Coventry Carol

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor Youngling for Whom we sing
By, by, lully, lullay?

Herod the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever morn and day
For Thy parting neither say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Author: Unknown

Year: 1500

This is a traditional 16th-century English carol from the Coventry Mystery Plays (Shearmen and Tailors' Pageant). The author of the lyrics is unknown; it is an anonymous work first recorded around 1500-1530.