Coventry Carol

About - Coventry Carol

The Coventry Carol is a haunting English Christmas carol that dates back to the 16th century, originating as part of the medieval mystery plays performed in Coventry, England. Unlike many joyful holiday songs, it focuses on a somber biblical event: the Massacre of the Innocents, as described in the Gospel of Matthew, where King Herod orders the slaughter of all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to eliminate the prophesied newborn Jesus. This makes it one of the darkest and most poignant entries in the Christmas carol repertoire, often evoking themes of maternal grief, loss, and lament.

The carol's roots trace to the Coventry Mystery Plays, a cycle of religious dramas performed annually by local guilds during the Corpus Christi festival (typically in midsummer) as early as the late 14th century, with the earliest references to the pageants dating to 1392.

Song Lyrics and Words

The lyrics are structured as a lullaby sung by three mothers (portrayed by male actors in the original plays) to their condemned children, blending tender cradling words with despair over Herod's decree.

Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing,
"Bye bye, 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 mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
"Bye bye, lully, lullay."