Tee-hee… “I like to Victorian silliness of this. It seems to have a bit more breathing space as a waltz.” I’m rather glad to hear Jon taking liberties with Mr. Pierpoint’s creation, originally written in 1857 for Thanksgiving rather than Christmas anyway, apparently. Where the extra couple of verses have come from is less clear!
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Jon say, “Again learnt from the Oxford Waits, and also recorded with Bellowhead for the BBC 4 Christmas show. This track wasn’t broadcast but it was streamed on the website and I’m pretty sure it’s still there. I was quite chuffed with it.” Amen to that, it’s great and is still here. You can also link to the homepage for the show here and will probably have a couple of days’ i-player grace to watch the whole broadcast, but you’ll also see it’s being shown again on Saturday 18th at 8.00pm. It’s worth working through the extra clips of which, Remember Oh Thou Man is one of a baker’s dozen.
You can buy the December digital album now from all good download stores.
Jon says, “Not a great favourite of mine but it has to be done.” Oh! I rather like this one, but the tune here was a bit of a surprise and the chorus adds to the pleasure of discovering it. There are several different things happening here at once, involving both ancient pagan symbols and Roman festivities being consumed by Christmas. Holly and ivy are two evergreen plants symbolic to ancient winter ritual. Holly with its red berries was also associated with Saturn and more importantly the feast of Saturnalia that Christmas eventually usurped across the Roman Empire. Even so, Holly and ivy wreaths (and mistletoe) remained part of the decorative fabric of Christmas, and still do, despite resistance from the church. The song then uses the holly motif to make allusions through the verses to the purity, blood and crown of thorns of Christ. It’s also curious, however, that apart from appearing in the title, none of ivy’s attributes are described in the same way as the holly. This adds a further strand with the association of the prickly holly with the masculine and the softer ivy with the feminine. It’s the inevitable battle of the sexes and refers back to much older songs. You can read more here, which oddly seems to start off from a gardening perspective before getting into the story. There’s also plenty of detail about the carol, with the suggestion of a broadside print as early as 1710 here with some linked songs as a bonus. Finally Wiki also covers it.
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Here’s a rousing chorus for you and Jon says, “Again, there’s not much about Christmas in this one but definitely one of the high points of the Sheffield sings.” As far as I can see the lyrics were written by Edward Perronet in 1779 and they are sung to one of three tunes, in this case Diadem written by James Ellor in 1838. I understand it’s the favoured tune in Australia (!?) or for chorus singing. More curious perhaps is that the words were apparently first published anonymously, but then again later with an acrostic poem spelling out Edward Perronet.
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Jon says, “I learnt this from the fabulous Maddy Prior And The Carnival Band – I think everyone has a CD they have to play on Christmas Day and Carols And Capers is mine. They’re touring at the moment I believe – do go and see them, they’re brilliant.” Here’s a link to the tour dates as there are a few remaining. The only note about this song on the CD is “Words and tune USA trad.” There is a further general note that I found interesting, however, “Since medieval times, carols and dancing have gone hand in hand; in fact the word carol probably comes from the old French ‘carole’ meaning a round dance. Today’s Christmas carols are a far cry from the sung dances of the middle ages – on this record there are hymns, spirituals, lullabies, feasting and wassail songs as well as dance carols”. I’d say this falls into the spiritual category, which is backed up by Mainly Norfolk here, where you can follow the trail onto Mudcat as well, or link here.
You can buy the December digital album now from all good download stores.
