7th December, 2022
There is no rose of such virtue
Trad.
This music evidently came from a manuscript roll of carols, copied out in the early 15th century and now in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. In that edition, the first verse both precedes and follows the verses, with a different musical line. The tenor line carries the melody.
The record at the Digital Index of Middle English Verse (DIMEV) notes that another copy was found in the Holkam Hall Manuscript.
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
Alleluia.
For in this rose contained was
Heaven and earth in little space;
Res miranda.
By that rose we may well see
That he is God in persons three,
Pari forma.
The angels sungen the shepherds to:
Gloria in excelsis deo:
Gaudeamus.
Leave we all this worldly mirth,
And follow we this joyful birth;
Transeamus.
Alleluia, res miranda,
Pares forma, gaudeamus,
Transeamus.
Recorded on David Concert Harp