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The English Christmas Carol for Journal The English Christmas Carol Anne Gregson The English Christmas Carol A Dissertation by Anne Gregson Bath Spa University May 2013 i The English Christmas Carol Anne Gregson Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. ii List of Examples ................................................................................................................................. iii Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One - Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 3 Chapter Two - Origins of Early Traditional Carols ............................................................................. 6 Chapter Three - Gallery Carols .......................................................................................................... 15 Chapter Four - Victorian and Present Day Church Carols ................................................................. 21 Chapter Five - How and Where Old Carols Survived ....................................................................... 24 Chapter Six - Revival of Carols ......................................................................................................... 33 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 36 Appendix 1 - Sheffield Carol Singing Sessions ................................................................................. 38 Appendix 2 - Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir .......................................................................... 42 References .......................................................................................................................................... 46 i The English Christmas Carol Anne Gregson Acknowledgements There are several people who have helped with this project who have been happy to give advice or refer me to other people or printed material that could help me. I have been pleasantly surprised at how willing so many people were to advise and encourage me. There are a few people I should particularly like to thank who are experts in the field and have extensively researched the subject. They have not only provided much invaluable printed matter but have also freely given their time to provide me with a great deal of advice in this project. These are Professor Ian Russell who has advised me particularly with regard to the Sheffield carols and their origins; and also Bob and Jacqueline Patten who have advised me about gallery carols and in particular traditions in the Exmoor area. I would like to thank Bill Hicks for his detailed description of how the Stroud carols tradition was created and organised. The following have been very helpful and have given good advice regarding gallery carols: Sally Drage, Rollo Woods, Mike Bailey and Jack Crawford. Community choir leaders who have advised about their material are David Burbidge for information and advice, Sarah Morgan for advice about carols sung by community choirs and Candy Verney for information about the Village Carols days and weekends that she organises, and for putting me in contact with other choir leaders. Others who have been very helpful and have earned my thanks include Alan Dodge, Glyn Court, Stephanie Brown, Francis Roads, Tony Singleton, Ken Baddley and Gerry Mogg. One wouldn’t get far in a work of this kind without the help of librarians and I would like to thank Malcolm Taylor of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library for help and advice and the staff of Bath Spa University Library and Frome Library for obtaining precious books from other libraries. I should like to thank Matthew Spring of Bath Spa University for tutoring me and giving advice and encouragement and enthusiasm for my choice of subject. Lastly I must thank my husband, Chris Timson for technical and moral support. ii The English Christmas Carol Anne Gregson List of Examples Example 1. The Gloucestershire Wassail ............................................................................................ 7 Example 2. The Sans Day Carol .......................................................................................................... 8 Example 3. Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day ................................................................................ 9 Example 4. Green Grow'th the Holly ................................................................................................. 12 Example 5. Coventry Carol ................................................................................................................ 13 Example 6. Liverpool ......................................................................................................................... 16 Example 7. Shepherds Rejoice ........................................................................................................... 28 Example 8. I Hear Along Our Street (Dunster Carol) ........................................................................ 29 Example 9. Shepherds Arise .............................................................................................................. 31 iii The English Christmas Carol Anne Gregson Introduction This dissertation is concerned with the English Christmas carol. It considers present day carol singing in all its forms and puts this into context regarding the origins and path through history of the various types of carols sung today. The current interest in long forgotten carols and whether there is a growing renaissance in Christmas carols is examined. Finally the work considers what might happen in the future and whether the carols will survive. This work was inspired by the author’s lengthy personal involvement with traditional English folk song. The experience of singing ‘Sheffield carols’ (which will be described later on) in South Yorkshire and finally the joint organisation of, and researching local carols for, a new carolling tradition in Bradford-on-Avon (which will also be talked about in more detail in a later chapter) has led to a deep fascination with the subject. The evolution or journey of the English Christmas carol is strange and fascinating with many surprises on the way. However exploring every aspect of all the different varieties of Christmas carol would be far too broad a subject for the given constraints of this dissertation so it has had to be restricted to English carols that are sung today, including obscure carols as well as the standard church repertoire. Therefore it does not include early and medieval church carols that have been covered in depth by many other authors. In addition to standard church carols, the dissertation is also concerned with traditional folk carols, wassails and eighteenth and early nineteenth century gallery carols that did not become part of the standard repertoire. The ways in which various types of carols survived are explored, including the work of early twentieth century folk song collectors and more recent researchers, and also reasons why some carols did not survive. The effects of the seventeenth century ban on festivities and Christmas carols are investigated. In order to discuss gallery carols and put them into perspective it has been necessary to spend a whole chapter considering the historical and social situation regarding the rise and fall of gallery music as well as describing the carols of the period. As well as books on the subject of Christmas carols it has been very informative to read the introductions to many collections of carols produced at different periods in history. Some collections also include notes on the carols which establish sources. Databases in libraries and the internet were searched for collections of old carols. The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library proved a good source of material including books and pamphlets which are difficult to find elsewhere. Articles in Folk Music Journals and on the website of the West Gallery Music Association also offered a wealth of useful material. Experts in the field were contacted and were very helpful. There are several extremely knowledgeable experts regarding gallery carols, who have done extensive research and searched out old manuscripts which I understand have been discovered in almost every part of England. It is necessary to define a few terms that will be frequently used in this work to describe some types of carols and their method of survival. The term ‘living traditions’ is used to describe situations where carols have been sung in a secular context for centuries and the tradition is still continuing. Carols that were sung in the west gallery of many churches during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century will be referred to as ‘gallery carols’. Ancient carols that have been passed down through generations by word of mouth rather than being composed and written down are referred to as ‘folk’ or ‘traditional’ carols and this method of transmission is referred to as ‘the oral tradition’. Theobald (2012) describes traditional folk songs and carols. 1 The English Christmas Carol Anne Gregson Something which is traditional was composed or written by the common folk of the time, not the skilled musicians; it would rarely have been written down, instead being preserved by each generation learning the
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