Christmas is now is drawing near at hand,


Come serve the Lord, and be at his command;


And God a portion God will for you provide,


And bring a blessing to your soul beside.

Down in the garden, where flowers grow in ranks,


Down on your bended knees, and give the Lord thanks;


Down on your knees, and pray both night and day,


Leave off your sins, and live upright, I pray.

So proud and lofty is some sort of sin,


That many take delight and pleasure in,


Whose conversation God doth much dislike,


But yet he shakes his sword before he strikes.

So proud and lofty do some people go,


Dressing theirselves like players in a show,


They patch and paint, and dress with idle stuff,


As if God had not made them fine enough.

Even little children learn to curse and swear,


And can't rehearse one word of godly prayer:


O teach them better, teach them to rely,

On Christ the sinner’s friend who reigns on high.

Christmas is now is drawing near at hand,


Come serve the Lord, and be at his command;


And God a portion God will for you provide,


And bring a blessing to your soul beside.

Notes

I learned this from Lal Waterson who recorded it on the Watersons debut album ‘Frost and Fire’ (1965). It appeared in print as early as 1770 in a broadsheet entitled “Three new Christmas Carols.”. The original manuscript is in the Bodleian library.