A friend of ours has revived the custom of Christmas caroling in her neighborhood. For the past few years she has organized a group of us from church to sing not only in her neighborhood but at hospitals, nursing homes, homeless shelters, and at a few Christmas parties. It has been great fun!
Most know that a carol is a song whose lyrics carry the theme of Christmas or the winter season. Derived from French or Anglo-Norman words, carol or carole technically means a circle dance song. The dancing aspect has faded into history but carols expressing joy have not. We hear them piped in everywhere during the holiday season.
Now the origin of Christmas caroling as we know it is hazy at best. Legendary suggestions abound. Some are believable; some are not. Such as:
- Drunken men and boys looking for a handout
- A child named Carol Poles reported missing from London in 1888 with Jack the Ripper on the loose. Those searching for her would sing carols from house to house to show they meant the families no harm.
- Peasants eager to please the newly married Prince Albert to Victoria of England serenaded them with carols when they found out Prince Albert loved Christmas.
The origin may be hazy but the custom is not. In 13th century Italy, St. Francis of Assisi combined songs about the birth of Christ with a live nativity scene to show Christians how special the season was. During the 14th century carols became a popular religious song form. In the 15th century carols were being sung in elaborate arrangements in festival gatherings, so many were included in the Fayrfax Manuscript, a court songbook not available to the public. By the 16th century their popularity had lessened, only to be revived by the 18th century. Dickens mentions the custom of caroling in his book A Christmas Carol. You can’t keep a good song down. Many carols were not written down, but passed on by one person to another. By the 18th and 19th century, many more carols were written.
I love Christmas carols. The festive ones have me swinging and swaying with joy. The slower ones are fraught with depth and meaning. Most tell some form of the story surrounding the birth of Jesus – from the prophesies foretelling his birth to the blessed event itself. What a clever way to have the whole world singing about the birth of Christ. Even those who have a “Bah! Humbug!” spirit, can’t help but sing-a-long.
