(eBook PDF) Contracting for Services in

State and Local Government Agencies

2nd Edition
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Disclaimer
The subject matter included in this book should not be considered as legal advice
for specific cases or for general legal guidance. Readers should seek such advice
from their own legal counsel. The material in this text is provided solely for
educational and informational purposes. However, all possible circumstances
could not be anticipated; therefore, individual situations may require further
evaluation prior to application of the solutions or recommendations presented
herein.
This page intentionally left blank
Dedication

To my wife, Kirsten, for her continued patience and

support while I wrote this second edition.
—Bill
Contents

List of Tables and Figures..............................................................................xiii

Preface ............................................................................................................xv
Acknowledgments .........................................................................................xvii
About the Author ..........................................................................................xix

1 The Contracting Cycle and Advance Contract Planning.........................1

2 Competition and Socioeconomic Contracting ......................................37
3 Solicitation Documents: Information for Prospective Contractors ........55
4 Solicitation Document: Proposal Requirements and Preparation
Guidelines .............................................................................................87

5 Management of Pre-Proposal Communications and Evaluation

of Proposals .........................................................................................117

6 Protests................................................................................................143
7 Contract Negotiations, Ethics, and Conflicts of Interest .....................161
8 Contract Document ............................................................................187
9 Contract Terms and Conditions .........................................................205
10 Short Form Contracts, Short Form RFPs, Emergencies and
Letter Contracts ..................................................................................235

11 Contract Review, Execution, and Audit ..............................................253

12 Contract Administration and Closeout ...............................................269
xii  Contents

A Glossary of Terms ...............................................................................291

B Best-Practices Research Project............................................................311

C Best-Practices Request for Proposals (RFP) .........................................351

D Best-Practices Model Services Contract (MSC)...................................379

E Proof of Anomalies in Formulas for Weighing Objective

Values and Subjective Scores...............................................................407

F Estimate at Completion ......................................................................413

G Sole Source Justification/Approval Form.............................................415

H Reference Checklist .............................................................................419

I Short Form RFP with Short Form Contract .......................................421

J Form for Evaluation of Proposals in Response to RFP........................451

K Formulas for Weighing All Criteria Including Those with

Optimal or Suboptimal Values............................................................453

L Sample Show Cause Letter ..................................................................457

M Sample Letter Contract .......................................................................459

N Contract Amendment .........................................................................461

O Short Form Contract Amendment ......................................................463

P Contractor Performance Report ..........................................................465

Index ............................................................................................................467

The appendices (A trough to P) may be assessed at www.routledge.com/series/

AUEPUBADMPUP)
Tables and Figures

Tables
Table 1.1 Best Practices in Contracting for Services ....................................9
Table 1.2 Topics Included in Advance Contract Planning ........................16
Table 3.1 Comparison between Types of Solicitations ..............................61
Table 3.2 Proposal Evaluation Criteria and Criteria Weighting.................82
Table 5.1 Assignment of Scores Based on a Scale of 1–10.......................127
Table 5.2 Assignment of Scores Based on Specific Adjectives ..................128
Table 5.3 Assignment of Scores Based on Color Codes ...........................129
Table 5.4 Assignment of Scores Based on Narrative Descriptions ...........130
Table 5.5 Superiority of 70–100 Scoring Scale for Subjectively
Rated Criteria ..........................................................................131
Table 5.6 Addition to the RFP Advising Prospective Contractors
of the Use of Weighted Criteria...............................................132
Table 5.7 Assignment of Scores Based on the TWS Process ....................132
Table 5.8 Format for Combined Weighed Scores....................................136
Table 5.9 Average or Consensus Scores ...................................................137
Table 5.10 Weighed Scores and Contractor Pricing ..................................138
Table 5.11 Grand Total Scores..................................................................140
Table 9.1 Incidence of Inclusion of Provisions in State and Local
Government Terms and Conditions ........................................206
Table 12.1 Summary of Price Changes......................................................277
Table B.1 Incidence of Inclusion of Provisions in State and Local
Government Terms and Conditions ........................................334
Table B.2 Description of Proposal Scoring Methods in RFP ...................344
Table B.3 Responses to Question Regarding Description of Process
for Filing Protests in RFP ........................................................348
Table C.1 Proposal Evaluation Criteria and Criteria Weighting...............358
Table E.1 Present Formulas Anomaly Depicted in Percentages................409
Table E.2 Weighed Scores with Anomalous Subjective Formula .............411
Table E.3 Weighed Scores with Recommended Subjective Formula........411
xiv  Tables and Figures

