Evening journal., 1921-12-15

convivial: the one celebrating the
birth OF Jesus; the other exalting
mirth and feasting. Only lately has
much attention been given to this
material by serious musicians. Dur
ing the eighteenth century the carol
literature was of the humblest kind.
Such material as was available was
handed on by tradition. Many OF
the older ones have undoubtedly been
entirely lost and many that we now
hear have been considerably mod
ernized. Davis Gilbert seems to
have been the first person who at
tempted to fix these vanishing mem
ories OF the past.
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
one Of the incidents OF his crusty,
days which Scrooge OF
Dickens christmas Carol learned
TO regret is thus described in the
first part OF the story: "Foggier
yet. and colderl Piercing, search
ing, biting cold. .... The owner or
one scant young nose, gnawed and
numbed by the hungry cold as bones
are gnawed by dogs, stopped down
at scrooge's keyhole to regale him
with a Christmas carol: but at first
sound of
God rest you merry. gentlemen
Let nothing you dismayv
Scrooge seized the ruler with such
energy o. action that the singer fed
in terror, leaving the keyhole to the
fog and even more congenial FROST
This is one OF the earliest OF the
English carols, dating back at least
to the Seventeenth Century. II
quaint verses It rehearses the New
Testament story OF the birth OF
Jesus. It is song OF Joy and glad
tidings even thought 1t is decidedly
minor In its tonality. But here
as in many other cases, the minor
does not give feeling OF sadness
but rather produces the effect Of
quaintness. OF an old-time flavor. The
vigorous marching rhythm also dis
sipates any suggestion OF sorrow, and
rather sets the heart and fee
abounding in regular cadence. Nc
wonder Il has been sung by out-ot'
door carolers for centuries.
Good King Wenceslas"
All OF us like to go to extremes
Characters that we like, we idealize
those that we dislike, we make ter
rible indeed. This tendency Is al
the root OF legends and fairy stories
A man who has led a good life and
has obtained popular approval be-
comes a saint after he dies, and leg
ends are told concerning him. some
times a combination OF great pow
ers gathers into pretty stories about
personality that never existed aho
we have fairy stories.
But King wencesias, the hero oil
this English legend, was real per
sorage Wenceslas, the Holy, was
King Of Bohemia from 92S--s3o
Aftor his coronation he tried to es
tahlish Christianity as the predom
,nant religion. His brother object
"a and later brought about the dealt
OF the King. In Bohemla' wen
ceslas is honored as the protee'lh
saint For many years MS crow
was used at the coronation OF IN
king OF Bohemia.
The story OF the song as writer
bv DR.. .Neale relates kind uee'
which the king performed Tor
moor peasant. and the miracle ina
relieved. II took place on Decem
hcr 9eth. the day Of the Feast o.
81. stephen. the first Christian mar
tyr. The song ends with the draw
ing OF moral to adorn the tale
This exhortation TO give to the poor
Was doubtless one OF the reasons
u,bv in the old time out-of-dooI
caroling this song was usually suns
inst before the Wassail Song which
lis a direct appeal for gifts.
The square-cut melody with lt'
even notes Is characteristically Eng
lish. while the odd ending In the
last three tones is characterisucallS
ecclesiastical or church-hke. Thh
is the so-called plagal cadence oi
ending. such as occurs In a modine'
and more melodious form In many
churches today as the amen after
hymn is concluded.
An effective way OF singing TIM
quaint old Christmas song-t !
, hardly carol or birthday-song. Il
the strict sense Of the words &
, divide between the singers. wome
| and men. for example, the part
which are assigned to the page an
[ the king. or the entire group ma
sing all OF the first stanza. the lat
r ter half Of the third stanza. and a
. OF the fifth stanzas and two soloist
Z may sing the parts OF the king an
Y page.
"Dcck the HaIl'
+ Many nations have Christina
= songs. but the gay carol Is foun
principally in the British Isles. B'
fore these island people we're Chr
, tianized they had a mid-winter fes
' tival called Yule which was a seaso
: OF merrymaking. Songs were use
= which not only called for lusty 70
licking singing but also stimulate
81 dancing and frolicking. Whe
= Christianity was established in Enl
land. the missionaries instead OF a.
. tempting TO suppress the carol
which were the popular music OF tf
!. day. encouraged their use with n
e. new religious Interpretation
Christmas. Frequently texts wei
slightly changed, or even entirely r.
= written in order 10 present the Chri
tian idea. hut occasionally, on u
n theory that "a principal point
. charity. Il is 10 be merry" the o
p pagan songs we're preserved in the
p original forms.
n Deck the Har' is one OF IN
% type. II comes from Wales. IN
land Of Hearty singing. II vivid
n pictures the household preparati
J. for the joyful feas.. The famo