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All you that are unto mirth inclined,
Consider well and do bear in mind
What our great God for us hath done
In sending His bel;oved Son.

Let all your songs and your praises be
Unto His heavenly Majesty;
And evermore, amongst you mirth,
Rember Christ our Saviour's birth.

The five-and-twentieth of December
Great cause have we to remember;
In Bethlehem, upon that morn,
There was our bless'd Messiah born.

Near Bethlehem shepherds they did keep
Their herds and flocks, a-feeding sheep,
To whom God's Angel did soon appear,
Which put the shepherds in great fear.

Prepare and go, the Angel said,
To Bethlehem, be ye not afraid ;
There shall ye see, this blessed morn,
The heavenly Babe, sweet Jesus, born.

 With thankful heart and with joyful mind
The shepherds went for this Babe to find ;
And, as the heavenly Angel told,
They did our Saviour Christ behold.

Within a manger the Babe was laid ;
The Virgin Mary beside Him stayed,
Attending on the Lord of Life,
Being both Mother, Maid and Wife.

If choirs of angels they did rejoice,
Well may mankind, both with heart and voice,
Sing praises to the God of heaven,
Who unto us His Son hath given.



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Source: C Sharp, English Folk Carols, 1911, Novello & Co Ltd.

Notes:
Cecil Sharp wrote:

Sung by Mrs. Gentle Phillips, of Tysoe, at Birmingham.

Mrs. Phillips could remember no more than the first stanza ; the remaining stanzas have been copied from a broadside. Under the title "All you that are to mirth inclined" the carol is printed, words and tune, by Bramley and Stainer, R. R. Chope and Davies Gilbert ; words only, by Sandys and many broadside printers. The tune, which is often used by carol singers (see Folk-Song Society's Journal, IV, pp. 15, 17 et seq.), is a variant of "Searching for Lambs" (Folk-Songs from Somerset. No. 96).



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