The Cyber Hymnal 9180. The Bore’s Heed in hande bryng I

The Cyber Hymnal‎#9180

Text:	The Boar's Head Carol (Carroll of Bryngying in the Bore's Head)
Tune:	[The Bore’s Heed in hande bryng I]
Media:	MIDI file

Chorus:
Caput apri defero,
Reddens laudes Domino!

1 The Bore’s Heed in hande bryng I
With garlans gay and rosmary.
And I pray you all sing merely.
Qui estis in convivio! [Chorus]

2 The Bore’s Heed, as I understande
Is the chefe servyce in this lande;
Loke, wherever it be fande
Servite cum cantico! [Chorus]

3 Our stewarde hath provided this,
In honour of the King of Bliss;
Which on this day to be servèd is,
In Regimensi Atrio! [Chorus]

Text Information
First Line:	The Bore’s Heed in hande bryng I
Title:	The Boar's Head Carol (Carroll of Bryngying in the Bore's Head)
Refrain First Line:	Caput apri defero
Language:	English; Latin
Source:	Christmasse Carolles (London: Wynkeyn de Worde, 1521)
Copyright:	Public Domain
Notes:	This is a macaronic 15th Century English Christmas carol describing the ancient tradition of sacrificing a boar and presenting its head at a Yuletide feast. The Boar’s Head Feast continues at Queen’s College at Oxford University. William Henry Husk (1814–1887), Librarian to the Sacred Harmonic Society, writes about the tradition in his 1868 "Songs of the Nativity Being Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern:" Queen’s College celebrates the tradition by three chefs bringing a boar’s head into the hall, with a procession of a solo singer who sings the first verse, accompanied by torch bearers and followed by a choir. The procession stops during verses and walks during the chorus. The head is placed on the high table, and the Provost distributes the herbs to the choir and the orange from the boar’s mouth to the solo singer.

Tune Information
Name:	[The Bore’s Heed in hande bryng I]
Key:	C Major
Source:	Old Oxford Carol
Copyright:	Public Domain