10 Carols Named for Places

1. The Coventry carol (Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child)
2. The Wexford or Enniscorthy carol (Good people all, this Christmas time, Consider well and bear in mind)
3. The Sussex carol (On Christmas night all Christians sing)
4. The Somerset carol (Come all you worthy gentlemen)
5. The Sans Day or St Day carol (Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk)*
6. The Hereford carol (The truth sent from above)
7. The Huron carol ('Twas in the Moon of Wintertime)
8. The Burgundian carol or carol of the beasts (The winter season of the year when to this world Our Lord was born)
9. The Kerry Christmas carol (This holy Christmas night leave out the bread and meat for them)
10. The Gloucestershire wassail (Wassail! wassail! all over the town)

10 Christmas Carols From Around the World

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/11432120663

1. Silent night (Austria)
2. Infant holy (Poland)
3. Child in the manger (Scotland)
4. All poor men and humble (Wales)
5. While shepherds watched (England)All my heart this night rejoices (Germany)
7. O little town of Bethlehem (USA)
8. O holy night (France)
9. The virgin Mary had a baby boy (Trinidad)
10. O come all ye faithful (Portugal?)

Christmas with Kate Rusby on the Southbank 2019

As noted we were at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday evening for another of these annual Kate Rusby Christmas concerts. The format appeared to be similar to previous years - about 16 carols and other songs, lots of talking, a short period when Kate is off stage and Damien and the boys do some instrumentals, an audience video for Facebook and a two song encore. About half the twelve songs on the new album were done along with pieces from the other albums. One quibble our Barnsley nightingale suggested that many of the carols sung in pubs were kept out of the church by the Victorians. That would suggest that Kate has never heard of Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos or Sankey's Sacred solos and sea shanties as some humorously call it. There aren't many carols in Sankey it is true but Rolling downward, Once in royal David's, While shepherds watched, Hark the herald, etc are all there. Great evening.

O Jesus Christ, Thy manger is

Signatur U, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There must be hundreds of good forgotten Christmas carols. Here's one I noticed this year by the Lutheran Paul Gerhardt.

O Jesus Christ,
Thy manger is
My paradise at which my soul reclineth.
For there, O Lord,
Doth lie the Word
Made flesh for us;
Here-in Thy grace forth shineth.

He whom the sea
And wind obey
Doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness.
Thou God’s own Son,
With us are one,
Dost join us
And our children in our weakness.

Thy light and grace
Our guilt efface,
Thy heavenly riches all our loss retrieving.
Immanuel, 
Thy birth doth quell
The power of hell
And Satan’s bold deceiving.

Thou Christian heart,
Who ever thou art,
Be of good cheer and let no sorrow move thee!
For God’s own Child,
In mercy mild,
Joins thee to Him;
How greatly God must love thee!

Remember thou
What glory now
The Lord prepared thee for all earthly sadness.
The angel host
Can never boast
Of greater glory,
Greater bliss or gladness.

The world may hold
Her wealth and gold;
But thou, my heart, Keep Christ as thy true treasure.
To Him hold fast
Unitl at last
A crown be thine
And honor in full measure.

Hark, Hark!

I've really enjoyed listening to Kate Rusby's second version of this old carol over the Christmas

Hark, Hark! Hark, Hark!
What news the angels bring,
Glad tidings of a newborn King.
Born of a maid, a virgin pure,
Born without sin, born without sin.
Born without sin, from guilt secure.

Hail, hail! Mighty Prince, Eternal King,
Let heaven and earth rejoice and sing,
Angels and men, with one accord,
Break forth in song, break forth in song,
Break forth in song, to praise the Lord.

Behold, he comes and leaves the skies,
Awake ye slumbering mortals, rise,
Awake to joy and hail the morn 
A Saviour of, a Saviour of,
A Saviour of this world was born.

Hark, Hark! Hark, Hark!
What news the angels bring,
Glad tidings of a newborn King,
Born of a maid, a virgin pure,
Born without sin, born without sin.
Born without sin, from guilt secure.

Born without sin, born without sin.
Born without sin, from guilt secure.

