Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child (‘Coventry Carol’)

Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child (‘Coventry Carol’). The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, 1534, 1591.  This carol is from the mystery play entitled The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors [Taylors], is known as the ‘Coventry Carol’ because it was first performed in Coventry, England. It was the property of the two guilds, the Shearmen and the Tailors, and is known as a ‘mystery play’ because each craft jealously preserved the secrets, or mysteries, of its trade. The original incipit is ‘Lully, lulla, thow littell tyne child’. The carol depicts the Massacre of the Innocents found in the Gospel of Matthew (2:16–18), a fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah (31:15). The account in...