Figures
Figure 3.1 RFP Cover Page.........................................................................63
Figure 3.2 Table of Contents......................................................................64
Figure 8.1 Model Services Contract Variable Information Table..............196
Figure 8.2 Example of Poorly Crafted Scope of Work..............................201
Figure 8.3 Corrected Version of Same Scope of Work .............................202
Figure 9.1 Model Services Contract Variable Information Table..............209
Figure 10.1 Meetings/Milestones/Deliverables ............................................242
Figure 10.2 Short Form Contract Amendment...........................................244
Figure 11.1 Contract Review and Execution...............................................257
Figure 12.1 Estimate at Completion ...........................................................275
Figure 12.2 Contract Amendment ..............................................................280
Figure B.1 Research Project Cover Letter..................................................313
Figure B.2 2015 Government Contracting Best-Practices
Questionnaire ..........................................................................314
Figure B.3 Model Services Contract Variable Information Table..............339
Figure C.1 Life Cycle Cost Proposal Format .............................................364
Figure D.1 Model Services Contract Variable Information Table..............380
Figure D.2 Account Information ...............................................................385
Figure D.3 Exhibit I—Contractor/Agency Meeting Schedule....................386
Figure D.4 Exhibit II—Project Milestone Schedule...................................387
Figure D.5 Exhibit III—Contract Reports and Other Deliverables ...........387
Figure E.1 Present Formulas Anomaly Depicted Graphically....................410
Figure F.1 Estimate at Completion ...........................................................413
Figure G.1 Sole Source Justification/Approval Form .................................416
Figure H.1 Reference Checklist..................................................................419
Figure I.1 Short Form RFP Cover Sheet ..................................................422
Figure I.2 Short Form RFP Life Cycle Cost Proposal Format..................432
Figure I.3 Short Form RFP Model Services Contract Variable
Information Table ...................................................................434
Figure I.4 Short Form RFP Account Information....................................439
Figure I.5 Short Form RFP Exhibit I—Contractor/Agency Meeting
Schedule...................................................................................440
Figure I.6 Short Form RFP Exhibit II—Project Milestone Schedule .......441
Figure I.7 Short Form RFP Exhibit III—Contract Reports and
Other Deliverables ...................................................................441
Figure J.1 Source Selection Evaluation Team Criterion Rating................452
Figure K.1 Graphic Depiction of Criterion with Optimal Value...............455
Figure K.2 Graphic Depiction of Criterion with Suboptimal Value..........455
Figure N.1 Contract Amendment ..............................................................462
Figure O.1 Short Form Contract Amendment...........................................464
Figure P.1 Contractor Performance Report...............................................466
Preface

The objective of the second edition of this book project is to continue the
availability of best-practices document templates and contracting methodologies
obtained through a survey of present practices and a review of documents
presently employed by state and local government agencies. The principal
documents that were developed were a Request for Proposals (RFP) and a Model
Services Contract (MSC) based on best practices in state and local government
agencies. The templates are available for use by all state and local governments.
A second best-practices questionnaire was sent in 2015 to all fifty states, the
fifty largest cities in the United States, and 123 other government agencies. The
response from the states was down slightly from the original 2006 questionnaire.
The response in 2015 from large cities, however, was fivefold the response to
the 2006 questionnaire. The response rate from other local government agencies
continued at the disappointing rate of the 2006 questionnaire. The number of
states and local government agencies participating in the most recent best-
practices survey totals thirty-two compared to merely twenty-three participants
in the 2006 project. The improvement in the rate implementing best practices
from 2006 to 2015 by state and local government agencies is also gratifying.
The increased rate of adopting contracting best practices vindicates the
observation, made in the book’s first edition, that the overwhelming majority
of state and local government contracting officials strive to serve the public both
professionally and ethically.
A significant improvement in the process for scoring proposals in response
to RFPs is reflected in this second edition. The recommended process is similar
to the practices of seventy-nine percent of the states and cities responding to the
2015 best-practices research project. It was noted during the 2015 research
project, however, that a significant number of the states and cities were using
two formulas for weighing the scores that contained slight anomalies. Proofs of
the anomalies are provided and corrected formulas are recommended in this
second edition for weighing the scores assigned to proposals.
While one might presume that this project was intended solely for the bene-
fit of contracting professionals, that notion would be based on the assumption
that only contracting professionals are involved in contract management activities.
xvi  Preface

