Carols
Carols
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Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebration as people danced round stone circles. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually around the 22nd December. The word Carols actually means ‘Dance’!
Early Christians took over the Pagan Solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. In AD 129, a Roman Bishop said that a song called ‘Angel’s Hymn’ should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write carols but not many people liked them, as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that the normal people couldn’t understand. By the time of the Middles Ages (the 1200s), most people had lost interest in celebrating Christmas altogether.
This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi, when in 1223 he started his Nativity Plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs or ‘anticles’ telling the story during plays. Sometimes the choruses of these new carols were in Latin, but normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries. The earliest carols like this was recorded in 1410.
Travelling singers or Minstrels started singing these carols and the words were changed for the local people wherever they were travelling. One carols that has changed like this is ‘I Saw Three Ships’.
When, in 1647, Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in England, celebrating Christmas and singing carols was stopped. However, the carols survived as people still sang them in secret. Carols remained mainly unsung until Victorian times when two men called William Sandys and Davis Gilbert collected lots of old Christmas music from villages in England. Also, at this time, many orchestras and choirs were being set up in the cities of England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, so carols once again became popular. Many new carols were also written such as ‘Good King Wenceslas’.
New carols services were created and became popular as did the custom of singing
carols round the streets. Both of these customs are still popular today!
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The tune of this carol is a traditional English folk song and the words of this
carol (of which there are several versions) were written by wandering
minstrels as they travelled through the country. In the original version
of the carol, the Three Ships were the ones taking the supposed skulls
of the wise men to Cologne cathedral in Germany. However, since the Middle
Ages when it was first written, there have been many different lyrics
with different Bible characters being on the ships. The most common lyrics
used today are about Mary and Jesus travelling to Bethlehem. These lyrics
are below and you can listen to the tune at the bottom of the page!
I saw three ship come sailing in,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
I saw three ship come sailing in,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And what was in those ships all three?
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And what was in those ships all three?
on Christmas Day in the morning.
Our Saviour Christ and His lady,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
Our Saviour Christ and His lady,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And where they sailed those ships all three?
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And where they sailed those ships all three?
on Christmas Day in the morning.
All they sailed in to Bethlehem,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
All they sailed in to Bethlehem,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And all the angels in heaven shall sing,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And all the the angels in heaven shall sing,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
And let us all rejoice again,
on Christmas day on Christmas day.
And let us all rejoice again,
on Christmas Day in the morning.
This carol was written in Victorian Britain by Mr. J M Neale to a traditional folk tune. The story in the carol is about the King of Bohemia (an area of Eastern Europe now in many countries) from over 1000 years ago, seeing peasants, on Boxing Day, from his castle and taking food and wood to them. The story in the carol was probably completely made up! In fact the real story of King Wenceslas is rather gory!
Wenceslas’ father was the King of Bohemia and a Christian but his mother was from a pagan tribe. His father died when he was 12 and as he was not old enough to become King, until he was 18, his mother took control of the land as regent. During this time his grandmother, Ludmilla, took care of Wenceslas and brought him up as a Christian. His mother did not like this at all and banished Ludmilla to a a distant castle where she was murdered by the Queen’s guards!
Wenceslas was still a Christian after this and learnt to read and write, something that was unusual for even a King in those days! He had local Bishops smuggled in at night to teach him the Bible. When he reached 18, Wenceslas took control of his kingdom as soon as he could and banished his mother and her pagan followers from his castle. Wenceslas put in a good education system and a successful law and order system, so the parts of the carol story about him being a kind King are certainly true!
After four years of happiness, when Wenceslas was 22, his brother Boleslav, became very jealous of Wenceslas and plotted with the pagan followers of his mother to kill Wenceslas. Boleslav invited Wenceslas to a pretend celebration of the dedication of a new chapel. When Wenceslas was in the chapel, the doors were locked, so he was trapped in the chapel and Boleslav and his men stabbed Wenceslas to death! I said it was gory!
You can listen to the tune of this carol at the bottom of the page!
ALL:
Good King Wenceslas looked out,
upon the Feast of Stephen,
when the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even:
brightly shone the moon that night,
though the frost was cruel,
when a poor man came in site,
gathering winter fuel.
KING:
Hither page and stand by me!
I you know it telling:
yonder man who is he,
where and what his dwelling?
PAGE:
Sir he lives a good way hence,
underneath the mountain;
right against the forest fence,
by Saint Agnes’ fountain:
KING:
Bring me food and bring me wine,
bring me pine logs hither:
you and I will see him dine,
when we take them thither.
ALL:
Page and monarch forth they went,
forth they went together,
through the wild wind’s loud lament,
and the bitter weather.
PAGE:
Sir the night is darker now,
and the wind grows stronger;
fails my heart — I know not how,
I can go no longer.
KING:
Mark my footsteps well my page,
follow in them boldly:
you shall find the winter’s rage,
chills your blood less coldly.
ALL:
In his masters steps he trod,
where the snow lay even,
strong to do the will of God,
in the hope of Heaven:
therefore Christians all be sure,
grace and wealth possessing,
you that now will bless the poor,
shall yourselves find blessing.
This carol was written in Austria in the early 1800s by a Priest called Fr. Joseph Möhr and his school teacher friend called Franz Gruber.
Fr. Möhr wrote a poem and took it to Franz Gruber to ask him to write some
music for it so it could become a new carol. Fr. Möhr wanted
the carol to be sung by the children of the village at the midnight Christmas
Eve service, as a surprise for their parents. The two men taught the children
the song at the church, ready for the midnight service. But in the middle
of practicing, the organ broke and not a note would come from it! So the
children had to learn the carol only accompanied by a guitar. They learnt
the carol so well that they could sing it on its own without accompaniment.
When it was time for the midnight service, all the families of the village came
to the church and the children sang this lovely song all on their own
to a lot of very surprised parents!
The original words of the song were in German and translated in to English
went:
Silent night, holy night,
Bethlehem sleeps, yet what light,
Floats around the heavenly pair;
Songs of angels fills the air.
Strains of heavenly peace.
Soon they were translated into many languages and changed slightly and now the carol is a favorite all over the world! You can listen to the tune of this carol at the bottom of the page!
In England, between 1558 and 1829, it was not legal for Catholics to practice their kind of Christianity in private or in public. Being a Catholic was treated as a bad crime! If you even owned a Catholic Bible, you could be put in prison! Catholics were stopped from worshipping because in 1558 King Henry VIII fell out with the Catholic Church and started his own ‘Protestant’ Church (the Church of England). There were many people who were still Catholics and they worshipped in secret.
‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ was written in England at the beginning of this time. It was written to help children learn about their Catholic religion. The entire song has symbols and hidden meanings in it because it was illegal to have anything in writing that would indicate that you were a Catholic.
The 12 Days of Christmas refer to the twelve day period that starts with Christmas day and ends on Epiphany (6th January). The song begins, On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... The ‘true love’ represents God, the true love of the world. The ‘me’ in the carol is the Christian man or woman who receives these presents. The meaning of all of the 12 Days are below:
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The ‘partridge in a pear tree’ is Jesus who died on the cross. In ancient times a partridge was often used as mythological symbol of a divine, sacred king. |
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The ‘two turtle doves’ are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible - another gift from God. Doves also symbolize peace. |
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The ‘three French hens’ are faith, hope and love — the three gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 13). The French hens can also represent God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. |
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The ‘four calling birds’ are the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. |
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The ‘five golden rings’ are the first five books of the Bible also called the Books of Moses or the Torah. |
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The ‘six geese a-laying’ are the six days of creation. |
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The ‘seven swans a swimming’ are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11) |
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The ‘eight maids a milking’ are the eight beatitudes, Jesus’ teachings on happiness. (See Matthew 5:3-10) |
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The ‘nine ladies dancing’ are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22) |
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The ‘ten lords a-leaping’ are the Ten Commandments in the Bible. (See Exodus 20) |
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The ‘eleven pipers piping’ are the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus. |
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The ‘twelve drummers drumming’ were the twelve points of the Apostles’ Creed. |