Some Christmas Reading 2017

One of the joy of Christmas is getting down my collection of Christmas Books, which I try to add to year by year. Last year I bought a detective novel Murder at the Old Vicarage a Christma Mystery by Jill McGown, which I started but only got a few pages in. This year I made a fresh assault and finished it. I think that when I bought it I assumed that it was one of those old books like The Santa Klaus Murder or Mystery in White (1938 and 1938 respectivey). It was actually published in1988 (as Redemption) but works more or less within the conventions of the traditonal genre. It was easy to read and kept me guessing to the end and that is all you can really ask of such a novel. There was bags of snow and the action takes place over the Christmas period but it is not very Christmassy.

In the bookshop a few weeks ago I saw two books on carols that looked interesting. I went for Carols from Kings by Alexandra Coghlan over Andrew Gant's broader work, probably becasue it was a hardback. I am not a particular fan of the King's service, owever, and so a lot of the content was rather list on me, although I enjoyed learning about the history of carols and liked her list of Christmas music worth hearing (see below).

Page 189

OLD CAROLS, NEW LIVES

Carols continue to evolve. even today. thanks to the invention and creativity of pop and Jazz artists. But which are the covers worth exploring?

• Jeff Buckley's stripped-back recording of the 'Corpus Christi Carol' is hauntingly lovely and deeply persistent

• Once in Royal is transformed into a lilting country song in the hands of Mary Chapin Carpenter.

• No choir could bring the same poised solemnity to 'We Three Kings' that Ella Fitzgerald somehow achieves.

• Who knew Peter Warlock's 'Bethlehem Down' was hiding a slinky jazz number under its robes? The David Rees-Williams Trio take this beautiful carol to a late-night piano bar, with wonderful results.

• Sufjan Stevens makes a laid-back Indie ballad out of Germany's beautiful Christmas hymn 'Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming'.

• Bert Jausch retains all the simplicity of 'In the Bleak Midwinter' adding his own spontaneity to create a gorgeous pop song.

• 'Little Drummer Boy' gets some unexpected urban edge from Lauryn Hill.

The Frost is all over

Kate Rusby has done it again with her new album The Frost Is All Over. It is the third Christmas album by the English folk musician on Pure Records. It is similar to the previous Christmas releases, Sweet Bells (2008) and While Mortals Sleep (2011). The main source for the album is South Yorkshire (I love the way she pronounces here o's and u's) but there are others such as the Cornish Wassailing song. The songs are mostly carols and winter songs plus one slightly bawdy but moralistic song The Christmas Goose. I love the Dilly Song a version of "Green grow the rushes" featuring banjo. Nice to hear the brass band again, sparingly used. Little Bilberry gives another alternative tune for Hark the herald and Mount Lyngham for While shepherds watched. Winter wonderland is a slight surprise but it works.

Lord's Day December 8 2013

I like to handle Christmas by plunging straight in there fairly early on with sermons on the incarnation and lots of Christmas hymns. We sang 10 yesterday and I preached from Matthew 1:1-17 and Revelation 12:1-5. The morning sermon is really the beginning of a new series on Matthew (I plan to look at the rest of Chapter 1 next week). I got the other text from Roger Ellsworth. It's a rather less obvious Christmas text. We had one or two visitors which was good. We also had tea together before the morning meeting, which was nice.

Eschatology in Christmas Carols

I have noticed this Christmas how several carols close with a reference to the world to come. It is a pattern in other hymns, of course.

 

Thee, dear Lord, with heed I’ll cherish;

Live to Thee and with Thee, dying, shall not perish;

But shall dwell with Thee for ever,

Far on high, in the joy that can alter never.

(Paul Gerhardt, All my heart this night rejoices)

In the heavenly country bright,

Need they no created light;

Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,

Thou its Sun which goes not down;

There forever may we sing

Alleluias to our King!

(William Dix, As with gladness)

Then may we hope, the angelic thrones among

To sing, redeemed, a glad triumphal song

He that was born upon this joyful day

Around us all His glory shall display

Saved by His love, incessant we shall sing

Of angels and of angel-men the King.

