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Show r si -1 Ji-Clh V- V?2s, 4 it- " A Ho-ly Ia-Ontao ten-der lud mild.SlMp la htiv-ea .1, 7 tr,? T r Eft kttV-'sS a x 1 H H V bl'u'- I' av Lord, at Thy birth. li x ' til av A " - Sou merr? (Scntlcm, . l, I ?S - Sit- - I fe-ter-- "cmen. i. I AT JTRATFDRD-ON-AVbM itCa ir ' ?cZ?""' I mtilnuval of . 4 Sin itmt 1HSU QgJl I ' I THE FIRST NOWELL 1 " U L.. ( The first Nowell the Angels did say "pvjjl "ZJrt&i bmoo,"!" "' I Was to certain poor shepherds in fields Jjk PXUZL-t-a Uto Waf '1l, I as they lay; I t' TtS ". I In fields where they lay keeping their LilJ' V'.T'f W.-k' ' "!T, f mi I "heep MiiJ , "mwi.m,, I On a cold winter's night that was go A fflX faIn'trgcS!rit StoaSVi "d "araoM I deep. ' tt-fpfi ttoj,.rcSS2 I Chorus. o adiflrt a- I Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, J kk&$ m I Born Is the King of Israel! J ' AT iTTRATroRD-ON-AvtiSl telnfiMtxuval of THE FIRST NOWELL The first Nowell the Angels did say Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; In fields where they lay keeping their sheep On a cold winter's night that was so deep. Chorus. Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Born Is the King of Israel! Then let us all with one accord. Bins praises to our Heavenly Lord, That hath made Heaven and earth of nought, And with His Blood mankind hath bought. Chorus. Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Born Is the King of Israel! By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN I- Is THE Christmas Carol coming com-ing back to its own as a time-honored feature of the Christmas Tide? It looks kfPfj so- And it Is to be hoped AJ5 that It is so. For the sing-PSISl sing-PSISl ing of Christmas Carols will m VttJ help to popularize the religious religi-ous observance of the day which' la losing ground year by year In this material age. Probably there Is no room In our Twentieth Century civilization for carol-singlng after the old way. But carol-slnging on n large scale Is admirable ad-mirable ns many American cities abundantly proved In 1024. It was made a community service. Many singers were enlisted and trained. Carols were sung In hospitals, orphanages orphan-ages and other Institutions. The message mes-sage of home was carried to the traveler travel-er in hotels and railroad stations. Mass-singing In municipal auditoriums was received with popular acclaim. This community service was strangely reminiscent of the old-time "Waits" street musicians who wers an established estab-lished Institution of F.uglisli cities, wearing "Waits badges," with the town unus. The singing of carols Is much older than Christinas, just as the midwinter festival of good cheer long antedates the celebration of Christmas as the anniversary of the birth of Christ. The pagan ISritons celebrated this midwinter midwin-ter festival; so did the Romans and many European peoples. It was not until the Fourth Century thnt this festival fes-tival became identitied with the church festival of Christmas "Christ-mass." Have you discovered that It's very easy Indeed to dance to some of the Christmas Carols? Well, It is. And that's because "Carol" was originally a term for a dance or for songs in termingled with dancing. It was u long time before the word came to be applied strictly to a religious Christinas song. Primitive man makes merry, you know, in song and dance and boisterous boister-ous play. It is not hard to see in the Christmas of modern times plain, evidence evi-dence of the pagan origin of mid-I mid-I winter festivities. The "Yule Log" j undoubtedly spread from the ancient Lithuanians and Iretts, whose "Christ-mns "Christ-mns Eve" was "Log Evening." The "Lords of Misrule" of England was a leftover from the Roman Saturnalia. The Christmas Carol goes back a long way into early English life. The first printed collection came in 1521 from the press of Wynltin de Worde. Tills early master-printer was probably prob-ably born In Lorraine and went to London to be assistant to Caxtou, whom he succeeded in 1491. It Is interesting inter-esting to know that a fragment of this edition is still extant and contains the famous "Boar's Head Carol," which is still sung on Christmas Day In Queen's College, Oxford whether the serving of the boar's head on a silver platter in the big dining hall still obtains, ob-tains, one Is not prepared to say. In