Radio City Music Hall

"Midnight [in the little Norwegian hamlet of Tonstad] and the small children

are all eyes and ears. A commotion outside the door, into the room he comes --

Jule-nissen astride the Jule-buken -- a red clad figure with pointed cap and long

white whiskers. All the year he has lived in the manger in the stable but now he is

visible -- the naughty elf that has played so many tricks! Around the room the goat

capers, and grown-ups are not supposed to recognize him as the pet that had been

trained and, of course, that is not big brother dressed as the elf! All the small ones

are breathless. Who will be bumped by the goat? Certainly none of them for only

bad children are bumped. But he leaps out the door and all is well.

(As told by Dr. A.P. Ousdal to Ruth Stanisfer for the

Community Christmas Committee, Santa Barbara, California)

-- from 1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies by Alfred Carl Hottes

'Qui creavit coelum, Lullu, lully, lu,

Nascitur in stabulo, By, by, by, by, by,

Rex qui regit seculum, Lullu, lully, lu.

Joseph emit paniculum, Lullu, lully, lu,

Mater involvit puerum, By, by, by, by, by,

Et ponit in praesepio, Lullu, lully, lu.

Inter animalia, Lully, lully, lu,

Jacent mundi gaudia, By, by, by, by, by,

Dulcis super omnia, Lullu, lully, lu.

Lactat mater domini, Lullu, lully, lu,

Osculatur parvulum, By, by, by, by, by,

Et adorat dominum, Lullu, lully, lu.

Roga mater filium, Lullu, lully, lu,

Ut det bovis gaudium, By, by, by, by, by,

In perenni gloria, Lullu, lully, lu.

In sempeterna saecula, Lullu, lully, lu,

In eternum et ultra, By, by, by, by, by,

Det nobis sua gaudia, Lully, lully, lu.'

Song of the Nuns of Chester, c. 1425

("This lullaby, in which the nuns of St. Mary's

gave vent to their womanly instincts, would only

lose by translation," the editors note.)

The Oxford Book of Carols, 1928

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