My favorite part of the Christmas season has always been listening to the festive music and singing along, whether it be in my car, in church, or just in the house while I do chores.
There are two kinds of Christmas songs: the religious ones like Silent Night, O Holy Night, Little Town of Bethlehem, Joy to the World, and many others, and the secular ones like White Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, and too many more to list.
This is one of my favorite songs.
But the tradition of singing Christmas carols is actually another one borrowed from paganism and incorporated into our modern Christmas traditions.
The idea of singing songs at this time of year goes back to pre-Christian era fertility rites where in those celebrations, villagers went through fields and orchards singing and shouting in an effort to rid the land of evil spirits that could prevent a good crop come spring. While the church tried to put a stop to all pagan celebrations, in the end they found it easier to simply switch the idea of celebrating the Winter Solstice to celebrating the birth of the promised Messiah.
The oldest known Christmas carol originated in France in the 4th century. Jesus Refulsit Omnium (Jesus, Light of All the Nations). Another from the same era came from Spain Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father’s Love Begotten). The Friendly Beasts a carol still sung today was written in France in the 12th century. The French continued to create Christmas music with Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris (Between the Ox and the Grey Donkey) from the 13th century. Another carol, this one from the 14th century, In dulci jublio (In sweet rejoicing)/ Good Christian Men, Rejoice) was rooted in Germany and is also still sung in churches. And did you know the original words to Adeste Fideles, (O Come, All Ye Faithful) were written in the 13th century? But the most popular version is from the mid-eighteenth century. Although they had carols, singing Christmas songs in churches wasn’t a thing until the 13th century when St. Francis thought it might be a good idea.
So, how did the practice of caroling gain popularity? Well, add a little booze, and anything even going door to door on a dark winter night has its appeal. The practice of Christmas caroling started another tradition, wassailing, when people went door to door singing and drinking to the health of their neighbors.
Wassail, pronounced WOSS-ul, is another name for hot mulled cider, a beverage that can trace its origins to the Old Norse word, ves heil which meant be healthy! During the middle ages the act of “wassailing” irequired serfs and peasants to visit their feudal lords and receive food and drink in exchange for a blessing.
That activity inspired various songs such as Here We Come A-Wassailing and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. So, from going to get a hot drink and figgy pudding, we have people going door to door to sing and entertain. If you’ve ever been caroling, you’ll know how much fun it can be.
And there you have it, another Christmas tradition born in the distant past. Drop by tomorrow for a look at another Christmas tradition.
Living the Dream 