(G.R. Woodward. Source)
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wkMVMugtDc&list=PLRB9xddXCxeg8TQ7RT4PxFdPQAG7A1ExM&index=4
This carol was requested by my housemate, who’s a tenor in the recording above.
The lyrics are by George Ratcliffe Woodward who we’ve already met as the author of Ding Dong Merrily, and published in 1924. It seems to me as if it’s designed to sound like it’s old when it’s not- harking back to a supposed golden age of western Christianity. At least it's not partly in Latin, but the language does sound as if it's nodding towards the faux-medieval style a number of Victorian writers used to make their writing sound more 'authentic'.
The carol uses an existing traditional tune called ‘London Waites’. Waites, or waits, started off as men employed by a town or city corporation to go round playing instruments or making noises in the early morning to wake people up. This was well before alarm clocks- York's Waites are referred to in 1272. Later on waites became a sort of town band, before disappearing in the 19th century. Some lived on as amateur groups of singers, especially at Christmas. The preface to the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols quotes a writer in Yorkshire in 1811 who “was awakened about six o’clock on Christmas Day ‘by a sweet singing under my window’ and looking out he saw six young women and four men singing.” Another visitor in 1820 reported: “I had scarce got into bed...when a strain of music seemed to break forth in the air just below the window...which I concluded to be the waits from some neighbouring village...even the sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mid-watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony.”
The chorus fits well with this idea of waites singing in the night. The verses take up the familiar theme of calling people to worship Jesus. It’s a bit different to many carols, however...
Verse one starts much as you might expect, hailing that a baby has been born, and that he’s God’s son. Verse two describes angels singing and bells ringing (sound familiar?!) Verse three describes how the whole earth rejoices at God’s coming. While: ‘Ne’ertofor so well Carolling nowell’ sounds like complete nonsense, if you concentrate enough you can just about get the idea that there are voices that have never sung so well as they are now they're singing 'nowell'.
Then verse 4 talks about how female deer (hinds) come to worship the baby across a dewy field in the early morning.
'Hinds o'er the pearly
dewey lawn early
Seek the high Stranger,
laid in a manger'
Not what you were expecting? It gets weirder.
“Cheese from the dairy
bring they for Mary.
And, not for money,
butter and honey.”
I’m sure Mary would have appreciated the honey and dairy products but I can’t help but giggle when singing about cheese, butter and honey being presented to a woman who’s just given birth. Especially as, coming directly after the verse 4, it sounds as if the deer are the ones (they) bringing cheese, butter and honey. Not sure that would meet food hygiene requirements these days...
We’re back on track in verses 6 and 7, describing the journey and gifts of the wise men. We’ll look more at their interesting choices of gifts in a few days. Their purpose here, it would seem, is to give another example of ways of worshiping the baby.
That just leaves us with verse 8, and we're back to desperately trying to decipher the meaning from apparently simple words.
“Thus they: I pray you,
Up, sirs, nor stay you
Till ye confess him
Likewise, and bless him.”
The way the words are spaced over the lines of the verse really don't help the understanding here, but I think the idea is that the various ‘visitors’ are, through the singer, encouraging the listener to join in worshipping the baby Jesus. In the context of waites singing in the early morning, (past three o'clock, in fact) I suspect the writer's hope is that it calls people to get up and worship at once ('nor stay you'), acknowledging ('confessing') Jesus as Lord and praising God for coming to earth.
Really, I think other carols get the call to worship across much better than this. But it’s fun to sing!
I wouldn't recommend singing it under your neighbours' window at 3.05am though.