the old days the serving of the boar's head, with much pomp and ceremony and minstrelsy and song was the feature of the Christmas feast In the homes of the wealthy nnd great. The authentic wording of this carol Is as follows: The boar's head In hand bear I, Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary; And I pray you, my masters, be merry, Quot estls In convivio. Caput aprl defero, Reddens laudes Domino. The boar's head, as I understand. Is the rarest- dish In all this land, Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland Let us servire oantlco Caput aprl defero, eic. Our steward hath provided this In honor of the King of Bliss. Which on this day to be served la In Reglnensl Atrlo, Caput aprl defero, etc. At the time Wynkin de Worde published pub-lished the first collection of Christinas Carols In 1521 carol-slnging was a universal uni-versal practice in England. In 1525. when Henry VIII lay ill, there was an edict specifically prohibiting "carols, bells or merry-making." In 1520 a license was issued to Thomas Trysdale to print, "Certayne goodly Cnrowles to be songe to the Glory of God." The Puritans endeavored to put n stop to carol-singlng and practically succeeded. Parliament, It will he remembered, re-membered, ordered the abolition of Christmas Day and to show that It had been abolished sat in sesiion December 25, 1052 "commonly called Christmas Dny." P.ut Christinas day came back with the Restoration and so did the Christmas Christ-mas Carol. In 1001 appeared a volume with the tl'le. "The New Carols for the Merry Time of Christinas, to Sundry Sun-dry Pleasant Tunes." In France also the Christmas Carol j Is very old. The French word for the ' Christmas Carol Is Noel. The Breton ! word is'-CoroU," which means a dance. ' Noel originally meant "birthday." In time It came to mean the "Birthday of Jesus." . Still later It was a song about His birthday. Nowadays a Frenchman wishing anyone "Merry Christmas," says, "Joyeux Noel !" Now the title, "The First Nowell," of the English Christmas Carol, from which quotation has been made In the foregoing, throws a sidelight on history. his-tory. This carol Is probably more than 500 years old, although It did not appear ap-pear In print until 1833. The Norman conquest of England was responsible for the "Noel" in its title. And this In turn was changed to "Nowell" to make It look English and to Insure Its pronunciation In two syllables. "Silent Night" Is probably one of the most popular of all the Christmas Carols. It seems to have been first published In Leipslc as a "Tyrolean Song." Before that It had been In the repertoire of a family of strolling Tyrolean players. Its origin was then unknown and It was said to be old. In time It was credited to Michael Haydn. A few years ago Ludwlg Erk made a thorough Investigation and reported re-ported that "Silent Night" was written and composed in 1818 at Oberndorf, Germany ; that Joseph Mohr, assistant priest, wrote the words ; that Franz Gruber, a schoolmaster, wrote the music. According to Erk, the carol was produced Christmas Eve In the church, the poet, a tenor, singing the melody, and the composer singing bass. A chorus of young women sang the refrain. The church organ was out of repair and the accompaniment was played on a guitar. "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen" Is believed to date back to the Seventeenth Seven-teenth Century. II certainly Is ns familiar to the English-speaking world as any. One version has the first line, "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" one does not know whether or not the use of the comma Is authorized. It will be noted that the Christmas Carols In general have a common characteristic char-acteristic which is especially prominent promi-nent among the older ones: They are set to pleasing and not difficult music t they are simple in form and picturesque; pic-turesque; they are often childlike Id their naivete. In short, they are real bits of folklore. Yet men famous in the world of letters have not disdained to try their hands at the Christmas Carol. For j example, "O Little Town of Bethle- hem." deservedly popular, was writ ten by the P.oston divine, Phillips j Brooks. It was intended for Sunday schools only. Several composers hnve written music for It. These Include Joseph Barnaby. the Englishman, and Louis II Iiedner. the American. |