This notion, however, is not necessarily applicable in state and local government.
These government agencies often maintain a relatively small central contracting
function staffed by professionals who assist department personnel in contracting
matters. Therefore, there are numerous agency employees whose primary func-
tion and expertise are in fields other than contracting, but who are called upon
to participate in the drafting of solicitations, writing sole source justifications,
writing scopes of work, serving on advance contract planning and source selection
teams, recommending award of contracts and assisting in the management of
those contracts.
There are others, in addition to contracting professionals and functional
department personnel who participate in contracting activities, who can benefit
from the document templates and contracting methodologies developed through
this project. Board or council members of governing or legislative bodies, chief
elected and appointed officials and their ranking staff members, as well as agency
financial and legal counsel staff members have considerable exposure to and
responsibility for agency contracts.
The templates developed during the course of this project, described and/or
contained in this book, and available online to readers, are intended for the
benefit of state and local government agency contracting professionals as well as
the other agency officials and employees, mentioned above, who also participate
in the contracting function.
The vast number of existing local government agencies, including counties,
cities, school boards, universities, and special districts, made it impossible to
request participation from every local government agency. Because it was
impossible to invite all local government agencies to participate, and because all
states would be invited to participate in this project, it was decided to limit the
invitation for local government project participation to the fifty largest US cities
and to a select sample of other local government agencies. The 123 local
government contracting professionals selected for participation in the 2015 best-
practices questionnaire were gleaned from membership rosters belonging to
professional government contracting associations. The invitations to participate
in the 2015 questionnaire were sent to the governors of all fifty states with copies
to the chief procurement official, the mayors of the fifty largest cities with copies
to the chief procurement official, and directly to the 123 procurement
professionals from other local government agencies.
All state and government agencies are encouraged to adopt the best practices,
described herein, that are made available through the generosity of contracting
professionals throughout the United States.

William Sims Curry

Chico, California May 2015
Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the support from the states, large cities, and other local
government agencies, named below, that participated in the project to develop
a best-practices Model Services Contract (MSC) and a best-practices Request
for Proposals (RFP). The documents developed through this project are based
on best practices found in the participating state and local government agencies.
Both documents are included in the book’s appendices, and access to these
documents is available online. This book provides a discussion of the resultant
best-practices MSC and RFP as well as other recommended contracting best-
practices and contract management tools.
This acknowledgment is an expression of sincere gratitude extended to those
participating agencies that responded to the 2015 best-practices questionnaire:

Participating States and Local Government

Agencies

STATES CITIES

Arizona Arlington, Texas

Indiana Austin, Texas
Maine Charlotte, North Carolina
Massachusetts El Paso, Texas
Michigan Houston, Texas
Minnesota Long Beach, California
Mississippi Los Angeles, California
Nevada Mesa, Arizona
North Carolina Nashville, Tennessee
North Dakota Portland, Oregon
Oklahoma Raleigh, North Carolina
South Dakota Sacramento, California
Virginia San Antonio, Texas
West Virginia San Jose, California
Tucson, Arizona
xviii  Acknowledgments

Other Local Government Agencies

County of Sacramento, California
County of Sutter, California
Portland State University, Oregon
About the Author

