The Condensed Vocal Parts to the Carols for Christmas-tide set to Ancient Melodies by the Rev. T. Helmore ... The words, principally in imitation of the original, by the Rev. J. M. Neale |
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| XII. | XII. “Toll! Toll! because there ends.”
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 | The Condensed Vocal Parts to the Carols for Christmas-tide |  |
XII. “Toll! Toll! because there ends.”
It is a custom at Dewsbury in Yorkshire, to toll the passing bell on Christmas Eve at midnight, for one hour. This is called The Devil's Knell; and is intended to signify that when “Christ was born, the Devil died:” a striking though exaggerated way of representing the truth that the Birth of our Lord gave the death-blow to the Empire of Satan.
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Toll! toll! Because there ends tonight,An Empire old and vast:
An Empire of unquestion'd right
O'er present and o'er past.
Toll! Stretching wide from East to West,
Ruling over ev'ry breast,
Each nation, tongue, and caste.
2
Toll! toll! Because a Monarch dies,Whose tyrant statutes ran
From polar snows to tropic skies,
From Greenland to Japan:
Toll! Crowded cities, lonely glens,
Oceans, mountains, shores, and fens,
All own'd him Lord of man.
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Toll! Toll! Because that Monarch foughtRight fiercely for his own;
And utmost craft and valour brought,
Before he was o'erthrown:
Toll! He the Lord, and man the slave:
His the Kingdom of the grave,
And all its dim unknown.
4
Joy! Joy! Because a Babe is born,Who, after many a toil,
The scorner's pride shall laugh to scorn,
And work the Foiler's foil:
Joy! God, as Man, the earth hath trod:
Therefore man shall be as God,
And reap the Spoiler's spoil!
N.B.—In the note prefixed to [this] Carol, the Editors have been enabled to correct an error as to the time mentioned in former editions for the tolling at Dewsbury, by the kindness of the Rev. James Webb, M. A., Curate of Dewsbury; who writes, “No sooner has the church clock struck twelve (midnight) than the Sexton begins to toll the bell. He tolls for one hour, and then begins to ring the number of years since the Christian era.” —December 2nd, 1865.
| The Condensed Vocal Parts to the Carols for Christmas-tide | |