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McCORMTCK MESSENGER. McCORMICK. S. C.. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 21. 1939 The Carols We Sing at Christmas Perpetuate a Custom Which Began Centuries Before Birth of Christ By Katherine Ferguson Chalkley (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) C AROL singing in Ameri ca at Christmas is the continuance of a cus tom which had its beginning many centuries before the birth of Christ when the Druids celebrated the festival of Gule in honor of the return of the sun at the winter sol stice and which clung to the rites of the Christmas feast that replaced the ancient pagan festival after the con version of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Back in the ages when the Druids gathered about the oaks to cut the mistletoe and offer it to the gods, the an cient Britons would join hands and dance in circles about their priests, singing praises of the deities as they danced. These dances came to be called “Carols” which means “Dancing Songs.” When Christianity came and the Christmas feast superseded the ancient feast of Gule, these dancing songs, along with other pagan rituals, were brought into the Christian church. Here, fused with Christian hymns, they be came a substantial part of the ceremonies and customs sur rounding the celebration of the Nativity. —' As the centuries passed, how ever, {he word “Carol” became more and more inclusive until, from the Middle ages down to the present day, it has ceased to name only a part of a religious ritual and is the term applied to Christmas songs and poems, con vivial and sacred alike. The First Christmas Carol. To picture the beginning of the Christmas carols, one must im agine a star-lit plain where in the half gloom are huddled the shepherds and their flocks. Sud denly the sky becomes brilliant; the night is as bright as day. The angels have come to an nounce the birth of Christ. From the clouds comes the sound of heavenly voices singing the first Christmas carol: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to ward men.” Since music has always had a large part in the worship of all peoples, it was only natural that the early Christians should com pose hymns. That the writing of Christmas hymns had absorbed the attention of Latin churchmen early in the Christian^ era, we learn from the “Decretall Epis tle” of Telesphorus. In the sec ond century he wrote: In the holy night of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour, they do cele brate publique church services and in them solemny do sing the Angells Hymne, because also on that same night He was declared unto the Shepherds by an Angell, as the truth itself doth Wit- nesse. By the Fourth century the sing ing of Christmas hymns had be come an established custom wherever Christianity existed. The birthday of our Lord, how ever was not entirely given over to religious ceremonies. It was an occasion for so much merriment and good cheer that Gregory Nazianzen, who died in 389, in mentioning the feast of the Nativity, cautioned against feasting to excess, dancing, crowning the doors with wreaths and merry-making in general. Origin in England. In 523 Bede introduced Chris tianity into England, and that date, perhaps, marks the origin of the Christmas songs and po ems we h*ve today. Anglo-Sax ons, after their conversion, showed a great fondness for re ligious mVsic at the same time preserving their love for their old customs. Dearest to them of these customs were their dances. Hymns were composed, and when these hymns celebrated the best and greatest of all feasts, the Nativity, they were sung to dance tunes and danced about cribs that were set up in the churches. It was during the Tenth cen tury that carols ceased to deal only with the Nativity, the Holy Family and sacred subjects. They came to include festive and drinking songs. At this time, al so, there came a curious inter mingling of the sacred and pro fane in songs that were, one would suppose, meant to be strictly sacred in their praises. The French Influence. With William the Conqueror in 1066, there came a new influence into the English carol. For cen turies in France it had been the custom to sing songs in honor of the Christmas season. These were called “Noels,” and after the Norman invasion, the word “Noel,” “Nowell,” or “Novel” was used again and again in Christmas songs. By the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries Christmas carols were flourishing in all parts of Eng land. They were usually set to simple, rhythmic melodies with “catchy” tunes characteristic of popular music. One of the early writers mentions this carol which was sung to the tune of “King Solomon”: Even Christ, I meane, that Virgin’* childe. In Bethlem born; That lambe of God, that prophet mild. Crowned with thorne. Two Yuletide Customs. Mystery and miracle plays, pageants and masques had reached the height of their de velopment by the Fifteenth cen tury. Into these performances, which sometimes lasted for sev eral days, carols and drinking songs were frequently intro duced. It is to the Fifteenth cen tury, also, that several fine car ols celebrating two of the oldest English yuletide customs, the bringing in of the boar’s head to the Christmas feast and the drinking from the Wassail bowl, are attributed. Singing a toast to the boar’s head as it was being carried into the Christmas feast