‘Mirie it is While Sumer Ilast’ - English Folk Song [Oldest Surviving English Song]

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Description

‘Mirie it is While Sumer Ilast’ is a mediaeval English folk song from the beginning of the 1200s written in Middle English, written in the Midlands. The song itself talks about the life during the Summer months, hearing birds, watching the wind and the weather, before criticising the ‘long nights’ and ‘blasting wind’.

The song almost certainly had more verses when it was written, but they have been lost. Additionally, the word ‘fast’ isn’t from the original document, as it was damaged. ‘Fast’ is the usual word for rhyming with ilast and blast. Some also use the word ‘wast’ as a better fit pronunciation wise, meaning a poor state in Middle English. The single document only survived being stored in a book with other songs in Old French.

This recording was done by ‘St. George’s Canzona’