Which 15th-century English carol begins with the Middle English words "Adam lay ybounden"?

The 15th-century English carol that begins with the Middle English words “Adam lay ybounden” is “Adam lay ybounden.” Its anonymous text recounts the Fall of Man and presents medieval Christian reflections on Adam, Eve, and the redemption associated with Christ’s birth.

The poem survives in British Library manuscript Sloane MS 2593, which is dated to around 1400. The manuscript also contains other Middle English songs, including “I syng of a mayden.” No original musical setting survives, so modern performances use later compositions rather than a medieval tune.

The text describes Adam as bound for “four thousand winter” after his sin, echoing the medieval idea that the dead awaited Christ’s crucifixion in limbo. Its final stanza unexpectedly celebrates the Fall because, in the poem’s theology, the event made possible the coming of the Virgin Mary and Christ.

The carol is often associated with Benjamin Britten’s setting, “Deo gracias,” in his 1942 choral work A Ceremony of Carols. Boris Ord’s setting is also widely performed, especially in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge.