Ballardry - Tumblr Posts

was going through my book of ballads and found this lovely short one from the mid 15th century called "The Corpus Christi Carol"

Lully, lulley, lully, lulley, The falcon hath borne my mate away He bore him up, he bore him down, He bore him into an orchard brown. In that orchard there was a hall, That was hanged with purple and pall And in that hall there was a bed: It was hanged with gold so red And in that bed there lieth a knight, His wounds bleeding both day and night And by that bed's side there kneeleth a maid, And she weepeth both night and day And by the bed's side there standeth a stone, "Corpus Christi" written thereon.

I came up with a very simple melody for the words but my dog was making noise so I only recorded the first few verses.

With the omitting of the last verse this could easily be adapted into a romantic ballad like The Three Ravens or Twa Corbies, but the veiled symbolism in the song refers to Christ and His passion.

The falcon represents the Holy Spirit - the hall that is referenced is a church - "hanged with purple and pall" describes funerary altar cloths - "gold so red" for royalty - "His wounds bleeding day and night" are His perpetual sacrifice - "there kneeleth a maid/weeping both night and day" is Mary, both maiden and mother - and of course "Corpus Christi" meaning literally "body of Christ".