When dark mornings bring the first glimmer of frost, bare branches shudder in the cold wind, and dusk settles in after lunch, it can mean but one thing – time for this year’s University Collections advent calendar! So come in and welcome, we’ve hung the sea-weed “wreath” on our door, and are ready to invite you in for a festive foray into the collections.
Inspired by the recent accession of the Murray collection of local choral and orchestral recordings from around St Andrews, the theme we have chosen this year is “Carols”.
Robert Shaw Murray, known as Bob, (1933 – 2017) was born and grew up in St Andrews, attending Glenalmond College as an organ scholar and studying classics and economics at St Andrews University. A keen and active musician, he sang with both the St Andrews University Renaissance Group and St Andrews Chorus, was organist and choirmaster at St Leonard’s Church in St Andrews. In addition, Bob gave his time to St Andrews in many ways, including as a town councillor.
Those of us local to St Andrews may well have had a chance to hear (and sing) many of the old favourite carols at the University Carol service held at Holy Trinity Church, or perhaps at the candlelit Christmas Eve services celebrated at St Leonard’s Chapel.
However, although carols may now be almost exclusively associated with the season of Christmas, this was not always the case. In middle English, the term “carole”, itself a word borrowed from the Old French, referred to either a form of dance in the round performed together with singing; a song used by carollers; or a religious song (MED).
Taking this broader definition as our remit, we’ve drawn inspiration from the carols – Christmas or otherwise – within our rare books collection. We’ve selected a new carol for each day, and will be pairing each with a fitting image from the wide variety of lovely items in our collections.
We’re starting things off by popping into the swinging sixties with the earliest record made with Prof. Tom Duncan, medievalist in the School of English and organist and Choir Master at Holy Trinity Church. Here is a snippet of the concert, which begins with Heather Chisholm and Janice Hunter performing “O Bone Jesu”.
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Thank you!
What a wonderful and devotional way of working our way through Advent. Thank you!
When this photo was taken I was 9 years old and a pupil at Madras College Primary School (the building to the right of the Students’ Union). We held our annual Founder’s Day service in the Holy Trinity. Little did I think then that I would go on to join the University in 1969! I’m looking forward to the rest of the Advent Calendar – thank you for producing it.