170 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



IX. 

 THE GROWTH OF THE CHRISTMAS CYCLE. 



We will now consider, but briefly, since the process of develop- 

 ment is similar to that of the Resurrection plays, the growth of the 

 dramas of the star or Magi, and that of the shepherds, within the 

 liturgy of the church itself. 



In the lirst place we note that the signs of their presence are even 

 less evident in the York Missal than were those of the Resurrection 

 Plays. In the service for Epiphany, in the Sequence for the second 

 day, appears the following : 



Thure Deum praedicant, auro regem. magnTim, liominem mortalem myrrha. 

 In somnis lios monet angelus, ne redeant ad regem commotum propter regna. 

 Pavebat etenim nimium regem natum, verens amittere regni jura. 



For the third day : 



Magi sibi stella micante preevia pergunt alacres itinera patriam quae eos ducebant 



ad propriam ; linquentes Herodis mandata. 

 Qui percussus corde nimia prae ira extemplo mandat infantium agmina inquiri 



Bethlehem per confinia, et mox privari eos vita. ^ 



These cannot, perhaps, be considered sure traces of the drama, 

 but in the rubrics of MS. D. for Christmas occur these significant 

 words, which are not found elsewhere in the Missal : 



Ad Missam in Gallicantu : — " 



Paratus interim festive Decanus vel Prsecentor seu aliquis de majoribus personis 

 procedat ad Altare cum suis Ministris etiam festive indutis. Peractisque 

 ibidem omnibus quae juxta morem dicenda vel facienda sunt, incipiat Executor 

 ofl&cii ad Altare Gloria in excelsis cum nota de angelis.^ 



In die Nativitatis Domini. Ad Magnam Missam. Interim Praelatus vel Decanus 

 sive unus de majoribus dignitatibus cum suis Ministris exeat ad Altare. Et 

 peractis omnibus ibidem, quae peragenda sunt, incipiat Sacerdos orationem.^ 



These comprise, I think, all the passages in the York Missal that 

 have any bearing upon the plays. 



We have no means of determining how elaborate these dramas 

 were to which the York Missal refers. As they were kept out of the 

 Missal itself, it is probable that they were re-written, expanded, or 

 otherwise changed, as the fancy of succeeding generations of 

 monks might suggest. 



Of the continental plays several specimens are extant, and the 

 literary relations in the Catholic church were, at that time, so close 

 throughout the West, that the plays of one cathedral church did not 



I York Missal, p. 32. 2 York Missal, p. 14. s York Missal, p. 18. 



