by Noelle Weaver<\/p>\n
The Christian holiday of Christmas was established and set on December the 25th on 354, set in between the Roman festival of Saturnalia and Kalendae.\u00a0<\/span>It seems like we\u2019ve been extra eager for Christmas to come this year: we\u2019ve been hearing Christmas music on the radio since mid-November, and holiday drinks pushed on us before Thanksgiving. Most of us have grown up with a familiar canon of traditional and goofy Christmas songs, but where do these familiar hymns and carols come from? Starting in the thirteenth century, here are the origins of six holiday carols.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is a medieval carol composed anonymously sometime in the 13th or 14th century. The first record of it appears in the Dublin Troper around 1360. For fans of Chaucer, it\u2019s mentioned in The Miller\u2019s Tale among the bawdy comedy.\u00a0<\/span>Gerald Manley Hopkins, a Jesuit priest and poet, wrote an English version of the hymn. It isn\u2019t an exact translation, but keeps the graceful phrasing of the hymn.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ANGELUS ad Virginem<\/span><\/p>\n subintrans in conclave<\/span><\/p>\n Virginis formidinem<\/span><\/p>\n demulcens inquit: Ave!<\/span><\/p>\n Ave, Regina virginum,<\/span><\/p>\n caeli terraeque Dominum<\/span><\/p>\n concipies et paries intacta<\/span><\/p>\n salutem hominum,<\/span><\/p>\n tu porta caeli facta<\/span><\/p>\n medela criminum.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gabriel, from heaven’s king<\/span><\/p>\n Sent to the maiden sweet,<\/span><\/p>\n Brought to her blissful tiding<\/span><\/p>\n And fair ‘gan her to greet.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Hail be thou, full of grace aright!<\/span><\/p>\n For so God’s Son, the heaven’s light,<\/span><\/p>\n Loves man, that He | a man will be | and take<\/span><\/p>\n Flesh of thee, maiden bright,<\/span><\/p>\n Mankind free for to make<\/span><\/p>\n Of sin and devil’s might.’<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\n This carol comes in the Renaissance period, also anonymously written. The fifteenth century song is originally written in a mix of Middle English and short Latin phrases, quoting the Divine Office chants on Christmas and Epiphany, and the Latin antiphon chant for Christmas Eve. The refrain calls on \u201call and some\u201d to sing, the medieval equivalent of \u201ceveryone.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nowell sing we, both all and some<\/span><\/p>\n Now Rex pacificus is come.<\/span><\/p>\n Exortum est in love and lysse.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now Christ His grace He gan us gysse,<\/span><\/p>\n And with His body us bought to bliss,<\/span><\/p>\n Both all and some.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nowell sing we, &c.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n De Fructu ventris of Mary bright,<\/span><\/p>\n Both God and man in her alight,<\/span><\/p>\n Out of disease He did us dight,<\/span><\/p>\n Both all and some.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nowell sing we, &c.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Puer natus to us was sent,<\/span><\/p>\n To bliss us bought, fro bale us blent,<\/span><\/p>\n Both all and some.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nowell sing we, &c.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lux fulgebit with love and light,<\/span><\/p>\n In Mary mild His pennon pight,<\/span><\/p>\n In her took kind with manly might,<\/span><\/p>\n Both all and some.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nowell sing we, &c.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gloria Tibi ay and bliss,<\/span><\/p>\n God unto His grace He us wysse,<\/span><\/p>\n The rent of heaven that we not miss,<\/span><\/p>\n Both all and some.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nowell sing we, &c.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Listen Here\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coming nect in the 16th century, the Coventry Carol actually comes from a religious or mystery play, a drama about the Nativity. The play was called the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, a Coventry Mystery Play, and the earliest recorded version of the carol is dated March 14, 1534. The subject matter is unusually dark for a Chrstimas carol, because of its origins from the stage rather than as a hymn; the \u201ccarol\u201d is a lullaby and a farewell to the infants killed in Bethlehem under King Herod\u2019s orders in the Christmas story, an event referred to as the Massacre of the Innocents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,<\/span><\/p>\n Bye bye, lully, lullay.<\/span><\/p>\n Thou little tiny child,<\/span><\/p>\n Bye bye, lully, lullay.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n O sisters too, how may we do<\/span><\/p>\n For to preserve this day<\/span><\/p>\n This poor youngling for whom we sing,<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBye bye, lully, lullay?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Herod the king, in his raging,<\/span><\/p>\n Charg\u00e8d he hath this day<\/span><\/p>\n His men of might in his own sight<\/span><\/p>\n All young children to slay.<\/span><\/p>\n That woe is me, poor child, for thee<\/span><\/p>\n And ever mourn and may<\/span><\/p>\n For thy parting neither say nor sing,<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBye bye, lully, lullay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 567, the twelve days of Christmas were laid down between Christmas and Epiphany, the celebration of the magi\u2019s visit to Bethlehem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I had heard a rumor that the lyrics held secret Christian meaning, sung in a time and place where Christianity was illegal, but this claim only seems to go back to the 1990s. Instead, we have the first printed version appearing in a 1780 English children\u2019s book as a memorization game to be played on the Twelfth Night of Christmas before Epiphany.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another Twelfth Night holiday game to go witht he song is the tradition of a Twelfth-Night cake. In Spanish, it\u2019s called <\/span>roscon de reyes<\/span><\/i>, or a king\u2019s cake. A bean and a pea are baked into the batter, and when the cake pieces are served, the recipients of the two are crowned king and queen of the party.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me<\/span><\/p>\n Twelve drummers drumming<\/span><\/p>\n Eleven pipers piping<\/span><\/p>\n Ten lords a-leaping<\/span><\/p>\n Nine ladies dancing<\/span><\/p>\n Eight maids a-milking<\/span><\/p>\n Seven swans a-swimming<\/span><\/p>\n Six geese a-laying<\/span><\/p>\n Five golden rings<\/span><\/p>\n Four calling birds<\/span><\/p>\n Three french hens<\/span><\/p>\n Two turtle doves, and<\/span><\/p>\n A partridge in a pear tree<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\n In 1816, an Austrian priest named Joseph Mohr composed the lyrics in the wake of the peace in his town after the tumultuous Napoleonic wars that rocked Europe. It was first performed on Christmas Eve by guitar, to a melody that the music director Franz Xavier Gruber composed.<\/span><\/p>\n The composition was picked up by a visiting organ builder, and it spread through traveling singers, until it was performed for the King of Prussia in 1834. By 1839 it had made it to New York. The hymn has become internationally famous, translated into more than 300 languages.<\/span><\/p>\n A more famous story is of its presence on the battlefield during World War I. A temporary truce was struck on Christmas Eve, and soldiers sang together in their own languages, English, French, and its native German.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Silent night, holy night!<\/span><\/p>\n All is calm, all is bright.<\/span><\/p>\n Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.<\/span><\/p>\n Holy infant so tender and mild,<\/span><\/p>\n Sleep in heavenly peace,<\/span><\/p>\n Sleep in heavenly peace<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This popular carol is surprisingly modern in its origins. Our first written account of it goes to 1935, composed by a Bristol choir master named Arthur Sydney Warrell. It may have been a traditional western country song, but no one knows the exact origins as of yet. Warrell published it, and after a word change from \u201cI\u201d to \u201cWe,\u201d its been a popular performance since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We wish you a merry Christmas<\/span><\/p>\n We wish you a merry Christmas<\/span><\/p>\n We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year<\/span><\/p>\n Good tidings we bring to you and your kin<\/span><\/p>\n We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sources:<\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.preces-latinae.org\/thesaurus\/BVM\/AngelusAdVirg.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.luminarium.org\/medlit\/medlyric\/exortum.php<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/corymbus.co.uk\/nowell-sing-we\/<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rastall, Richard (2001). Minstrels Playing: Music in Early English Religious Drama. Boydell and Brewer. p. 179.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.classicfm.com\/discover-music\/occasions\/christmas\/coventry-carol-lyrics-meaning-history\/<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Okholm, Trevecca (21 July 2020). The Grandparenting Effect: Bridging Generations One Story at a Time. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 134.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2003\/dec\/20\/highereducation.news<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/twelve-days-christmas\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\nAngelus ad Virginem \/ The Angel and the Virgin<\/span><\/h2>\n
First Verse<\/h4>\n
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English Translation<\/h4>\n
<\/h2>\n
Nowell Sing We<\/span><\/h2>\n
Nowell Sing We<\/h4>\n
Coventry Carol<\/span><\/h2>\n
Coventry Carol Lyrics<\/h4>\n
The Twelve Da<\/span>ys of Christmas<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Twelve Days of Christmas lyrics<\/h4>\n
Stille Nacht or Silent Night<\/span><\/h2>\n
Silent Night lyrics<\/h4>\n
We Wish You a Merry Christmas<\/span><\/h2>\n
We Wish you a Merry Christmas lyrics<\/h4>\n