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CHAPTER XIII
CHANTS OF THE CREED
THE game of Twelve Days, especially in one French version, shows that instruction was conveyed by the cumulative mode of recitation. There are many pieces enlarging on matters of belief – Hebrew, Christian, Druidical, and heathen – which in the same way associate numbers with objects. The comparison of these pieces suggests that they are all derived from one original source. They may fitly be termed Chants of the Creed.
One of these cumulative chants is included in the Hebrew service for the night of the Passover, which is called Echod mi jodea, "He who knows."55 It is recited to a monotonous tune after the return of the family from celebration, either by the master of the house or by the assembled company. The dialogue form, I am told, is no longer observed. The piece begins: —
Who knoweth One? – I, saith Israel, know One.
One is God, who is over heaven and earth.
Who knoweth Two? – I, saith Israel, know Two.
Two tables of the covenant; but One is our God who is over the heavens and the earth…
And so forth to the last verse, which is as follows: —
Who knoweth thirteen? – I, saith Israel, know thirteen: Thirteen divine attributes – twelve tribes – eleven stars – ten commandments – nine months preceding childbirth – eight days preceding circumcision – seven days of the week – six books of the Mishnah – five books of the Law – four matrons – three patriarchs – two tables of the covenant – but One is our God, who is over the heavens and the earth.
The same chant adapted to matters of Christian belief, but carried only from one to twelve, is current also in Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Danish. Among ourselves it is set as a song. But the objects which are associated with the numbers are not uniformly the same, and this renders it probable that the chants were composed independently of one another. This view is supported by the fact that some of the items that are named in the Christian chants are not Christian, and are, in fact, identical with the items named in the entirely heathen chants.
The Latin version of the Chant of the Creed has been traced back to the second half of the sixteenth century. Its words were set to music in a motet for thirteen voices by Theodor Clinius (d. 1602), a Venetian by birth (E., p. 408). Another Latin version of the chant goes back to 1650. The chant begins: —
Dic mihi quid unus?
– Unus est Jesus Christus [or Deus] qui regnat in aeternum [or coelis]. (A., I, 420.)
"Tell me, what is One? One is Jesus Christ [or God] who reigns in eternity [or in heaven]."
The answers further explain two as the testaments, three as the patriarchs, four as the evangelists, five as the books of Moses, six as the water-jugs of Cana in Galilee, seven as the gifts of the spirit (or the candelabra lit before God), eight as the beatitudes, nine as the orders (or choirs of the angels), ten as the commandments, eleven as the disciples (or stars seen by Joseph), twelve as the articles of the faith (or the apostles).
The Chant of the Creed as recited in Spain (A., II, 142) is set in the same form, and explains the numbers in much the same manner, except that six are the days of the Creation, and eleven are eleven thousand virgins. Another version (A., II, 104) associates the Virgin with one, the three Maries with three, while nine, like the Hebrew chant, indicates the months of expectancy of the Virgin. In a Portuguese version also, nine are the months of Christ's becoming, and eleven are eleven thousand virgins (A., II, 102).
Throughout Italy and in Sicily the Chant of the Creed is known as Le dodici parole della Verità, "the twelve words of truth." They are generally put into the lips of the popular saint, Nicolas of Bari, who is said to have defeated the evil intentions of Satan by teaching them. These Italian chants for the most part agree with the Latin chant already cited, except that two in the Abruzzi is associated with the sun and the moon; five is explained as the wounds of Jesus or of St. Francis, and eleven stands for the articles of the Catholic faith (A., I, 419; II, 97).
In Denmark the Chant of the Creed is put into the lips of St. Simeon, and begins: —
Stat op, Sante Simeon, og sig mig, hvad een er?
"Stand forth, St. Simeon, and tell me, what is one."
The explanations in this case are strictly Christian, Jesus Christ standing for One. The souls saved by God from the ark (sjaele frelste Gud udi Arken) stand for eight (Gt., II, 68).
In Languedoc also the chant is current in a Christian adaptation which agrees with the Latin, except that the Trinity stands for three; the wounds of Jesus, as in the Italian chant, stand for five; the lights in the temple stand for six; and the joys of our Lady stand for seven (M. L., p. 478).
From Europe the Chant of the Creed has been carried to Canada, where a version is sung in French to a monotonous tune in four beats at a formal kind of dance, called a ronde religieuse– a religious round. To this dance six couples stand up; each dancer represents a number. To the sound of their singing they move in a chain, each person turning first to the right, then to the left. When number six is reached in singing, and every time that six recurs in the chant, the dancing stops, and to the words "six urnes de vin remplies," the dancers who represent even numbers turn first to the right, then to the left, and make a deep bow, while those that represent uneven numbers perform the same ceremony the other way about (G., p. 298). Then the dancing is resumed. This figure, judging from the description, exactly corresponds to the Grand Chain in Lancers, except that six couples dance instead of four or eight.
In the Canadian chant the explanations of the numbers are all Christian, except that for eleven they say eleven thousand virgins, which agrees with the virgins of the Spanish and Portuguese chants. These eleven thousand virgins are mentioned also in a version of the chant current in Zürich, which, unlike the others, carries the numbers to fifteen. It enumerates Christian matters similar to those already named as far as nine choirs of angels, and further associates ten with thousands of knights, eleven with thousands of virgins, the apostles with twelve, the disciples with thirteen, the helpers in need (Nothelfer) with fourteen, the mysteries with fifteen. This chant is set in the old way of question and answer, and the answers are recited in cumulative form (R., p. 268).
The Chant of the Creed in a late development is preserved in the form of a religious poem among ourselves which is called A New Dyall. Two versions of it are preserved in the MS. Harleian 5937, which dates from about the year 1625. They have been printed by F. S. A. Sandys among his Christmas Carols. The refrain of the one recalls the celebration of Twelve Days: —
In those twelve days, in those twelve days, let us be glad,
For God of His power hath all things made.
In both pieces the dialogue form is dropped, and there is no attempt at cumulation.
One God, one baptism, and one faith,
One truth there is the Scripture saith;
Two Testaments, the old and new,
We do acknowledge to be true;
Three persons are in Trinity,
Which make one God in Unity;
Four sweet evangelists there are
Christ's birth, life, death, which do declare;
Five senses like five kings, maintain
In every man a several reign;
Six days to labour is not wrong,
For God Himself did work so long;
Seven liberal arts has God sent down
With divine skill man's soul to crown;
Eight in Noah's ark alive were found,
When (in a word) the World lay drowned.
Nine Muses (like the heaven's nine spheres)
With sacred tunes entice our ears;
Ten statutes God to Moses gave
Which, kept or broke, do spoil or save;
Eleven with Christ in heaven do dwell,
The twelfth for ever burns in hell;
Twelve are attending on God's Son;
Twelve make our Creed, "the dyall's done."56
The objects named in this poem agree in most cases with those of the Latin chant, but six, there associated with the water-jugs in Cana of Galilee, is here associated with the days of the Creation, which correspond with the six days of the Creation of the Spanish Chant of the Creed, and with the six working days of the week of a heathen dialogue story to which we shall return later. The number eight is here associated with the persons saved in the ark of Noah, as in the Chant of the Creed which is current in Denmark.
CHAPTER XIV
HEATHEN CHANTS OF THE CREED
WE now turn to those versions of the Chant of the Creed which are heathen in character. Again we have versions before us in the vernacular of Brittany, Spain, Scotland, and several set in the form of songs that are current in different parts of England.
The most meaningful and elaborate versions of the chant come from Brittany. One is called Les vêpres des grenouilles. It is set in the form of instruction, and begins: —
Can caer, Killoré. Iolic, petra faot dide?
Caera traïc a gement orizoud ti.
(L., I, p. 95.)
"Chant well, Killore. Iolic, what shall I sing? – The most beautiful thing thou knowest."
And it enumerates, "One silver ring to Mary, two silver rings, three queens in a palace, four acolytes, five black cows, six brothers and six sisters, seven days and seven moons, eight beaters of the air, nine armed sons, ten ships on the shore, eleven sows, twelve small swords." This combination of objects with numbers from one to twelve agrees most closely with the enumeration of the game of Twelve Days.
The longer version of the Breton chant was interpreted by its editor as a chant of instruction, and he claimed for it a Druidical origin. It begins: —
Beautiful child of the Druid, answer me right well.
– What would'st thou that I should sing? —
Sing to me the series of number one, that I may learn it this very day.
– There is no series for one, for One is Necessity alone, the father of death, there is nothing before and nothing after.
And we read of two as oxen yoked to a cart; of three as the beginning, the middle, and the end of the world for man and for the oak; also of the three kingdoms of Merlin; of four as the stones of Merlin for sharpening the swords of the brave; of five as the terrestrial zones, the divisions of time, the rocks on one sister (sic); of six as babes of wax quickened into life through the power of the moon; of seven as the suns, the moons, and the planets, including La Poule (i.e. the constellation) of Charles's Wain; of eight as the winds that blow, eight fires with the great fire lighted in the month of May on the War Mountain; of nine as little white hands near the tower of Lezarmeur, and as maidens who groan; of nine also as maidens who dance with flowers in their hair and in white robes around the well by the light of the moon; 'the wild sow and her young at the entrance to their lair, are snorting and snarling, snarling and snorting; little one, little one, hurry to the apple-tree, the wild boar will instruct you'; of ten as the enemy's boats on the way from Nantes, 'woe to you, woe to you, men of Vannes'; of eleven as priests 'coming from Vannes with broken swords and blood-stained garments, and crutches of hazel-wood, of three hundred only these eleven ones are left'; of twelve as months and signs, 'Sagittarius, the one before the last, lets fly his pointed arrow. The twelve signs are at war. The black cow with a white star on her forehead rushes from the forest (des despouillés) pierced by a pointed arrow, her blood flows, she bellows with raised head. The trumpet sounds, fire and thunder, rain and wind. No more, no more, there is no further series.' (H. V., p. 1.)
The contents of this chant in several particulars agree with the shorter one. Seven stands for days, eight for winds, and ten for boats.
A similar chant comes from Spain, which gives the answers with a curious variation. For in this case most of the numbers are explained as one less of one kind and one more of another. Thus one stands for the Wheel of Fortune; two for one clock and bell; three for the handle of a mortar (? la mano del almiles); four for three basins and one dish; five for three jars of red wine and two of white (or for the wounds of St. Francis); six for the loves you hold (amores que teneis); seven for six cassocks and a cape; eight for seven butchers and one sheep; nine for eight hounds and one hare; ten for the toes; eleven for ten horsemen and one leader (breva,? acorn); twelve are probably pigs.
Exactly as in the other chants the numbers are set in question and answer, the answer being in cumulative form: —
Quién me dirá que no es una? —
La rued de la fortuna.
(Ma., p. 68.)
"Who will tell me what is one? – One is the Wheel of Fortune," and so forth.
In this Spanish version there is the alternative of associating five with the jars of wine of Cana or with the wounds of St. Francis, both of which are Christian conceptions that occur in the Christian chants – the wounds of St. Francis in the Italian chant, and the jugs of wine, six in number, in the chant as it is sung and danced in Canada. Christian conceptions are also introduced into some of the numerous versions of the heathen Chants of the Creed that are current among ourselves, but they are relatively few, and by their nature suggest a change from heathen to Christian matters of belief.
The oldest version of this chant was printed by Chambers from an unpublished collection of songs by P. Buchan. It is in dialogue form, and, as in the case of the Druidical chants, its words indicate a teacher who is instructing his pupils: —
1. We will a' gae sing, boys,
Where will we begin, boys?
We'll begin the way we should,
And we'll begin at ane, boys.
O, what will be our ane, boys?
O, what will be our ane, boys?
– My only ane she walks alane,
And evermair has dune, boys.
2. Now we will a' gae sing, boys;
Where will we begin, boys?
We'll begin where we left aff,
And we'll begin at twa, boys.
What will be our twa, boys?
– 'Twa's the lily and the rose
That shine baith red and green, boys.
My only ane she walks alane,
And evermair has dune, boys.
3. Now we will a' gae sing, boys, … etc.
What will be our three, boys?
Three, three thrivers … etc.
(1870, p. 44.)
Four's the gospel-makers, five's the hymnlers o' my bower, six the echoing waters, seven's the stars in heaven, eight's the table rangers, nine's the muses of Parnassus, ten's the commandments, eleven's maidens in a dance, twelve's the twelve apostles.
Further variations of this chant have been recovered in Dorsetshire, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Norfolk, and elsewhere. Many of them at the close of each line insert the interjection O in the place of the word boys. This drew the suggestion from Dr. Jessopp that the song was connected with the so-called Seven great Os, a song sung at vespers during Advent before the Magnificat from 16 December to Christmas Eve. It took its name from the first line in the song, which begins O Sapientia.
The Dorsetshire version is still sung at Eton, and is known as "Green grow the rushes oh," the words that form the chorus: —
Solo: I'll sing you one oh!
Chorus: Green grow the rushes oh!
What is your one oh?
Solo: One is one and all alone
And ever more shall be so. 57
The same order is observed for the next verse, the soloist explaining two, the chorus adding one, and so forth. In this version we have two lily-white boys, three rivals, four gospel makers, five symbols at your door, six proud walkers, seven stars in the sky, eight bold rainers, nine bright shiners, ten commandments, eleven for the eleven that went up to heaven, twelve for the twelve apostles.
A Chant of the Creed is sung in Cornwall by the sailors, and begins: —
Come and I will sing you!
– What will you sing me?
I will sing you one, oh!
– What is your one, oh!
Your one is all alone,
And ever must remain so.
The explanations which follow are very corrupt. Two are lily-white maids clothed all in green, oh!; three are bright shiners; four are gospel-makers; five are the ferrymen in a boat and one of them a stranger; six is the cheerful waiter; seven are the stars in the sky; eight are the archangels; nine are the bold rainers; ten are the commandments; eleven went up to heaven; twelve are the apostles.58
In Derbyshire the chant is associated with the harvest festival, and takes the form of a drinking song. It begins with three, but the explanations of one and two are preserved in the last verse, in which the song is carried back to its real beginning: —
Plenty of ale to-night, my boys, and then I will sing you.
What will you sing? – I'll sing you three oh.
What is the three O?..
The last verse enumerates: – Twelve apostles; eleven archangels; ten commandments; nine bright shiners; eight, the Gabriel riders; seven golden stars in heaven; six came on the board; five by water; four Gospel rhymers; three threble thribers; two lily-white maids and one was dressed in green O.59
This version of the chant was sung or recited at harvest-time in Norfolk also, and began: —
A: I'll sing the one O.
B: What means the one O?
A: When the one is left alone, No more can be seen O!
C: I'll sing the two Os.
D: What means the two Os?
Two's the lily-white boys – three's the rare O – four's the gospel makers – five's the thimble in the bowl – six is the provokers – seven's the seven stars in the sky – eight is the bright walkers – nine's the gable rangers – ten's the ten commandments – 'leven's the 'leven evangelists – twelve's the twelve apostles.60
The version current in Herefordshire is preserved as far as number eight only: —
Eight was the crooked straight,
Seven was the bride of heaven,
Six was the crucifix,
Five was the man alive,
Four was the lady's bower [or lady bird, or lady, or lady's birth?],
Three was the Trinity,
Two was the Jewry,
One was God to the righteous man
To save our souls to rest. Amen.61
Some of our nursery rhymes which are nonsensical represent these lines in a further degradation: —
One, two, three, four, five,
I caught a hare alive;
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
I let her go again.
(c. 1783, p. 48.)
And the following, in which "sticks" takes the place of crucifix, while "straight" recalls crooked straight: —
One, two, buckle my shoe,
Three, four, shut the door,
Five six, pick up sticks,
Seven, eight, lay them straight.
(1810, p. 30.)
The rhyme is sometimes continued as far as twenty: —
Nine, ten, a good fat hen,
Eleven, twelve, who shall delve? etc.
The tabulation of the explanations of numbers of these various songs will give an idea of the degradation to which words are liable, when they have lost their meaning. It shows also that some information can be recovered from comparing what is apparently nonsensical.
One.– Scotland: One all alone.
Dorset: One is one and all alone.
Cornwall: Is all alone and ever must remain so.
Derbyshire: One was dressed in green O.
Norfolk: One left alone no more can be seen O.
Hereford: One was God to the righteous man.
Two.– Sc.: Lilly and rose.
Dt.: Lilly white boys.
C.: Lilly white maids clothed in green.
Db.: Lilly white maids.
N.: Lily white boys.
H.: Jewry.
Three.– Sc.: Thrivers.
Dt.: Rivals.
C.: Bright shiners.
Db.: Threble thribers.
N.: Rare O.
H.: Trinity.
Four.– Sc.: Gospelmakers.
Dt. "
C. "
Db.: Gospelrhymers.
N.: Gospelmakers.
H.: Lady's bower.
Five.– Sc.: Hymnlers of my bower.
Dt.: Symbols at your door.
C.: Ferrymen in a boat and one a stranger.
Db.: By water.
N.: Thimble in a bowl.
H.: Man alive.
Six.– Sc.: Echoing waters.
Dt.: Proud walkers.
C.: Cheerful waiter.
Db.: Came on board.
N.: Provokers.
H.: Crucifix.
Seven.– Sc.: Stars in heaven.
Dt.: Stars in the sky.
C. " "
Db.: Golden stars.
N.: Stars in the sky.
H.: Bride of heaven.
Eight.– Sc.: Table rangers.
Dt.: Bold rainers.
C.: Archangels.
Db.: Gabriel riders.
N.: Bright walkers.
H.: Crooked straight.
Nine.– Sc.: Muses.
Dt.: Bright shiners.
C.: Bold rainers.
Db.: Bright shiners.
N.: Gable rangers.
Ten.– Sc.: Commandments.
Dt. "
C. "
Db. "
N. "
Eleven.– Sc.: Maidens in a dance.
Dt.: Went up to heaven.
C. ""
Db.: Archangels.
N.: Evangelists.
Twelve.– Sc.: Apostles.
Dt. "
C. "
Db. "
N. "
From this table we see that the thrivers of Scotland are threble thribers in Derbyshire. These, according to the explanation of Addy, are the three Norns or white ladies,62 and this view is supported by the three queens of the one Breton chant, which probably suggested The Three Maries of the one Spanish version.
Again, the table rangers of the Scottish song are Gabriel riders, otherwise known as Gabriel hounds or gabbe ratches in Derbyshire. Gabriel hounds is a word applied to the winds. The winds are also associated with eight in the one Breton chant. In Cornwall bright shiners are associated with three, but in Dorsetshire and Derbyshire bright shiners are associated with nine, and nine is the number of maidens in one Breton chant also. We are reminded of the priestesses who were devoted to religious rites on some island of the Atlantic, perhaps Ushant, off Brittany, when Pytheas, in the fourth century before Christ, visited these shores. Nine of them attended a famous oracle, and professed to control the weather.
