title: Wexford Carol
text: # Wexford Carol
  
  La Wexford Carol, chiamata in irlandese Carúl Loch Garman e conosciuta anche come The Enniscorthy Carol (dalla cittadina di Enniscorthy, dove avrebbe avuto origine) o come Good people all this Christmas time (dalle parole del primo verso), è una tradizionale carola natalizia irlandese, popolare nella contea del Wexford (Irlanda sud-orientale) e le cui origini risalgono probabilmente al XII secolo.
  
  ## Ipotesi sulle origini
  
  Il canto, il cui autore è rimasto anonimo, dovrebbe aver avuto origine nell'area attorno alla cittadina di Enniscorthy. Tuttavia, alcuni musicologi sostengono che il canto sarebbe di origine inglese e che, in particolare, sarebbe da ricondurre alla ballata All You That Are to Mirth Inclin'd .
  
  ## Testo
  
  Il testo, che si compone di 5 strofe, di 8 versi ciascuna, si apre con un invito ai fedeli a riflettere su ciò che Gesù ha fatto per l'umanità e cita, quindi, gli eventi relativi alla Natività:
  
      Good people all, this Christmas time,
      Consider well and bear in mind
      What our good God for us has done
      In sending his beloved son
      With Mary holy we should pray,
      To God with love this Christmas Day
      In Bethlehem upon that morn,
      There was a blessed Messiah born
      The night before that happy tide
      The noble Virgin and her guide
      Were long time seeking up and down
      To find a lodging in the town
      But mark right well what came to pass
      From every door repelled, alas
      As was foretold, their refuge all
      Was but a humble ox's stall
      Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
      Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
      To whom God's angel did appear
      Which put the shepherds in great fear
      Arise and go, the angels said
      To Bethlehem, be not afraid
      For there you'll find, this happy morn
      A princely babe, sweet Jesus, born
      With thankful heart and joyful mind
      The shepherds went the babe to find
      And as God's angel had foretold
      They did our Saviour Christ behold
      Within a manger he was laid
      And by his side a virgin maid
      Attending on the Lord of Life
      Who came on earth to end all strife
      There were three wise men from afar
      Directed by a glorious star
      And on they wandered night and day
      Until they came where Jesus lay
      And when they came unto that place
      Where our beloved Messiah lay
      They humbly cast them at his feet
      With gifts of gold and incense sweet.
  
  ## Versioni discografiche
  
  Il brano è stato inciso, tra gli altri, da: Julie Andrews (1966), Anúna (2002), Moya Brennan, Cambridge Clare College Choir, Celtic Woman (nell'album Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration del 2006), The Chieftains, Michael McDonald, Loreena McKennitt (nell'album To Drive the Cold Winter Away del 1987), ecc.
  
  