(Not provided on this image: the version below came from elsewhere in the publication)

Behold the Grace appears,
The promise is fulfilled,
The promise is fulfilled;
Mary, the wonderous virgin bears,
And Jesus is the child,
And Jesus is the child,
And Jesus is the child.

"Go, humble swain", said he,
"To David's city fly,
To David's city fly.
The promised infant born today,
Doth in a manger lie,
Doth in a manger lie,
Doth in a manger lie."

"With looks and hearts serene,
Go, visit Christ, your King,
Go, visit Christ, your King."
And straight a flaming troop was seen,
The shepherds heard them sing,
The shepherds heard them sing,
The shepherds heard them sing.

All glory be to God
And on the earth be peace,
And on the earth be peace;
Goodwill henceforth from heaven to men,
Begin and never cease,
Begin and never cease,
Begin and never cease.

Awake, awake, ye saints awake!
And hail this day our Saviour's born!
Awake, awake, ye saints, awake!
And hail this day our Saviour's born!
Allelujah, allelujah, allelujah, praise ye the Lord!

abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Ian Russell, Hark! Hark! What News, Sheffield, 1996

Notes:
This is my attempt to convert Back Lane to ABC, as transcribed by Charles Green, from the Green-Fretwell MS, Dungworth from about 1910. This was reproduced in "Hark!, Hark! what News", one of the publications of "Village Carols".

This manuscript is not always easy to decipher and so my version of the ABC should be treated with caution. If in doubt, please refer to the image.

Village Carols is an ongoing project to preserve and promote local carol traditions, and to make them available in all forms - audio recordings, musical notation, historical context, etc. I am indebted to Ian Russell for his work in this area and for his permission to publish the notation given here. For details of current publications, see http://www.sgpublishing.co.uk/gm/vc/vcpubs.html


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