The interest of these chants is increased when we compare them with what folk-lore preserves on the subject. The followers of Mohammed tell a tale which describes how a rich man promised a poor man his ox if he could explain to him the numbers, and the following dialogue ensued: —
What is one and not two? – God is one.
What is two and not three? – Day and night [or the sun and the moon].
And further: three for divorces from one's wife; four for the Divine books (i.e. the Old and New Testament, the Psalter and the Koran); five for the states of Islam; six for the realms in Nizam; seven for the heavens that surround the throne of God (A., II, 230).
The same story in a more primitive form is told in Ditmarschen, a district bordering on Holstein, in which also the numbers are carried to seven only. But in this case a peasant's property stood forfeited to the "little man in grey," unless he found an explanation to the numbers. He despaired of doing so, when Christ intervened and instructed him as follows: —
One stands for wheelbarrow; two stands for a cart; three for a trivet; four for a waggon; five stands for the fingers of the hand; six for the working days of the week; seven for the stars of the Great Bear. And the peasant remained in the possession of his goods (R., p. 137).
More primitive still is the story as told in Little Russia. In this case a man bartered away his soul for six pigs. After three years the devil came to fetch him. But the devil was met by an old, old man who successfully cheated him of his due. The dialogue between them was: "Who is in the house? – One and not one (that is two). And how about two? – It is well to thrash two at a time. It is well to travel three at a time. He who has four has a waggon. He who has five sons has company. Six pigs the devil had, but he left them with a poor man, and now he has lost them for ever" (A., II, 227).
The comparison of these stories with the Chants of the Creed shows that the dialogue stories are older in contents, and probably in form also, than the cumulative pieces. In both, superhuman power is conveyed by associating numbers with objects. This power in the dialogue pieces is attributed to the "little man in grey" of the German piece, who may be intended for Death, and to the devil in the Russian piece. In the pieces where numbers are associated with Christian articles of belief, the superhuman power is attributed to a popular saint, viz. St. Simeon in Denmark and St. Nicholas in Italy, who make use of their power to overcome Satan.
The dialogue stories explain the numbers only as far as six or seven. This in itself indicates that they are relatively early. Some of the explanations they contain reappear in the cumulative Chants of the Creed, both in their Christian and in their heathen variations. Thus the "one wheel" of the wheelbarrow in the German dialogue story, reappears as the Wheel of Fortune in the Spanish chant, and as the "One that walks alone" of the Scottish chant. Perhaps this idea underlies the one O, or circle of our late English songs also. Two in the dialogue story is explained as a cart; one Breton Chant of the Creed associates two with an ox-cart also. In the Mohammedan dialogue story two is explained as the sun and moon, and this explanation reappears in the Christian chant as sung in the Abruzzi. Six, which the German dialogue story explains as the working days of the week, has the same meaning in our song of the New Dyall. Seven, which the German dialogue story associates with the constellation of Charles's Wain, reappears as La Poule in the Breton Chant of the Creed, as seven bright shiners in our English songs, and as the stars seen by Joseph in the Latin Chant.
These points of likeness cannot be due to mere chance; they indicate a relationship between all the pieces which associate objects with numbers. There has been some discussion as to which Chant of the Creed has the greater claim to priority – whether the Breton was based on the Christian, or the Christian on the Hebrew, and how these stand in relation to the various heathen chants. But the analysis of these pieces renders it probable that they are all derived from an earlier prototype, and this prototype is perhaps to be sought in the dialogue stories. For in the Chants of the Creed the explanations of the numbers are often abstract in meaning, whereas in the dialogue pieces they are simple objects, mostly wheels or circles, which may well have appeared magical in themselves to the primitive mind. Again, the purpose of the Chants of the Creed is to convey religious instruction as a protection against the devil, while in the dialogue stories in the last instance the theme is the acquisition of pigs, and pigs were esteemed valuable possessions from a remote period of antiquity.
