"Nowell and Nowell" the angels did say,
While shepherds there in the fields did lay;
Late in the night a-folding their sheep,
A cold winter's night both cold and deep.

(Chorus)
Nowell and nowell! Nowell and nowell!
Born is the King of Isreal!
Nowell and nowell! Nowell and nowell!
Born is the King of Isreal!

And then there did appear a star
Whose glory then did shine so far;
Unto the earth it gave a great light
And there it continued a day and a night.

And by the light of that same star
Three wise men came from country far
To seek a King was their intent
And to follow that star wherever it went.

The star drew near unto the north-west
O'er Bethlehem city it took its rest
And there it did both stand and stay,
Right over the house where our Lord lay.

Then entered in those wise men three,
With reverence, upon their knee,
And offered up, in his presence,
Both gold and myrrh and frankincense.

Between an ox-manger and an ass,
Our blest Messiah's place it was;
To save our souls from sin and thrall,
He is the Redeemer of us all.

abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Oxford Book of Carols, OUP, Ed. Percy Dearmer, R Vaughan Williams, Martin Shaw

Notes:
Tenor is melody line.

Constructed by the editors as 'a conjectural recreation of a gallery setting based on another, and probably older, version of the tune in three older publications.'

It was adapted from the Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 5.

Roud: 682 (Search Roud index at VWML) Take Six
Laws:
Child: