Sometimes I Wonder About My English Ancestry

Summer is Icumen In

(anon., circa 1500)

Summer is icumen in,
    Lhude sing cuccu;
Groweht sed and bloweth med
    And springth the wude nu.
       sing cuccu!
Awe bleteth after lomb,
    Lhouth after calve cu;
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth;
    Murie sing cuccu.
      Cuccu, cuccu,
    Wel singes thu, cucu,
   Ne swik thu naver nu.
Sing cuccu nu! Sing cuccu!
Sing cuccu! Sing cuccu nu!

 Spring, the Sweet Spring

(Thomas Naish, circa 1600) 

Spring, the sweet Spring is the year's pleasant King;

Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,

Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,

Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo.

The palm and and may country houdes gay,

Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,

And we hear aye birds tune the merry lay,

Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo.

The fields breathe sweet, daisies kiss our feet,

Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes do greet,
Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo.

spring, the sweet spring!

Must be the English inbreeding. It seems they hit the jug,jug too often making them cuckoo!

 

Lhude sing cuccu;

sing cuccu! 

Murie sing cuccu.

Cuccu, cuccu,
    Wel singes thu, cucu,
sing cuccu nu! Sing cuccu!
Sing cuccu! Sing cuccu nu!

Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo.

cuckoo-cajoo!
 

À tout à l'heure.
“Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight"
(Bright)