The Corpus Christi Carol or Falcon Carol[1] is a Middle or Early Modern English hymn (or carol), first written down by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill between 1504 and 1536.[2] The original writer of the carol remains anonymous. The earliest surviving record of the piece preserves only the lyrics and is untitled. It has survived in altered form in the folk tradition as the Christmas carol "Down In Yon Forest". The structure of the carol is six stanzas, each with rhyming couplets. The tense changes in the fourth stanza from past to present continuous.
While a number of different interpretations have been offered over time, Eamon Duffy writes that "there can be no question whatever" that the carol's "strange cluster of images" are derived "directly from the cult of the Easter sepulchre, with its Crucifix, Host, and embroidered hangings, and the watchers kneeling around it day and night."[3]
One theory about the meaning of the carol is that it is concerned with the legend of the Holy Grail. In Arthurian traditions of the Grail story, the Fisher King is the knight who is the Grail's protector, and whose legs are perpetually wounded.[4] When he is wounded his kingdom suffers and becomes a wasteland. This would explain the reference to "an orchard brown".
The text may be an allegory in which the crucified is described as a wounded knight. The bleeding knight could be Christ who bleeds for the sins of humanity endlessly. Christ is most probably represented as a knight as he is battling sin and evil by his continual pain. The "orchard brown" to which the knight was conveyed becomes, in this reading, the "orchard" of wooden crosses that covered the hill of Golgotha/Calvary where Christ - along with many others - was crucified, while the "hall... hanged with purpill and pall" could be a representation of the tomb in which Christ was placed after Crucifixion. This allegorical interpretation would tie in with the seven stanzas possibly representing the Seven Deadly Sins. The maiden who is by the knight's side could be Mary. There is religious symbolism throughout the carol. The falcon may have several possible meanings. It may be that, as a bird of prey, it represents those who killed Christ and sent him to heaven. It may also represent a new beginning and freedom, which Christ gained on his death. The colours in the carol are also significant. The purple and gold are signs of wealth, although these were also colours that referred to the Church due to its wealth. The pall (black velvet) probably refers to death.
Richard Greene theorized in 1960 that the song refers "to the displacement of Queen Catherine of Aragon by Anne Boleyn in the affections of King Henry VIII", because the falcon was Anne's heraldic badge.[5]
Benjamin Britten used the text in the fifth variation of A Boy was Born (Choral Variations For Mixed Voices), Opus 3, in 1933. The text was combined with Christina Rossetti's "In the Bleak Midwinter". The solo version of the Christi Carol was arranged for and dedicated to John Hahessy (John Elwes). He recorded the song in 1961 with Benjamin Britten himself at the piano. The song was included in a record with a group of other Britten songs taken from a set of children's songs entitled "Friday Afternoons", also the title of the disc, which were composed for his brother who was a school teacher.
Recordings of the Britten setting (or adaptations of it) include:
In 2007 it was sung in Season 1, Episode 2 of the drama on Showtime, The Tudors.
| Original Middle English lyrics | Modern English gloss | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley! Þe fawcon hath born my mak away. In þat orchard þer was an hall,Þat was hangid with purpill & pall; Lully, lulley, lully, lulley | Þe fawcon hath born my mak away. And in þat hall þer was a bede,Hit was hangid with gold so rede; Lully, lulley, lully, lulley! Þe fawcon hath born my mak away. And yn þat bed þer lythe a knyght,His wowndis bledyng day & nyght; Lully, lulley, lully, lulley | Þe fawcon hath born my mak away. By þat bedis side þer kneleth a may,& she wepeth both nyght & day; Lully, lulley, lully, lulley! Þe fawcon hath born my mak away. & by þat beddis side þer stondith a ston,“Corpus Christi” wretyn þer-on. Lully, lulley, lully, lulley | Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.[14] | Lully, lullay, lully, lullay! The falcon has borne my mate away. In that orchard there was a hallThat was hanged with purple and pall; Lully, lullay, lully, lullay | The falcon has borne my mate away. And in that hall there was a bed:It was hanged with gold so red; Lully, lullay, lully, lullay! The falcon has borne my mate away. And in that bed there lies a knight,His wounds bleeding day and night; Lully, lullay, lully, lullay | The falcon has borne my mate away. By that bed's side there kneels a maid,And she weeps both night and day; Lully, lullay, lully, lullay! The falcon has borne my mate away. And by that bed’s side there stands a stone,"The Body of Christ" written thereon. Lully, lullay, lully, lullay | The falcon has borne my mate away. |