(John Byrom, Christians awake!)

Made perfect first in love,

And sanctified by grace,

We shall from earth remove,

And see His glorious face:

His love shall then be fully showed,

man shall all be lost in God.

(Let earth and heaven combine, Charles Wesley)

 

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heaven above:
And He leads His children on,
To the place where He is gone.
(Once in Royal David's City, C F Alexander)

 

Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with Thee there
(Away in a manger, Anonymous)

 

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye need not fear the grave:
Peace! Peace!
Jesus Christ was born to save
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall
Christ was born to save
Christ was born to save
(Good Christian men rejoice)

Seven Good Joys

There are various versions of this pre-Reformation hymn. Here's an acceptable one

The first good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of one,
To see the blessed Jesus Christ
When he was first her son,
When he was first her son, good man,
And blessed may he be,
Both father, son, and Holy Ghost
Through all eternity.

The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of two,
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To make the lame to go.
To make the lame to go, good man,
And blessed may he be, etc

The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of three,
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To make the blind to see. ...

The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of four,
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To read the Bible o'er. ...

The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of five,
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To bring the dead alive. ...

The next good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of six,
To see her own son Jesus Christ
Upon the crucifix. ...

The last good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of seven,
To see her own son Jesus Christ
To wear the crown of heaven. ...

Various folk singers have tackled it. I like the Kate Rusby version.

Carols with uses 5

One more go at this then before the big day tomorrow. In Once in royal Mrs Alexander pulls no punches at the end of verse 3 with her

Christian children all must be mild obedient good as he

(As a Baptist I used to baulk at that Christian children but I think it is a legitmate term for those growing up under the gospel. Once you allow Christian bookshop or Christian worldview why not Christian children?).

The one I want to finish with though is from Edward Caswall's See aamid the winter's snow. The last two verses say

Sacred Infant, all divine,

what a tender love was thine,

thus to come from highest bliss

down to such a world as this.

Teach, O teach us, holy Child,

by thy face so meek and mild,

teach us to resemble thee,

in thy sweet humility.

Carols with uses 4

Christians awake! by John Byrom is a straight 3 or 4 verses if narative (though the very first line is an exhortation of course) then two verses of application

Oh, may we keep and ponder in our mind

God's wondrous love in saving lost mankind!

Trace we the Babe, who hath retrieved our loss,

From His poor manger to His bitter cross,

Tread in His steps, assisted by His grace,

Till man's first heavenly state again takes place.

Then may we hope, th' angelic hosts among,

To sing, redeemed, a glad triumphal song.

He that was born upon this joyful day

Around us all His glory shall display.

Saved by His love, incessant we shall sing

Eternal praise to heaven's almighty King.

Jesus born at night

Back in 2008 I did two posts suggesting Christ was born at dead of night (see tag carols). I pointed out how it comes out in many carols and can probably be supported from Scripture. I noticed this year that other hymns say things like

Christians awake! Salute the happy morn

On which the Saviour of the world was born

Hail Thou ever blessed morn!

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning;

Jesus, to Thee be glory given; ....

How can they write in that way? I suppose the simple fact is that they are thinking of the new dawn with Messiah's coming

Carols with uses 3

The final verse of Thomas Pestel's Behold, the gret Creator makes is all application

Join then all hearts that are not stone,
and all our voices prove,

to celebrate this holy One,
the God of peace and love.

Carols with uses 2

In As with gladness men of old William Dix makes applications as he goes. So at the ends of the first three verses we have

So, most glorious Lord, may we Evermore be led to Thee.

So may we with willing feet Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

So may we with holy joy, Pure and free from sin’s alloy,

All our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Then in the penultimate verse he writes

Holy Jesus, every day

Keep us in the narrow way;

And, when earthly things are past,

Bring our ransomed souls at last

Where they need no star to guide,

Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

Carols with uses 1

We like to sing all the carols over Christmas. This time round one thing I've noticed is how amny will come to an application. So in James Montgomery's Angels from the relams of glory, after we have sung of angels, shepherds, sages and saints we have this verse to close

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,

Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you, break your chains.