The History of Christmas Carols

As it’s the festive month, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of the history of Christmas carols. In a Facebook group, someone posted that Christmas carols were not sung in church during the Regency. Well, it piqued my interest. At first, I thought that can’t be correct, but I can confirm it’s true. Many of the carols we now sing did not exist before the 19^th century and it’s the Victorians that popularised them.

However, that does not mean that carols were not sung before the 19^th century. They were just not sung in church and many of them had different tunes and lyrics from what we would recognise today.

Song and Dance

Carols straddle the fine line between a folk song and a religious hymn. Some have origins in the monastery and others in the tavern. The word “carol” is derived from the French word “carole” which meant a popular circle dance accompanied by singing.

I wish I had a better understanding of musical theory, then perhaps I could describe this properly, but some carols are written in rhyming couplets and chord patterns (for example, Good King Wenceslas or Good Christian Men Rejoice), and can be sung in a round. It’s very easy to imagine them being sung while dancing in a circle and changing direction with each stanza.

All countries with a strong connection to Christianity have written carols, some of which have been translated and become universal.

As you know, I love a historical timeline, and the one for carols goes back centuries.

Neolithic Age

In Europe, the winter solstice was celebrated with songs and dancing.

The Romans

The Roman festival of Saturnalia was held around the same time as the winter solstice and incorporated songs as part of the celebrations.

1^st and 2^nd Century CE

Early Christianity merged the pagan solstice traditions into a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The very first carol is believed to have been called the Angel’s Hymn. In 129 CE, a Roman bishop declared it was to be sung at Christmas.

Medieval Europe

As Christianity spread across Europe, songs celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ were written , but they were in Latin, and most people could not understand them.

In the 13^th century, Franciscan monks travelled around, performing nativity plays telling the story of the birth of Christ and included songs. To help their audience understand, the songs were translated into local languages. Geoffrey Chaucer mentions a 13^th century carol Angelus ad Virginem (possibly written by a Franciscan monk) in The Canterbury Tales.

In 1426, 25 “Caroles of Cristemas” in English were listed by a Shropshire chaplain, John Awdlay. We also get the first mention of groups of singers who went from house-to-house on Christmas Eve and were known as waits.

history of christmas carols — Image by No-longer-here from Pixabay

Tudor Times

Carols were still seen as entertaining songs rather than religious. Therefore, carols were not sung in church, but in the local public house or tavern, and in private homes. They were also sung by travelling minstrels who often changed the lyrics, so they were passed on mostly via the oral tradition. One of the oldest carols found in print is the Boar’s Head Carol from 1521. This was apparently sung at Queen’s College, Oxford, when the traditional Yuletide feast of a boar’s head was carried into the hall.

The Interregnum

In 1645, Oliver Cromwell and the puritans passed a parliamentary act banning the observance of Christmas, which they argued to be a pagan festival. Carol singing was illegal but continued in secret before it returned with the restoration in 1660.

18^th Century

Before 1700, only the psalms could be sung in Anglican churches. The psalms were permitted because they were included in the Bible and therefore believed to be of divine origin. From 1700, While Shepherds Watched their Flocks was the only carol permitted to be sung because the lyrics were derived from the Bible.

19^th Century

It was the Victorians who popularised carol singing. In 1833, William Sandys and Davis Gilbert collected seasonal music from across England to ensure carols were preserved. They published Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of the lyrics and tunes to hundreds of carols. This pioneered a resurgence in carol singing with people singing them in their homes, at carol concerts, and by groups on the streets.

Carols gradually became part of formal Christmas worship. The first carol service featuring the format of Nine Lessons and Carols was held in Truro in 1880 and is still used today.

Music and Lyrics

While a lot of carols existed before the 1700s, the music and lyrics we are familiar with today were not brought together until the 19^th century. For example, the music for While Shepherds watched their Flocks can be traced to the 16^th century and the lyrics from the 17^th century, but they were not put together until the 19^th century.

The lyrics for O’ Come All Ye Faithful have been traced to the 1640s, but John Francis Wade wrote the music in the 18th century. Conspiracy theorists believe the carol also features a subversive message of support for Bonnie Prince Charlie because Wade was a known Jacobite.

In 1739, Charles Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist Church in England, wrote the lyrics for Hark the Herald Angels Sing. However, the tune we now sing them to was written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840.

A carol that wasn’t sung in Georgian England was Silent Night. Originally titled, Stille Nacht, it was written and first performed in Austria in 1818 and not translated until much later.

My Favourite Christmas Carol

One of my favourite carols is On Christmas Night All Christians Sing (AKA The Sussex Carol). It can be sung a cappella as a round, and I used to love singing it when I was younger. I also like O’ Holy Night, which was written by Adolphe Adam in 1847. The music is set to a French poem originally called Cantique de Noel.

What’s your favourite Christmas carol? Please note: Jingle Bells does not count. 😉

Want more festive history? Check out:

The history of the kissing bough

The history of the Christmas pudding