tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post8345584459072770752..comments2024-03-27T02:55:10.109-07:00Comments on Irish Papist: Why I Believe in Merrie EnglandMaolsheachlannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-19694173626888268492017-01-19T12:47:20.454-08:002017-01-19T12:47:20.454-08:00Wholeheartedly seconded by this Merrie-Englander, ...Wholeheartedly seconded by this Merrie-Englander, whose ancestors were probably there enjoying it. Where's my good ale got to then?<br /><br />There's a wonderful fourteenth-century manuscript (Sloane 2593, held at the British Library) on which a nameless scribe has meticulously copied thoroughly earthy lyrics next to the most astonishing devotional carols (catechetical songs in which the singer seems to end up quietly astonished by his own catechesis, like a child, as you say). The sacred and the secular were woven of the same fabric.<br /><br />(John Rutter has written an enjoyably lively setting of the 'Good ale' song, audible here if you have a Spotify account: https://play.spotify.com/track/7KMmKEcREPecqRNEAJtR4N)Dominic Nhttp://some-definite-service.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com