Brother, look up and behold,

What thing is yonder that shineth so bright?
As long as ever I have watch'd my fold,

Yet saw I never such a sight in field.

Aha! now is come the time that old fathers have

told,

That in the winter's night so cold,

A child of maiden born be He wold,

In whom all prophecies shall be fulfilled.

Shepherd 1.-Truth it is, without nay,

So said the prophet Esay,

That a child should be born of a maiden so bright,

In winter nigh the shortest day,

Or else in the middle of the night.

Shepherd 2.-Loved be God, most of might,

That our grace is to see that sight,

Pray we to Him, as it is right,

If that His will it be,

That we may have knowledge of this signification,
And why it appeareth in this fashion;

And ever to Him let us give laudation,

In earth while that we be.

(Then the angels sing' Gloria in Excelsis.')1

Later on, when Herod hears that he has missed the Wise Men :

:

Herod.-Another way! out! out! out!

Have those false traitors done me this deed?
I stamp, I stare, I looke all about!

Might I them take, I should them burn at a
glede [flame].

I rant, I roar, and now run I wode [mad] !
Ah, that these villain traitors should have marred
my mode [temper]!

They shall be hanged, if I come them to !

(Here Herod rages in this pageant, and in the street also.)2

1 The Nativity, a Coventry play, ed. by Marriott, p. 66 :

Now God that art in trenete,
Thow sawe my fellois and me.

2 Id. 83:

A nothur wey! owt ! owt ! owt !

Hath those fawls traytors done me this ded?

From The Crucifixion, one of the Towneley Mys

teries :

Christus.-My mother mild, thou change thy cheer,

Cease of thy sorrow and sighing sere [several, manifold];

It sits upon my heart full sore.

The sorrow is sharp I suffer here;

But the dole thou durest, my mother dear,
Marters [tortures] me mickle more.

Thus willeth my Father that I fare,
To loose mankind of bands;

His only Son will He not spare,
To loosen that which bound was ere
Full fast in fiendes' hands.

The first cause, mother, of my comíng
Was for mankind's miscarryíng :

To salve their sore I sought.
Therefore, mother, make none mourning,
Seeing that man through my dying
May thus to bliss be brought.1

From The Descent into Hell (Towneley series):—
Christus.-Ye princes of hell, open your gate,
And let my folk forth go'n;

A prince of peace shall enter thereat,
Whether ye will or no'n.

Rybald. What art thou that speakest so?
Christus. A king of bliss that hights Jesus.
Rybald.-Yea, hence fast I rede thee go,
And meddle thee not with us.

Belzabub.-Our gates I trow will last,

They are so strong I wean.

But if our barés brast [burst],

For thee they shall not twyn [break a-twain].

Christus.-This stede [place] shall stand no longer stoken [barred].

Open up, and let my people pass !

Rybald.-Out, haro! [the Norman war-cry] our bale is broken,

And bursten are all our bands of brass !

1 The Crucifixion: a Towneley miracle-play, ed. by Marriott, 153: 'My moder mylde, thou chaunge thi chere.',

Belzabub.-Haro! our gates begin to crak,
In sunder, I trow, they go;

And hell, I trow, will all-to shak,
Alas! now I am woe!1

From Mary Magdalene (Digby Manuscripts), an early and lengthened pageant of nearly 2300 lines:Mary Magd.-When I saw you first, Lord, verily

I ween'd ye had been Symond the gardenere.

Christus.--So I am for sooth, Mary;

Man's heart is my garden here.

Therein I sow seeds of virtue all the year;
The foul weeds and vices I rend up by the rote;
When the garden is watered with tears clear,

Then spring virtues, and smell full sote [sweet].2

From Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, a Chester play :

Peter and Philip have just announced to the keeper of the
gate that Christ is coming into the city.)

Keeper of Gate.-Tidings, good men every one!

The prophet Jesus comes anon.

Of His disciples yonder go'n

Twain that were now here.

For His marvels leeve [believe] aye upon,
That he is very God's Son,

Or else wonder were.

Ist Citizen.-Ah! Lord, blessed must thou be !

Him will I go now and see;
And so I rede that all may

Thitherward take the way.

2d Citizen.-Fellows, I leeve [believe] that Christ is He,
Comen from God in majesty ;
Else such marvels, as thinks me,
He ne'er did day by day.

3d Citizen.-Lazarus He saved, so God me save,
That four days had been in grave;
Therefore devotion now I have

To welcome Him to this town.

1 The Descent into Hell: a Towneley miracle-play, ed. by Marriott. "Extractio Animarum,' 167: 'Ye prynces of helle, open youre gate.' 2 Ancient Mysteries, from the Digby Manuscripts (Abbotsford Club); Mary Magdalene, 11. 1078-86:

Whan I sye yow fyrst, Lord, verely

I wentt ye had byn Symond the gardenere.

4th Citizen.-Branches of the palm tree
Each one in hand take we,

And welcome Him to this city
With fair processioun.

5th Citizen.-With all the worship that I may,
I welcome Him will to-day,

And spread my clothes in the way
As soon as I Him see.

6th Citizen. These miracles approven apertly [evidently]
That from the Father Almighty

He is comen, mankind to buy:
It may no other be.

1st Boy.-Fellows, I heard my father say

That Jesus the Prophet will come to-day,
Thither I rede we take the way,

With branches in our hands.

2d Boy.-Make we mirth all that we may

Pleasant to that Lord's paie [satisfaction].
'Hosanna!' I rede by my faye

To sing that we founde [begin].

(Then the boys shall go towards Jerusalem, singing‘Hosanna!' with palm branches in their hands, and the citizens shall strew their clothes in the way and sing, etc.; and then the Saviour enters, riding on an ass's colt.)

From The Purification, one of the York Mysteries:

Angel.-Old Simeon, I say to thee
Dress thyself forth in thine array.
Come to the temple, there to see
Jesus, the babe that Mary bore.
Fear not, be bold.

Sim.-Ah, Lord, I thank Thee e'er and aye.
Now am I light as bird on tree;
My age is gone, I feel no fray;
Methinks for this that is told me
I am not old.

Now will I to yon temple go
To see the Babe that Mary bore.
He is my health in weal and woe
And helps me ever from great care.

The Chester Plays, ed. by T. Wright, ii. 8: Tydings, good men everye one.'

Scene VI. THE TEMPLE.

(Simeon takes the babe in his arms.)
Now come to me, Lord of all lands;
Come, Mightiest by sea and sands;
Come, Joy by street and eke by strands,
On mould [earth].

Come, halse [embrace] me, Babe that art best born!
Come, halse me, Gladness of our morn!

Come, halse me, else I had been lorn

Of old.

Lord God, I thank Thee of Thy grace
That Thou hast sparéd me a space,
This Babe within my arms t' embrace,
As prophecy doth tell.

I thank Thee who my life hath lent,
I thank Thee who this bliss hath sent,

That this sweet Babe, in my arms hent [held]
With mirth my might doth mell [mingle].

Ah, Babe! blessed be Thou for aye,
For Thou my Saviour art, I say,
And here Thou rulest me, in fay,
Through all my life.

Now, blessed be Thy holy name,

Thou that dost save us from all shame,

Thou that dost guard us from all blame,

And from all strife.1

Although the general spirit of the Reformation was unfavourable to the production of the scriptural plays which had been the delight of earlier generations, a few were written by the reforming party. John Bale (1495-1563), the learned Bishop of Ossory, wrote at least eleven, of which four survive. One was The Laws of Nature, Man, and Christ, a second The Promises of God. A third was The Brefe Comedy or Enterlude of Johan Baptystes Preachynge in the Wyldernesse ; another of The Temptation of our Lord. John Bale was a Suffolk man, educated in a Carmelite (monastery, and afterwards at Jesus College, Cambridge. He

1 The York Mystery Plays, ed. by L. Toulmin Smith, p. 444: 'Olde Symeon, I say to thee.'