William Sims Curry received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management

from Florida State University, Beta Gamma Sigma, and a Master’s in Business
Administration from Ohio State University.
His initial exposure to the contracting field came as an Air Force Systems
Procurement Officer who was involved in the procurement of staff support for
electronic systems such as command, control and communications and radar
projects as well as space systems and ballistic missile programs. Following his
retirement as an officer in the United States Air Force, he worked in contracting
or purchasing for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center on the Positron Electron
Project and for several private sector corporations in the aerospace and defense
field on the Hubble Space Telescope and various Department of Defense
programs. Mr. Curry’s exposure to state and local government contracting began
when he became a County Purchasing Services Manager and continued through
his subsequent appointments as a County Deputy Administrative Officer and
finally as a County General Services Director. Following his retirement as
General Services Director, he continues his involvement in state and local
government contracting through independent research projects, writing on
government contracting matters, and consulting assignments.
William Sims Curry has been a member of the National Contract Manage-
ment Association (NCMA) for forty years. During those forty years he wrote
numerous articles on contract management and ethics that were published in
NCMA periodicals as well as periodicals published by other professional
organizations. Curry authored three published books and two chapters of a
textbook on government contracting. He conducted seminars and workshops
on the topics covered in his books and articles.
His consulting assignments on government contracting matters were per-
formed for a DOD prime contractor, state agency, state university, community
college chancellor’s office, and a county general services department. He
developed the curriculum and taught college courses in the field of Materials
Management.
Curry was designated by the NCMA as a Certified Professional Contracts
Manager (CPCM) and received the award of NCMA Fellow. He served on the
xx  About the Author

NCMA Professional Standards and Ethics Committee for four years. Mr. Curry
was on the Board of Directors for the Industry Council for Small Business
Development (ICSBD): a not-for-profit corporation established to assist small,
small disadvantaged, and women-owned small businesses. He held various elected
offices within the ICSBD including President. Mr. Curry is a member of the
American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), Text and Academic Authors
Association (TAA), National Institute for Governmental Purchasing (NIGP), and
the California Association of Public Procurement Officials (CAPPO) for which
he also wrote and presented professional development papers.
Chapter 1

The Contracting Cycle

and Advance Contract
Planning

Chapter Objectives
The objectives of this first chapter are to introduce the reader to services contract-
ing for state and local government agencies, and to explain the characteristics of
the contracting cycle and the processes involved in advance contract planning.
The specific topics that are presented to the readers are:

 Introduction to Services Contracting in State and Local Government

Agencies
 Essential Elements of a Contract
 Distinctive Attributes of Contracts for Services
 Participants in State and Local Government Contracting
 Best-Practices Research Project Conducted in Preparation for Writing the
Second Edition of This Book
 The Contracting Cycle
 Pre-Solicitation Phase
 Solicitation Phase
 Proposal Evaluation
 Contract Award
 Contract Administration
 Contract Closeout
2  The Contracting Cycle and Advance Contract Planning

 Advance Contract Planning

 Implementation of Best Practices in the Contracting Process
 Implementation of other Prudent Practices in the Contracting Process

1.1 Introduction
There are numerous references to terminology used in the field of contract
management that begin in Chapter 1 and continue to be introduced throughout
the entire text. The terms are defined as they are introduced to readers. However,
in recognition of the need for readers to refresh their understanding of these
terms when the terms appear in subsequent chapters, the definitions are provided
in alphabetical order in Appendix A, Glossary of Terms.
To demonstrate how state and local government agencies will benefit through
the establishment of professional contracting standards and procedures such as
those presented in this text, a scenario involving the award of a contract featuring
problems that can be encountered in the absence of standards and professionalism
will be presented. The following is not an actual case; however, it is a composite
case that includes decadent practices found in several actual cases.
Contractor Alpha approached a departmental employee at a government
contracting agency with a proposal to provide certain services to the agency. The
state procurement code, which also applied to local government agencies,
included an exception to the competitive contracting rules for that particular
service. The proposal provided for the compensation of millions of dollars to
the contractor over the course of the multi-year contract. However, the
government agency would realize an increase in revenues resulting in a payback
of their investment within five years. The proposal also promised a positive net
revenue stream to the agency over the life of the project.
The departmental employee, however, was reluctant to bring the proposal
forward to the agency officials that had authority to award the contract.
Contractor Alpha presented numerous arguments to the departmental em-
ployee in favor of the project, including a five-day all-expenses-paid trip,
occasionally referred to as a “boondoggle,” to another government agency
that had implemented a similar project. The departmental employee was also
offered additional benefits if he would support their proposal and present it
to the decision makers. The government contractor that implemented the
similar project was in a location that was several thousand miles distant from
the contracting agency, but adjacent to a popular tourist attraction.
The departmental employee finally agreed to present the proposal to the
agency officials with authority to award the contract. A competing contractor
hired an employee from Contractor Alpha who then alerted Alpha’s competitor
to the sole source contract that was being proposed to the contracting agency
officials. Alpha’s competitor approached the departmental employee with a
 The Contracting Cycle and Advance Contract Planning  3

competing proposal that, in comparison to the Contractor Alpha proposal,

would save the agency over one million dollars annually. The departmental
employee had, however, taken the all-expenses-paid trip as well as the other
benefits, and felt committed to pursue the sole source contract with Contractor
Alpha. He told Alpha’s competitor that they would not be recommended for
the immediate project, but encouraged them to submit their own sole source
proposal during the following fiscal year.
Alpha’s competitor provided evidence, of the impropriety in the award of
the contract to Contractor Alpha, to a law enforcement agency. Following the
law enforcement agency’s investigation, they obtained the indictment of two
Contractor Alpha officials and the departmental employee. The departmental
employee was immediately placed on administrative leave pending investigation
by the contracting agency. The contracting agency, along with elected and
appointed officials, was criticized in the local and regional media for their derelict
contracting procedures and lack of controls which permitted their approval of
such a contract and for their failure to detect the indicted employee’s nefarious
actions.
The Contractor Alpha employees and the departmental employee were
convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to fines and imprisonment. The
department employee was fired, divorced by his wife and lost virtually all his
assets. Shortly after his imprisonment, he committed suicide. The local and
regional media continued to report follow-up stories on their initial reporting,
with emphasis on the nefarious behavior of the contracting agency officials. One
high-ranking appointed official did not have his employment contract renewed
and two long-serving elected officials lost to political challengers during the
subsequent election.
Whereas the above scenario is fictitious, the events that transpired and
outcomes for the participants are based on actual events that occurred in a
number of unrelated cases. Adoption of the standards, procedures, and templates
presented in this text will not guarantee that the adopting agency will not experi-
ence a similar situation; however, implementing the recommendations presented
in this text will inform government officials and employees unequivocally of the
agency’s commitment to professional contracting standards, demonstrate
proactive measures to guard against contract fraud, and establish professionalism
in the management of the agency’s contracting function.
Prior to delving into a description of the contracting cycle and advance
contract planning, readers are introduced to the essential elements of a contract,
the distinctive attributes of contracts for services, identification of the participants
in state and local government contracting, and a summary of the methodology
and results of the follow-up research project that was conducted in preparation
for writing the second edition of this text. A detailed account of the research
methodology and results are provided in Appendix B, Best-Practices Research
Project.
4  The Contracting Cycle and Advance Contract Planning

