There is a Christmas tradition that you might think is dead or dying a rapid death because we don’t see it as much anymore. It’s the tradition of Christmas caroling. This tradition has survived longer than your great aunt Matilda’s fruitcake recipe – maybe even as long as the original loaf of fruitcake itself! Since today is National Go Caroling Day, allow me to carol about the history of this tradition that takes singers out into the cold with a warm song in their heart.
“The earliest carols (like many aspects of Christianity) were actually adapted from existing pagan songs. Many pagan religions had traditions of group singing during their holidays, so it was pretty natural for folks to just use those old tunes. The Catholic Church didn’t much like that, as it is the official position of most religions that other religions are kind of wrong. So the church did the most Boomer thing it could have done and it wrote its own carols in an attempt to control the narrative. There’s evidence of one of these new carols as early as the fourth century.
“Unfortunately, those replacement carols weren’t very popular. For one thing, they were written in Latin, just like everything else in the church back then. For another, they tended to be little lectures on church doctrine in musical form. As a result, these “acceptable” carols weren’t very popular…
“When caroling began, it was quite different. Back in the Middle Ages, there was a tradition called “wassailing.” As Arcadia Publishing explains, wassail was derived from an Old Norse phrase ves heill, which loosely translates to “be well.” Wassail was also the name of a traditional spiced drink not too different from our modern eggnog. As The Daily Meal notes, back in the days of feudal lords, the peasants who lived under the nobles’ protection (but who didn’t own the land they worked) lived pretty hard lives. It became a tradition for them to go and sing carols outside the lord’s house, and receive hot cups of wassail and food in exchange.
“While wassailing was done during the cold months (when the poor folks might need a few free drinks and plates of food to survive the winter), it wasn’t associated with Christmas. In accordance with the old definition of wassail, the songs usually focused on wishing their lord good health and good news…
“At the same time, caroling had evolved from cheerful peasants singing for mugs of eggnog into rowdy groups of drunks descending on rich folks’ houses and demanding food and drink. In fact, some wealthy landowners would pool their money and hire security teams to protect their property from roving bands of carolers.”1
Caroling as it is today can trace its beginnings to around the 13th century. Dance used to be a component of the singing as well. Carolers incorporated choreography into their routine, reminiscent of today’s flash mobs.
We know that the Puritans got Christmas banned for nearly 200 years, believing it was nothing but a wild opportunity to carouse and binge on booze. Their ban was eventually lifted, though, thanks in part to the introduction of the Christmas carols – and the fact that people became fed up with puritanical, burdensome restrictions.
Living in rural America, we don’t see a lot of door-to-door caroling anymore. We typically have to go to a city where carolers dressed in 19th-century clothing are gathered under a street light in a park decorated for Christmas. The harmonies transport us to a time long forgotten.
It’s not just the Christmas carols that brighten our spirit. Good, Godly music has a way of lifting us out of our melancholic funk and focusing us on that which is considerably more positive.
Paul told the church of Ephesus, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19) To Colosse, Paul wrote Colossians 3:16. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Let the songs of the season arise from your heart as you sing with joy to the Lord. “Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. (7) For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.” (Psalms 47:6-7)
1https://www.grunge.com/260670/the-bizarre-history-of-caroling/
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