Blog Caroling 2010: Rocking

footnoteMaven has challenged geneabloggers to blog carol by December 15th.  

I loved this idea, so I have included the lyrics to a favourite carol of mine that is not often heard:



The Rocking Carol - also known as Rocking, Rocking Song, Lullaby and Little Jesus

1.  Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir,
We will lend a coat of fur,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you:
See the fur to keep you warm,
Snugly round your tiny form.

2. Mary's little baby, sleep, sweetly sleep,
Sleep in comfort, slumber deep;
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you:
We will serve you all we can,
Darling, darling little man.

I found some further information about this carol, which you may be interested in: it is originally a Czech carol called 'Hajej, nynjej', and first appeared in its translated-to-English version in 1928.  Julie Andrews sang it in the 1960s, which is probably where I heard it first, as a small girl.  According to website The Hymns and Carols of Christmas, the tune of this carol '...has a close resemblance to that of another traditional lullaby, 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star', and it is possible that this carol originally accompanied cradle rocking, a custom which began in German churches in medieval times and spread from there across Europe.'