Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1903-12-24
W0MAN'S CLUB ADDRESS
christmas Carols, Ancient and
Modern"

; slgnlfles round dance, song of Joy,
and is also a Christmas hymn that
may be traced to the primitive
church. 1t was customary to call up
on such as would sing to praise God
in a hymn, either in words Of the
scriptures or of their own creation.
And it was also customary for Bishops
on Christmas Day to make sport with
their clergy, and to sing which Gus
tom it was in imitation of the
"Gloria in Excelsis' of the Angels.
The first Christmas carol was sung
when Christ was born. As the Angles
appeared unto the people saying be-
hold l bring you good tidings, for un-
to you is born this day, Saviour
which is Christ, the Lord. Sudden
ly there was with the Angel multi
tude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, glory to God in
the highest, on earth peace, good will
toward men. As to tho exact year
it is not definitely known, as on these
points there are differences OF opinion.
1t is generally agreed that the birth
of Christ ought to be set back at least
four years. 1t seems to have happen
ed very shortly before the death of
Herod the great. Herod died in the
E50th year from the building Of Rome
i. c, four years before the usual start
ing point of Christian chronology.
The Christian church, observed the
2jth Of December as festival day, in
memory of the birth of Jesus Christ.
There is however, a difficulty in
accepting this as the date of Ma
tiyity, December being the height of
the rainy season in Judea. when
neither flocks nor shepherds could
have been at night in the fields Of
Bethlehem. But history tells us that
the first feast TO be celebrated on the
2jth of December was established by
Commodus, emperor of Rome, who
lourished about 1856 years after the
birth of Christ, and as everyone is
satisfied to take this as the nativity
of Christ, it matters little whether il
is historically correct or not
The Christian era was ushered
in with "A burst of heavenly music,
and through all the succeeding
centuries of toll and conflict, each re-
turning Christmas time has wakened
anew the echoes of peace on earth,
good will to men, "
The practice of singing Carols or at
all events, sacred music in celebration
of the nativity of Christ as early as
the I'd century is considered as proved
by the circumstance that large
sarcophagus belonging to that
period has sculptured upon it
representation of Christian family
joining in Choral praise for this pur-
pose. \ century or two after
this, however, the Christmas Carols
seem to have sadly degenvrated and
become, in fact, so indecent that the
clergy found it necessary to forbid
them.
Under the Anglo-Stxon kings,
merriment and piety were pleasantly
combined in English life, a peculiar
ity that effected the Christmas Carols
Of that period not a little In the
latter part of the 4th century in
Alexandria, they celebrated Christ
mas with songs of praise.
Christmas in Rome in the last years
Of the 9th century was quite different
from today. You would enter the
cathedral aud listen, to long. drawn
out, mysterious sounds. strangely un-
certain in movement, with apparent
ly no accent, with no definite tonal- !
ity, without form, wandering away |
up into the shadowy arches aud losing |
themselves in prolonged whisperings
among the carved capitils Of the |
columns What music is this which |
is almost without melody, and wholly |
without harmonyy The Roman chant. |
the pure Gregorian in which now the I
JOY Of the Christian church at the |
birth Of its Redeemer is published. |
Today You would hear harmonious
songs Of praise. Between the 9th |
and 18th centuries the world seemed |
to be shrouded in gloom, and find |
no record Of any open demonstrations
during that time, but during the 18th |
century, the veil Of darknefs was
lifted, and the people again celebrated |
ths birth Of Christ with their Christ.
mas Carols.
In 1880 Paris celebrated Christmas
in strange way. We are listening /
to a mass by one Jean Perotln, and .
again we hear the device Of imitation |
employed-one voice repeats the ac-
cents Of another voice, and then they |
toss the fragments back aud forth to |
one another, but so slowly and 80
carefully, as if they were afraid they |
might break it,
In England little later we might !
hear the "waifs" singing their carols
from town to town and see them feast
ing on the good cheer pronered |
by reyerent women, while beyond the |
Rhine in Germany, the good folk, |
pious and homely, would cluster
round the Hreside and sing their |
Christmas songs.
BY the 18th Century the iocosity |
had unhappily lapsed into what would |
now be considered profanity. The
oldest printed collections Of English
Christmas Carols bear the date Of
1921. The majority Of these, though
written by men Of learning-priests
and teachers, exhibit lamentable ig.
norance Of the two most prominent
persons in the Carols-Mary and
Jesus. In 1925 was kent the still