Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-12-22
QUEER CHRISTMAS CAROLS.
The Origin of Very Pleasant Custom
Explained.

/ w llO IDS uOI lCll Ills uedII u
its inmost depths by the sound of the
Christmas carols? What song so truly
full of peace, of love, and of joy as that
And what would merry old Christmas
be, with all its cid time festivities, with
out its glad carols ringing out upon the
frosty air, to the accompanying music of
the sweet Christmas chimes?
And all the bells on earth shall ring
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
1t is natural for us to sing when we
are glad, and carol singing once formed
principal feauture at all great feasts or
banquets. But in later times the carol
seems to have been devoted to Christmas
alone, and when the yule log was blaz-
ing brightly upon the wide hearth. and
the green mistletoe boughs hung from
the wall and decorated windows and
doors, the wassail bowl was filled to
overt1owing, and true friends pledged
each other with joyful Christmas song
and under the mistletoe boughs the
young people joined hands in the old
| fashioned dance, and chanted blithe
carol to which their feet kept tune.
We, Of modern days, have little idea
of the rare virtues which were once ap-
propriated to the mistletoe. He who
hung mistletoe around his neck believed
that the witches would have no power
to harm him, and that was truly COM
Portable thought in days when the firm
belief in witches was almost universal.
The Druids and the Celtic nations attrib-
uted the most valuable medical proper
ties to the mistletoe, calling it all heal.
In Wales it was known as guidhsil.
Carol singing continued in all its vigor
until the close of the last century. Since
then it has gradually declined, except in
the schools and churches of to-day, and
around the home fireside, where sweet
young voices still join in chanting the
Christmas carols. The poet. Southey,
refers to the singing of carols or other
customs of Christmas in his Joan of
Arc" where he speaks of faithful SER
want who "fell on the plain of Palay."
In this lords castle dwelt for many year,
A well beloved servant; he could sing
Carols for Shrovetide or for candlemas,
Songs. for the wassail and when the boar's
Crowned with gay garlands and with rose
Smoked on the Christmas board.
In 5hakespeare's time, carols were sung
in the streets at night during Christmas
by the waits or watches, who expected
to receive gifts for their singing. Many
writer Of old times and customs refers
to the "wakeful sketches of Christmas
Eve" 1t was after the Reformation
that they ceased to sing Latin hymns in
the churches, and substituted the sweet
Christmas carols. For there were two
kinds of carols in yogue-those of de-
votional nature, which were sung, not
only in the churches, but also through
the streets, from house to house, upon
Christmas Eve, and even after that,
morning and evening, until Twelfth day.
In those times men were able to spare
more than one brief day for the celebra
tion of Christmas, and kept up the festi
val for at least twelve days. Other car
OILS were of livelier nature, and were
especially adapted to the revel and the
feast where the lord of misrule had po
tent sway. These carols were also call
ed wassail songs,and probably originated
among the Anglo-NOrmans, who were
of a convivial nature. No Christmas en-
tertainment was complete without the
Joyous singing of carols, and thence came
the motto, mo song, no supper" for ev-
cry guest was expected to join in the
carol. One OF the rules laid down by the
ancient customs was that "ths antient-
est master of the revel is, after dinner
and supper, to sing carol, song, and
to command the other gentlemen pres
ent to sing with him and the companie."
Says blunt English squire at his hos
pitable Christmas board:
Not a man here shall taste my March beer
Till Christmas carol he does sing;
Then all clapped their hands, and shouted and
sung,
Till the hall and the parlor did ring.
Carol is said to be derived from the
Latin word cantare, to sing, and rOla, an
interjection of joy.
One of the oldest carols is that famil
lar one entitled Christus Natus Est. 1t
ran something in this manner:
The cock croweth, Christus Natus est!
Christ is bornl
The raven asked, Qudnao? (when?)
The crow replied, Bec nocte. (this night)
The OK crieth out, Ubi? Ubi? (Where2 where)
The sheep bleateth forth, Bethlehem! Bethle>
heml
A voice from Heaven sounded, saying, Gloria
in Excelsis. (Glory be on High.)
Another carol thus represents the vir-
gin contemplating the birth of the Di-
vine Infant:
He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pail,
But all in fair linen,
AS were babies all;
He neither shall be rocked
In silver nor in gold,
But in q wooden cradle
That rocks on the mould.
In the northern part Of England they
still sing carols, and even in the great
metropolis, London. some solitary veter-
an, who has not forgotten the merry Gus
toms of his earlier years, may sometimes
be heard upon Christmas Eve singing in
a plaintive voice, "God rest you, merry
gentlemen"
In Ireland the singing of carols con-
| tinues to the present day, while in Scot