1.1.1 Essential Elements of a Contract

A contract is an agreement that is legally enforceable and reflects the relationship
between two or more parties for a specific time period. Contracts should be
crafted to identify potential risks and describe how these risks are to be mitigated.
Otherwise, the agency may be exposed to risks for which it is not prepared to
address and resolve the consequences therefrom. There must also be a meeting
of the minds between the parties to the contract such that there is no ambiguity
with respect to the understanding of the parties regarding the nature of the
agreement. Additionally, contracts must include an offer, acceptance, considera-
tion, competent parties, and a legal purpose.
An offer entails the communication of the offeror’s willingness to enter into
a contract that shall be binding if accepted by the party to which the offer was
made. The term “offeror” refers to the party making the offer. The com-
munication of the final, unqualified assent to an offer is the acceptance. If the
individual responding to the offer indicates acceptance of the offer but with some
qualification, then there is no acceptance and the original offer is no longer
available to the individual who made the qualified acceptance. The qualification
could be a change to any element of the offer such as the time period, quantity,
price, or any other element of the offer. The qualified offer is referred to as a
counter-offer, is considered as a rejection of the original offer, and is treated as
a new offer made to the original offeror.
Should the party making a counter-offer have his or her counter-offer
rejected, he or she cannot then merely accept that original offer. The original
offer, having been rejected by the making of a counter-offer, can no longer be
considered as a valid offer. Of course, the party that had their counter-offer
rejected may then indicate that they now would accept the original offer. Should
the party that made the original offer agree to acceptance of their original offer
without further conditions, then acceptance has been achieved.
To establish consideration, each party must be bound by their promises that
constitute a bargain for exchange. However, being bound to perform some
preexisting promise does not constitute consideration.
The parties to the contract must also be competent. This condition imposes
a requirement for all the parties to the contract to be mentally competent and
of legal age.
There is also a condition that the nature of the services being contracted can
be performed legally in the jurisdiction where the contracts shall be construed
and interpreted. In virtually all jurisdictions, for example, a contract with a con-
sultant to facilitate agency employees’ conduct to ensure reelection of the existing
members of the governing body would most likely not constitute a legal purpose.
All of the essential elements of a contract also apply to amendments that
modify the terms of the original contract. In the case of multiple amendments,
the essential elements of a contract also apply to amendments that modify the
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Christmas
carols
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
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Title: Christmas carols

Old English carols for Christmas and other festivals

Contributor: Lucy Etheldred Broadwood

Editor: L. Edna Walter

Illustrator: J. H. Hartley

Release date: December 23, 2023 [eBook #72492]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: The MacMillian Company, 1922

Credits: Robin Monks, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file
was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS

CAROLS ***
Transcriber’s Note: In the HTML version of this e-book, you can click on the [Listen] link to
hear an mp3 audio file of the carol. Click on the [MusicXML] link to download the notation
in MusicXML format. These music files are the music transcriber’s interpretation of the
printed notation and are placed in the public domain.
CHRISTMAS CAROLS
CONTENTS

IN THE SAME SERIES.

ENGLISH NURSERY
RHYMES.

Selected and Edited by L. EDNA

WALTER. B.Sc.
Harmonized by LUCY E.
BROADWOOD.
Illustrated by DOROTHY M.
WHEELER.
Containing 32 full-page
illustrations in colour, decorative
borders, and about 60
decorative headings and tail-
pieces. Demy 4to (11½ × 8¾
inches).

SONGS FROM
ALICE IN
WONDERLAND
AND
 THROUGH THE
LOOKING-GLASS.
Words by LEWIS CARROLL.
Music by LUCY E. BROADWOOD.
Illustrations by CHARLES
FOLKARD.
Containing 12 full-page
illustrations in colour, decorative
borders, and many small
illustrations. Demy 4to, cloth.

Published by A. & C. BLACK, Ltd., 4, 5, & 6, Soho

Square, London, W.1.
 CHRISTMAS
CAROLS
Old English Carols for
Christmas and other
Festivals.
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
L. EDNA WALTER M.B.E., B.Sc.,
A.C.G.I.

HARMONISED BY
LUCY E. BROADWOOD
ILLUSTRATED BY
J.H. HARTLEY

NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY,

FIFTH AVENUE.
LONDON: A. & C. BLACK, LIMITED, 4, 5, & 6,
SOHO SQUARE.

This book is dedicated to

 ELIZABETH
because she rather liked it.

Published, Autumn, 1922.

