[They wake up Mac who is “sleeping.”]

Mac. Now Christ, his holy name be us among,
What is this? for Saint James!  I may not well walk.
I trust I be the same. Ah! my neck has lain wrong
Enough
Much thanks, since yester-even
Now, by Saint Stephen!
I was flayed with a dream
My heart jumped out my skin
I thought Gill began to croak, and travail full sad,
Well nigh at the first cock, giving birth to a young lad,
For to mend our flock: then be I never glad.
To have many more to feed, more than ever I had.
Ah, my head!
A house full of young bellies
The devil knock out their brains
Woe is he has many bairns,
And thereto little bread.
I must go home, by your leave, to Gill as I thought.
I pray you check out my sleeve, that I steal nought:
I am loath you to grieve, or from you take aught.

3rd Shepherd. Go forth, ill might thou prosper,
Now would I we sought,
This morn,
That we had all our stock.

1st Shepherd. But I will go before,
Let us meet.

2nd Shepherd. Where?

3rd Shepherd. At the crooked thorn.

Mac (at his own door again). Undo this door! who is here? How long shall I stand?

Wife. Who makes such a stir?  Go walk under the waning moon.

Mac. Ah, Gill, what cheer?  It is I, Mac, your husband.

His Wife. Then may we be here, the devil in a band,
Sir Guile. Lo, he comes with a croak,
As if he were held by the throat.
I may not sit, work or not
A little while.

Mac. Will ye hear what fuss she makes to find an excuse
And do naught but play and pick at her toes.

Wife. Why, who wanders, who wakes, who comes, who goes?
Who brews, who bakes? Who makes me get so hoarse?
And then
It is a pity to behold,
Now in hot, now in cold,
Full woeful is the household
That wants a woman.
But what end hast thou made with the shepherds, Mac?

Mac. The last word that they said when I turned my back,
They would look that they had their sheep all the pack.
I don’t think they are going to like it when they their sheep lack.
By God!
But however the game goes,
To me they will suppose,
And make a foul noise,
And cry out upon me.
But thou must do as thou planned,

Wife. I accord me thereto

I shall swaddle him right in my cradle.
If it were a greater slight, yet could I help till.
I will lie down straight. Come cover me.

Mac. I will.

Wife. Behind,
Come Coll and his crew,
They will check us full closely.

Mac. But I may cry out “Harro!”

The sheep if they find.

Wife. Hearken aye when they call: they will come anon.
Come and make ready all, and sing by thine own,
Sing a lullaby thou shall, for I must groan,
And cry out by the wall on Mary and John,
For sore.
Sing “Lullaby” full fast
When thou hears at the last;
And but I play a false cast
Trust me no more.

[Re-enter the Three Shepherds.]

3rd Shepherd. Ah, Coll! good morn. Why sleepest thou not?

1st Shepherd. Alas, that ever was I born!  We have a foul blot.
A fat wether have we lost.

3rd Shepherd. Marry, God forbid.

2nd Shepherd. Who should do us that scorn? That were a foul spot.

1st Shepherd. Some shrew.
I have sought with my dogs,
All Horbery shrogs,
And of fifteen hogs            [Any animal younger than a year.]
Found I but one ewe.

3rd Shepherd. Now trust me if you will;–by Saint Thomas of Kent!
Either Mac or Gill–was at that assent.

1st Shepherd. Peace, man, be still;–I saw when he went.
Thou slander’st him ill; thou ought to repent.
Good speed.

2nd Shepherd. Now as ever might I thee,
If I should even here die
I would say it were he,
That did that same deed.

3rd Shepherd. Go we thither I say and run on our feet.
May I never eat bread,until I know the truth.

1st Shepherd. Nor drink, in my head,–with him till I meet.

2nd Shepherd. I will rest in no stead, till that I him greet,
My brother
One I will promise
Till I see him in sight
Shall I never sleep one night
There I do another.

[As shepherds reach Mac and Gill’s house, they hear the lullaby and groans.]

3rd Shepherd. Will ye hear how they hack.  Our Sire! list, how they croon!

1st Shepherd. Heard I never none crack so clear out of tune.
Call on him.

2nd Shepherd. Mac! undo your door soon.

Mac. Who is it that spoke,–as it were noon?
On loft,
Who is that I say?

3rd Shepherd. Good fellows! were it day?

Mac. As far as ye may,–
Good, speak ye soft!
Over a sick woman’s head,–that is ill mate ease,
I had liefer be dead than she had any disease.

Wife. Go to another stead; I may not well breathe.

Each foot that ye tread–goes right through my head

So loud.

1st Shepherd. Tell us, Mac, if ye may,
How fare ye, I say?

Mac. But are ye in this town to-day?
Now how fare ye?
Ye have run in the mire, and are all wet.
I shall make you a fire, if ye will sit.
A nurse would I hire; think ye on it.
My dream came true.  This is it.
A season.
I have bairns if ye knew,
Well more than enough
But we must drink as we brew,
And that is but reason.
I would ye dined e’er ye went.  Methinks that ye sweat.

