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1215Magna Carta
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1220A medieval death
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1225Laws of Forests
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1235Illustrated Tiger and a Knight
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1240Medieval illuminator
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1245Early English Song
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1250Medieval Bestiary
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1260Decorated initial with musicians
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1265Medieval world map
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1280French Hebrew Manuscript
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1290Expulsion of Jews
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Intro
This is the musical manuscript for one of the best-known English medieval songs, 'Sumer is icumen in' (the Middle English for 'summer is coming in'). The lyrics describe the sounds of a country landscape at the start of summer. Some of these are rather rude:
'The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!'
The piece is intended to be sung in a round, requiring four singers to sing the same melody, one after the other, each starting when the previous singer reaches the red cross on the first line. While this is happening, two lower voices repeat the words 'sing cuccu'. The effect is fresh and dance-like. Instructions on how to perform the song are given in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. The composition is from a volume of mid 13th century manuscripts, which probably originated from Reading Abbey. This is the earliest known manuscript in which both religious and non-religious words are written to the same piece of music.
Shelfmark: Harley 978 f.12v
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Transcript
Early English Song
Lyrics in Middle English followed by a translation in modern English:
Middle English
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu;
Ne swik þu nauer nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
Modern English
Summer has come in,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow
blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing,
cuckoo;
Don't you ever stop now,
Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!
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