"certain" inThe First Noel

[Marc Sacks]

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>
> As we all recall, the line in The First Noel is,
>   Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay . . .
>

I have to thank this group for making me think about something that I
never bothered to notice before. I agree with Mark Mandel about the
angels. If I thought about it at all, I would have imagined the angels
relating the story ("The first Noel, the angels did say,. . .") about a
particular ("certain"--what's so odd about that?) group of shepherds for
whom the vision/annunciation/apparation of the birth of Christ existed
("was") before anyone else knew about it.

It really is fascinating that these apparently simple lyrics can be
construed so many different ways.

Marc Sacks
msacks at theworld.com

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