2nd Shepherd. Nay, neither mends our mode, drink nor meat.

Mac. Why, sir, ails you aught, but good?

3rd Shepherd. Yes, our sheep that we tend,
Are stolen as they were grazing  Our loss is great.

Mac. Sirs, drinks!
Had I been there,
Some should have bought it full dear.

1st Shepherd. Marry, some men think that ye were,
And that bothers us, makes us suspect.

2nd Shepherd. Mac, some men think that it should be ye.

3rd Shepherd. Either ye or your spouse; so say we.

Mac. Now if ye have suspicion to Gill or to me,
Come and ransack our house, and then may ye see
Who had her.
If I any sheep got,
Either cow or stot,
And Gill, my wife rose not
Here since she laid her.
As I am both true and honest, to God here I pray,
That this be the first meal, I shall eat this day.

1st Shepherd. Mac, as I have faith, arise thee, I say!
“He learned timely to steal, that could not say nay.”

Wife. I swelter
Out, thieves, from my home!
Ye come to rob us for the nonce.

Mac. Hear ye not how she groans?
Your heart should melt.

Wife. Out thieves, from my child! Stay away from him.

Mac. Knew ye how she had suffered, your hearts would be sore.
Ye do wrong, I you warn, that thus comes before
To a woman that has been in labor, but I say no more.

Wife. Ah, my middle!
I pray to God so mild,
If ever I you beguiled,
That I eat this child,
That lies in this cradle.

Mac. Peace, woman, for God’s pain, and cry not so:
Thou spill’st thy brain, and mak’st me full woe.

2nd Shepherd. I know our sheep be slain, what find ye too?

3rd Shepherd. All work we in vain: as well may we go.
But hatters,  confound it
I can find no flesh,
Hard nor soft
Salt nor fresh,
But two empty platters:
No creature but this one, tame nor wild,
None, as I have bliss, but he does smell a bit strong.

Wife. No, so God bless and give me joy of my child.

1st Shepherd. We have aimed wrong.  I hold us beguiled.

2nd Shepherd. Sir, done!
Sir, our lady him save,
Is your child a boy?

Mac. Any lord might him have
This child to his son.
When he wakens, he grabs.  That is a joy to see.

3rd Shepherd. In good time, be his steps, and happy they be!
But who were his godparents?  Tell me.

Mac. So fair fall their lips!

1st Shepherd (aside). Hark now, a lie.

Mac. So God them thank,
Parkin, and Gibbon Waller, I say,
And gentle John Horne, in good faith.

2nd Shepherd. Mac, friends will we be, for we are all one.

Mac. Why! now I hold for me, for help get I none.
Farewell all three: all glad were ye gone.

3rd Shepherd. Fair words may there be, but love is there none this year.

1st Shepherd. Gave ye the child anything?

2nd Shepherd. I trust not one farthing.

3rd Shepherd. Fast back will I fling,
Abide ye me there.

[He returns to Mac’s door.]
Mac, take it to no grief, if I come to thy child.

Mac. Nay, thou dost me great shame, and foul hast thou done.

3rd Shepherd. The child will it not grieve, that little day-star.
Mac, with your leave, let me give your bairn,
But sixpence.

Mac. Nay, go away: he sleeps.

3rd Shepherd. Methink he peeps.

Mac. When he wakens he weeps.
I pray you go hence.

3rd Shepherd. Give me leave him to kiss, and lift up the clout.
What the devil is this? He has a long snout.

1st Shepherd. He’s deformed. We knew there was something wrong.

2nd Shepherd. Ill spun weft cometh foul out;

Aye so;
He is like to our sheep.

3rd Shepherd. How, Gib, may I peep?

1st Shepherd. I trow, kind will creep,
Where it may not go.

2nd Shepherd. This was a quaint gaud and a far cast.
It was a high fraud.

3rd Shepherd. Yea, sirs, it was.
Let burn this bawd and bind her fast.
A false scold hangs at the last;
So shall thou.
Will ye see how they swaddle
His four feet in the middle?
Saw I never in a cradle
A horned lad ere now.

Mac. Peace bid I: what! let be your fuss;
I am he that him gat, and yond woman him bear..

1st Shepherd. What devil shall he be called? Lo, God, Mac’s heir?

2nd Shepherd. Let be all that. Now God give him care!
I say.

Wife. A pretty child is he,
As sits upon a woman’s knee;
A darling, by God!
To make a man laugh.

3rd Shepherd. I know him by the ear mark.  That is a good token.

Mac. I tell you, sirs, hark.  His nose was broken.
Since then, a clerk told me that he was bewitched.

1st Shepherd. This is a false work. I would fain be avenged. Get a weapon!

Wife. He was taken by an elf; for a changeling.
I saw it myself.
When the clock struck twelve,
Was he misshapen.

2nd Shepherd. Ye two are equally clever to do wrong.

3rd Shepherd. Since they maintain their theft.  Let’s do them dead.

Mac. If I trespass again, chop off my head.
Have mercy this time.