 FOREWORD

Special times or events have been celebrated from time immemorial

by feasting, dancing, and singing. Often the dancers formed a ring
and sang as they danced, first the dance and later the song being
called a carol. The carol was not always strictly religious, although in
the old times both the singing and dancing often took place in
cathedrals and churches. Some of the carols that we still know are
connected with times before the Christian era. They have now lost
their dance and the melody has changed, but the ideas are very
ancient. The Holly and the Ivy suggest the old Druids, and we still
put up Holly and Ivy in our houses just as people did before the time
of Christ. We put them up at Christmas, and we sing the carol at
Christmas—but the idea at the back of it is older than Christmas, for
the Church accepted all that was found to be of value in the old
customs, and adapted them to set forth the newer faith. The carrying
in of the Boar’s Head is an old ceremony, too. It was considered a
Royal Dish, and Henry II. ordered it to appear at a special feast
which he gave in honour of his son.
In the old days people thought of the New Year as the time when the
trees and flowers began to come out—that is about May Day—so
the May Day Carols celebrate the New Year’s Day of ever so long
ago. Gradually, however, carols have centred more and more round
events in the life of Christ, and especially round the wonderful story
of His Birth. Many of them have just been handed on from one
person to another through hundreds of years, some have only been
written down at all during the last century. For example, the version
given here of the “Black Decree” was sung into my phonograph by
an old man of seventy-five. All the carols chosen for this book are
those which have been sung through many, many years at times of
festival and mirth (note how often food and drink are referred to), so
don’t expect them to be pious in the modern way or to be at all like
our present-day hymns.
The Publishers desire to acknowledge their indebtedness to Miss
Lucy E. Broadwood for kindly permitting them to reproduce in this
collection the following carols from her ENGLISH TRADITIONAL
SONGS AND CAROLS: “King Pharaoh,” “The Moon Shines Bright,”
“The Sussex Mummers’ Carol,” and “I’ve been Rambling all the
Night.” Also to Miss A.G. Gilchrist for the “Pace Egging Song” and
“The Seven Joys of Mary,” and to the Rev. S. Baring-Gould and his
publishers (Messrs. Methuen & Co., Ltd.) for the “Somersetshire
Wassail” from A GARLAND OF COUNTRY SONG.

CONTENTS
PAGE
GOOD KING WENCESLAS 12
AS JOSEPH WAS A-WALKING 14
CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING 15
GOD REST YOU MERRY, GENTLEMEN 16
THE HOLY WELL 18
THE FIRST NOWELL 20
THE CHERRY TREE CAROL 23
DIVES AND LAZARUS 24
THE HOLLY AND THE IVY 25
A VIRGIN MOST PURE 26
THE WASSAIL SONG. Part I. 28
THE WASSAIL SONG. Part II. 29
THE BOAR’S HEAD CAROL 30
ALL THAT ARE TO MIRTH INCLINED 33
KING PHARAOH: Part I. The Miracle of the Cock 34
KING PHARAOH: Part II. The Miraculous Harvest 37
THE BLACK DECREE 38
SOMERSETSHIRE WASSAIL 40
A CHILD THIS DAY IS BORN 43
THE MOON SHINES BRIGHT 44
A CAROL FOR TWELFTH DAY 47
THE LORD AT FIRST DID ADAM MAKE 48
THE SEVEN JOYS OF MARY 50
THE SUSSEX MUMMERS’ CAROL 52
AS I SAT ON A SUNNY BANK 53
PACE-EGGING SONG 54
I’VE BEEN RAMBLING ALL THE NIGHT 57
GOOD CHRISTIAN MEN, REJOICE 58
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
BY

J.H. HARTLEY

Page and Monarch forth they went Frontispiece

PAGE

In fields where they lay keeping their sheep 21

Mary said to cherry tree, “Bow down to my
22
knee”
The Boar’s head in hand bear I 31
Let all your songs and praises be unto His
32
Heavenly Majesty
“Say, where did you come from, good man?” 35
“Come, husbandman,” cried Jesus, “cast all your
36
seed away”
O maid, fair maid, in holland smock 41
Glad tidings to all men 42
Awake, Awake, good people all! 45
For I perforce must take my leave of all my
46
dainty cheer
Oh, here come we jolly boys, all of one mind 55
A branch of May, my dear, I say, before your
56
door I stand
Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this On the
place Cover
Good King Wenceslas