This Endris Night

“This Endris Night” (also spelled “Thys Endris Night,” “Thys Ender Night,” or known as “The Virgin and Child”) is a traditional English Christmas carol dating from the 15th century. Its title uses the Middle English word “endris” (or variants such as ender/enders), meaning “recent,” “the other,” or “a few [nights] ago,” so the phrase evokes “this other/recent night.” This gives the carol a sense of intimate, almost overheard storytelling that draws listeners into the Nativity.

The lyrics center on a tender dialogue between the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus in the manger. Mary gently questions why her Son (whom she addresses as son, brother, and father) lies in hay or a stall rather than in a king’s hall; the Child replies that He is Heaven’s King, that angels attend Him, that lords, dukes, and the three kings will worship Him, and that she should continue her lullaby (“Lullay, by by, lullay”). The language retains an archaic charm that connects it to late-medieval England. While the scene is peaceful and contemplative, the focus is more on this intimate mother–child exchange and the paradox of divine humility than on a broad tableau of shepherds (though related carols with similar titles sometimes include them).

No composer or author is known; the text is anonymous. It survives in several 15th-century manuscripts, including one edited by Thomas Wright in Songs and Carols Now First Printed, From a Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (Percy Society, 1847; the manuscript itself is dated to roughly the later 15th century, around the end of Henry VI’s reign or the beginning of Henry VII’s) and another associated with the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh (now in the National Library of Scotland). Additional related versions appear in sources such as British Library Add. MS 5465 (the Fairfax Manuscript) and Balliol MS 354. Contemporary observers and later editors have praised its unusual delicacy, lyrical grace, and emotional refinement for a poem of its period.

There is no single continuously transmitted original melody. Some manuscript sources preserve or suggest period musical settings, but modern performances draw on various traditional English carol tunes (often gentle and modal) or later arrangements. The carol is typically performed a cappella or with light accompaniment, highlighting the purity of the vocal lines and the clarity of the narrative. Its quiet rhythm and lyrical beauty have made it a staple of choral repertoire during Advent and Christmas, valued for its understated elegance, emotional depth, and ability to convey the quiet wonder of that “endris night.”