ok. I'm 36, but I'm just going to go ahead and admit it. In the Silent Night lyrics, I don't know what "Round yon Virgin" means. I believe I have a handle on the term Virgin, but what makes one "Round yon?"
yon = poetic/literary or dialect determiner & adverb yonder; that: [as DETERMINER] there's some big ranches yon side of the Sierra.
ORIGIN Old English geon, of Germanic origin; related to German jener ‘that one’.
This means basically that all is well (a)ROUND YON VIRGIN, mother and child, you know Mary WAS a virgin - well, that's her story and she's sticking to it.
Comments
determiner & adverb yonder; that: [as DETERMINER] there's some big ranches yon side of the Sierra.
ORIGIN Old English geon, of Germanic origin; related to German jener ‘that one’.
This means basically that all is well (a)ROUND YON VIRGIN, mother and child, you know Mary WAS a virgin - well, that's her story and she's sticking to it.