Now, Now, The Mirth Comes - The Hymns and Carols of Christmas

“Now, Now The Mirth Comes”
Candlemas Eve and Day
Down With The Rosemary, And So
Candlemas Eve
[February 1st]
Source: William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868)
Down
with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and mistletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all
Wherewith ye deck's the Christmas hall;
That so the superstitious find
Not one least branch there left behind:
For look! How many leaves there be
Neglected there (Maids, trust to me),
So many goblins you shall see.
Husk's Note:
On this day the Christmas ceremonies, which had lingered on after Twelfth-day,
finally closed, and all traces of them were removed. The custom long prevailed, and
there must be many still living who can remember the evergreens with which our
churches were decorated at Christmas, remaining until Candlemas [February 2nd].
Down With The Rosemary and Bays
Candlemas Eve
[February 1st]
Source: William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868)
own with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletow; 15 D
15. According to Henry Vizetelly , “this is the first reference to the mistletoe, in its quality of a
Christmas evergreen, that we have met with in the writings of our early poets.”
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