This version of "The Moon Shines Bright" was collected in 1910 by Cecil Sharp. For those interested "English Traditional Songs and Carols" by Lucy Broadwood (1908)was reprinted by EP Publishing in 1974. The reprint may be easier to find. It contains "The Moon Shines Bright" with a piano score by Ms Broadwood.

The moon shines bright and the stars give light
A little before it was day.
What ur Lord god has suffered on the cross
For us whom he loved so dear.

The life of a man it si but a span,
It's like a morning flower;
We're here today, tomorrow we're gone,
We're dead all in one hour.

O teach them well your children, dear man,
While you have got them here.
It will be better for your soul, dear man,
When your corpse lays on the bier

Today you may be living, dear man,
With many a thousand pound;
Tomorrow you may be dead, dear man,
And your corpse lay under the ground

With the green turf at you head, dear man,
And another at your feet,
Your good deeds and your bad, dear man,
Will all together meet.

My song is done and I must be gone,
No longer can I stay here.
God bless you all, both great and small
And send you a happy new year.

rich r