December 11th – Away in a manger

Taken from a medieval source, this carol transcribed by Thomas Wright has many of the hallmarks of the seasonal songs we still sing today:

In wynter quan the frost hym fres,

A power beddyng our Lord hym ches;

Betwyin an ox and an as

Godes sone born he was (4)

 Thre kynges out of dyves londe,

Swythe comyn with herte stronge,

The chylde to sekyn underfonged,

that was born of Marie (6)

The sterre led hem a ryte way

to the chyld ther he lay;

he help us bothe nyzt and day,

That was born of Marie (7)

Here we find the tale of a child born in a stable, surrounded by animals, and of a bright star leading three kings to find the new-born baby and mother Mary. 

Taking the stable as our theme, here is a selection of our favourite cows, asses, and other livestock, rounded up from our collections (depictions only – no cattle are kept in our stores).

Special mention must go to the Balgonie estate milk records, through which we can still discover that in 1766 the dairy herd’s lassies included Rosie, young Rosie, Linty, Jeanie and Charlotte (msHD9282.B2 (ms900)).