December 25th – The sterre schon
Merry Christmas one and all! For Christmas Day, we have chosen this medieval carol which finds the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem, and a golden… Read More »December 25th – The sterre schon
Manuscript Collection
December 24th – Three cheers for Christmas
Tonight, being Christmas Eve, many will indeed be welcoming in Christmas and hopefully much joy, as captured in the jolly carol recorded by W.T. Stead… Read More »December 24th – Three cheers for Christmas
December 20th – Blown away by feathers
“It is most remarkable”, declares an aghast J.R. Planché in his ‘Cyclopædia of costume’ (1876 – 1879, rf GT510.P5), “that these most graceful and effective… Read More »December 20th – Blown away by feathers
December 19th – Lordlings, Christmas loves good drinking
Reving up at the starting line of the whacky-carol races is this bawdy drinking song, titled simply “Old Norman Carol”. Included in the collection by… Read More »December 19th – Lordlings, Christmas loves good drinking
December 18th – Of a rose, a lovely rose, of a rose is al myn song
Taken from a late-fifteenth century book of hours, this beautiful illustration shows the annunciation, the scene recounted in the gospel of Luke when Mary is… Read More »December 18th – Of a rose, a lovely rose, of a rose is al myn song
December 17th – A cautionary carol of feisty feasting
For our next contender in the oddball category, we return, again, to the marvellous world of Sloane ms 2593, and its store of alternative carols.… Read More »December 17th – A cautionary carol of feisty feasting
December 15th – By the fruits of her labours
Today’s pick is another plucked from the basket of oddball carols. To the modern layperson’s ear, “Mary and the cherries” does not immediately conjure up… Read More »December 15th – By the fruits of her labours
December 13th – All a-buzz with festive spirit
The twelfth-night tradition of wassailing, either awakening orchard trees with singing and cider or roving groups of wassail-singers visiting homes, is a custom associated with… Read More »December 13th – All a-buzz with festive spirit
December 11th – Away in a manger
Taken from a medieval source, this carol transcribed by Thomas Wright has many of the hallmarks of the seasonal songs we still sing today: In… Read More »December 11th – Away in a manger
December 10th – None but the howlets
We’ve all heard of “The Holly and the Ivy”, but what about “The Ivy and the Holly”? Pay closer attention to the version of this… Read More »December 10th – None but the howlets
December 9th – A semely song
This medieval song takes us into a flourishing springtime garden, to hear the Christmas story. Our narrator leads us through lush greenery to a scene… Read More »December 9th – A semely song
December 8th – Whole ‘quires’ of angels sing
Philosopher and admirer of Descartes, Henry More, provides us with today’s carol. Published under More’s pseudonym “Francisus Palaeopolitanus”, it appears towards the end of his… Read More »December 8th – Whole ‘quires’ of angels sing