HOME | home
The Holly and the Ivy | Cherry Tree Carol | Sans Day Carol | Gloucestershire Wassail | Seven Joys of Mary | Christ Child's Lullaby | Carol of the Beasts | Boar's Head Carol | I Saw Three Ships | Deck The Halls | Bleak Midwinter | There Is No Rose | King Jesus Hath a Garden | Baloo Lammy | O Come, O Come Emmanuel | The Carnal and the Crane | Hark the Harald Angels Sing | Straw Against the Chill | Good King Wenceslas | The Huron Carol | Shepherds Arise | The Shepherd's Carol | I Wonder as I Wander
Boar's Head Carol
The boar's head in hand bear I,
Bedecked with bay and rosemary;
And I pray you my masters be merry,
Quot estis in convivio.
Refrain
Caput apri defero,
Reddens laudes Domino. (repeat)
The boar's head as I understand,
Is the bravest dish in all the land
When thus bedecked with a gay garland;
Let us servire cantico.
Our steward hath provided this
In honour of the King of Bliss,
Which on this day to be serv`ed is
In Reginensi Atrio.
I learned this carol in my church when we were putting on a Christmas Dinner in the Eighties. It is so much fun to sing this once you get the latin down pat!
This carol is still sung every Christmas at Queen's College, Oxford. The verse is sung solo, with all joining in with the refrain. The Latin parts are translated as follows: Quot estis in convivio - as many as are at the feast. Caput apri... - I bring in the boar's head, giving thanks to the Lord. Servire cantico - serve it with a song. In Reginensi Atrio -in Queen's
Hall.
