OCR Text |
Show Birthday News . . . "Nowell" or "Noel" means birthday news or a "shout of joy" for the birth of Christ. The earliest carols were songs of the Nativity, the Incarnation In-carnation and the Annunciation. Annuncia-tion. Later, ones on shepherd themes and the Epiphany were composed, and there were also many of folk origin on the festivities fes-tivities of the Christmas season. These latter included such songs as "The Holly and The Ivy." Many of the surviving old carols were originally part of the medieval mysteries and miracle plays. |