1st Shepherd. Sirs, consider my advice
For this trespass,
We will neither ban nor curse nor
Fight, nor chide
But seize him tight,
And cast him in canvas.

[They toss Mac in a blanket.]

---

1st Shepherd (as the three return to the fold).

Lord, how I am sore, in point for to burst:
In faith I may no more, therefore, will I rest.

2nd Shepherd. As a sheep of seven score, he weighed in my fist.
For to sleep anywhere, methink that I list.

3rd Shepherd. Now I pray you,
Lie down on this green.

1st Shepherd. On these thefts yet I mean.

3rd Shepherd. Whereto should ye vex about it?
Do as I tell you.

[Enter an Angel above, who sings “Gloria in Excelsis,” then says:]

Rise, hired-men, gracious  for now is he born
That shall take from the fiend, that Adam had lost.
That warlock to destroy this night is he born.
God is made your friend: now at this morn,
He behests
To Bedlem go see,
There lies that divine One
In a crib full poorly,
Betwixt two beasts.

1st Shepherd. This was a quaint voice that ever yet I heard.
It is a marvel to relate thus to be scared.

2nd Shepherd. Of God’s son of heaven, he spoke upward.
Methought he made the woods all bright as with lightning.

3rd Shepherd. He spoke of a bairn
In Bedlem I you warn.

1st Shepherd. That betokens yonder star.
Let us seek him there.

2nd Shepherd. Say, what was his song? Heard ye not how he cracked it?
Three short notes to a long one.

3rd Shepherd. Yea, marry, he shouted it out it.
Was no crochet wrong, nor no thing that lacked it.

1st Shepherd. For to sing us among, right as he hacked it,
I can.

2nd Shepherd. Let us see how ye croon
Can ye bark at the moon?

3rd Shepherd. Hold your tongues, have done.

1st Shepherd. Hark after, then.

2nd Shepherd. To Bedlem he bade that we should go.
I am afraid that we tarry too long.

3rd Shepherd. Be merry and not sad: of mirth is our song,
Everlasting glad, our reward may we receive.

1st Shepherd. Without fuss, let’s get going,
If we be wet and weary,
To that child and that lady
Let us not delay.

2nd Shepherd. We find by the prophecy–let be your din–
Of David and Isaiah, and more than I can remember,

They prophesied by clergy, that on a virgin
Should he light and lie to pardon our sin
And slake it,
Our kind from woe;
For Isaiah said so,
Ecce virgo
Concipiet a child that is naked.

3rd Shepherd. Full glad may we be, and abide that day
To see that almighty and lovely one.
Lord, well for me for once and for aye,
Might I kneel on my knee some word for to say
To that child.
But the angel said
In a crib was he laid;
He was poorly arrayed,
Both humble and mild.

1st Shepherd. Patriarchs that have been and prophets before,
They desired to have seen this child that is born.
They are gone full clean and will not behold
What we shall see, I ween, ere it be morn
By token
When I see him and feel,
Then know I full well
It is true as steel
That prophets have spoken.
To so poor as we are, that he would appear,
First find, and declare by his messenger.

2nd Shepherd. Go we now, let us fare: the place is us near.

3rd Shepherd. I am ready and eager.  Go we together.
To that light!
Lord! if thy will be,
We are unlearn’d, all three,
Thou grant us of thy glee,
To comfort thy wight.

---

[The Shepherds arrive at Bethlehem.]

1st Shepherd. Hail, comely and clean; hail, young child!
Hail, Maker, as I mean, born of a maiden so mild!
Thou hast cursed the evil one so wild,
The false beguiler now goes he beguiled.
Lo, he merry is!
Lo, he laughs, my sweeting,
A welcome meeting!
I have given my greeting
Have a bob of cherries?

2nd Shepherd. Hail, sovereign savior, for thou hast us sought!
Hail freely, leaf and flower, that all thing has wrought!
Hail full of favor, that made all of nought!
Hail! I kneel and I cower. A bird have I brought
To my bairn!
Hail, little tiny mop,
Of our creed thou are crop!
I would drink in thy cup,
Little day-star.

3rd Shepherd. Hail, darling dear, full of godhead!
I pray thee be near, when that I have need.
Hail! sweet is thy cheer: my heart would bleed
To see thee sit here in so poor weed.
With no pennies.
Hail! put forth thy hand
I bring thee but a ball
To have and play with all,
And go to the tennis.

Mary. The Father of Heaven, God omnipotent,
That set all in seven days
His son has he sent.
My name he named and alighted in me.
I conceived him full even,
Through might, as he meant;
And now is he born.
May He keep you from woe:
I shall pray him so;
Tell forth as ye go,
And remember this morn.

1st Shepherd. Farewell, lady, so fair to behold,
With thy child on thy knee.

2nd Shepherd. But he lies full cold,
Lord, well is me: now we go forth, behold!

3rd Shepherd. Forsooth, already it seems to be told
Full oft.

1st Shepherd. What grace we have found.

2nd Shepherd. Come forth, now are we won.

3rd Shepherd. To sing are we bound.
Let us sing it aloud!

[They sing.]

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org.