vancouver airport.
Nicolas Thorne-Belance, died after a speeding police car collided with his father's car.  He was FIVE YEARS OLD.

I will also lay blame on the convoluted and too-lenient justice system.  Case in point: Guy Turcotte, a doctor in a bitter divorce battle with his wife, killed his two kids and tried to poison himself.  He was tried, declared to have been not mentally competent and sentenced to time in a mental institution.  The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court but Turcotte has since been allowed free on bail until a new trial is ready.  How is this justice?

The system is broken, and will remain that way until people decide that it's time for a change.  A new generation of lawmakers and enforcers needs to make it right.

Jingle Bells

While looking around for a Christmas song to post on my Facebook and Twitter today (which ended up being Winter Wonderland) my crazy mind gave me a flashback to my grade school days when we sang a silly version of Jingle Bells.  It didn't take long before I remembered the rest of it.  Here it is.

We started out with ten, and all of us were fine
Till one fell out around the bend and there were only nine
The nine of us went on and we were going great
Until we hit a bumpy road and there were only eight

Eight of us went on, our very merry drive
Till three went tumbling down a hill and there were only five
The five of us went on and sang from door to door
Till one fell in a snowy bank and there were only four

The four of us went on, a holly jolly crew
Until the wind went huff and puff and there were only two!
The two of us went on as happy as could be
But I looked round and you were gone
And there was only me!

What a catastrophe - boohoo!

Somerset Wassail

In December I post a holiday tune every day on Facebook (and also Twitter now) to help people start off in a more positive way.  My choice for yesterday was Sleigh Ride.  Today's is Somerset Wassail, an old carol from the south of England.  It's one of my particular favourites, especially because some of my ancestors came from that region.  There are several versions of the song depending on which county or area it originated.

Wassailing is an ancient custom that involved people visiting each other's homes and orchards to give blessings for prosperity and a good harvest for the coming year.  The word "wassail" comes from the Old English, and it means "be well" or "be healthy".

Wassail and wassail all over the town
The cup it is white and the ale it is brown
The cup it is made of the good ashen tree
And so is the malt of the finest barley
For i'ts your wassail and it's our wassail
And its joy be to you and a jolly wassail

Oh master and missus, are you all within?
Pray open the door and let us come in
O master and missus a-sitting by the fire
Pray think on us poor travelers, a traveling in the mire
For it's your wassail and it's our wassail
And its joy be to you and a jolly wassail

Oh where is the maid with the silver-headed pin
To open the door and let us come in
Oh master and missus, it is our desire
A good loaf and a cheese and a toast by the fire
For it's your wassail and it's our wassail
And its joy be to you and a jolly wassail

There was an old man and he had an old cow
And how for to keep her he didn't know how
He built up a barn for to keep his cow warm
And a drop or two of cider will do us no harm
For it's your wassail and it's our wassail
And its joy be to you and a jolly wassail

The girt dog of Langport he burnt his long tail
And this is the night we go singing wassail
O master and missus now we must be gone
God bless all in this house until we do come again
For it's your wassail and it's our wassail
And its joy be to you and a jolly wassail