is a tradi tion that is probably almost as old as the celebration of Christ mas on English soil. We know that by 1340 the custom had been established at Queen’s college, Oxford; and that it has continued ever since. As trumpeters an nounced the arrival of the boar’s head, the guests at the feast would rise and sing an appropri ate song. The legend of the wassail bowl dates back to the time when Row- ena, daughter of the Saxon king, Hengist, presented a bowl of liq uor to the British king, Vorti- gern, with these words: “Louerd king—Was-heil.” To which the king replied: “Drinc heile.” From that time on “Was-heil- ing” became an expression of hospitality and good fellowship. During the Christmas season when conviviality was at its height, groups of gay merry makers went from house to house, and the streets of the towns echoed with: Wassail! Wassail! All over the town, Our bread it is white, our ale it is brown. Our bowl is made of a maplin tree, To here, my good fellow; I’ll drink to thee. The wassailing bowl, with a toast within. Come fill it up unto the brim; Come fill it up so that we may all *ee; With the wassailing bowl, I’ll drink to _ thee. Carols had their greatest vogue during the Sixteenth century. So popular had they become by 1521 that Wynkyn de Worde, one of the earliest printers in England, was induced to print a collection in that year. This undertaking had such a marked success that between the years 1546 and 1552, Rychard Kele got out an edition of Christmas songs which con tained three volumes. Directly after these followed a series of collections. Ralph Newberry’s appeared in 1559; John Tysdale, 1562; Thom Becon, 1563; Chris topher Payne, 1569; Moses Pow ell, 1587. Abolished by Puritans. Carol singing had reached its height when the reformation at tempted to sweep England clean of su^h a sacrilege as the festive celebration of Christmas. In the general onslaught of the Puritans carol singing was abolished and holly and ivy were made sedi tious badges. Neither wholesale decrees nor fines and imprisonments could stamp out a custom so popular as the singing of Christmas songs. Men and women met se cretly to observe the Yuletide and to keep alive its glorious tra ditions. So, when the restora tion came, there was a general revival of carol singing through out England. Boys and troops of children would go through the streets on Christmas eve, singing the old carols and making their songs pretexts for collecting money. They went from house to house, receiving welcomes and cakes wherever they stopped. Wandering minstrels also be long to this period. Up and down the land these songsters went. At the great Christmas gather ings of the squires and tenants, their carols were an important part of the entertainment. In 1661 appeared a new collection of songs called, “The New Carols for the Merry Time of Christmas, to Sundry Pleasant Tunes.” The custom of carol singing continued unabated until the end of the Eighteenth century when other interests and practices gradually absorbed it. During this century, however, two of the finest carols that we have today were written. Hark! the herald angels sing Glory to the new-born king; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinner* reconciled! Etc. And: While shepherds watched their flocks by night, All seated on the ground. The angel of the Lord came down. And glory shone around. An artificial revival of carols brought many new and beauti ful ones in the Nineteenth cen tury. Swinburne, Chambers, Mor ris and many other poets cele brated the Christmas festival in verse derived and patterned, of ten, after the old Latin songs. Brought to America. Naturally the carols of Eng land were brought to America along with other customs and ceremonies. They never became so popular here as in the Mother Country. However, since the be ginning of the Twentieth century, there have been endeavors to make the singing of carols an American Christmas custom. In the public schools, children were taught hymns and carols. In the churches, it is often the custom to have a song service. Sometimes the choirs go about the streets of the towns on Christ mas eve or morning, singing car ols as they go. Many schools and colleges make it traditional for one class to go about the campus and through the college buildings during the last day be fore the Christmas recess, carol ing the other classes. Whether or not carol singing will ever again have the vogue that it did during the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth cen turies, is entirely a matter of conjecture, but it is safe to say that as long as there is an Eng lish language, there will be men and women who will cherish the old Christmas carols even though they may express their own fes tive spirits in new ones. Robert Herrick, ..the famous poet of the Seventeenth century, wrote about 1650 one of the best- known of all Christmas carols: r^me, bring with noise. My merrie, merrie boyes. The Christmas log to the firing; While my good dame, she Bids ye all be free. And drink to your heart’s desiring. • With last yeeres brand Light the new block, And For good success in his spending, On your psaltries play That sweet luck may Come while the log is a teending. Drink now the strong beere. Cut the white loaf here. The while the meat is a shredding; For the rare mince-pie, And the plums stand by. To fill tiie paste that’s a kneading. Algernon Charles Swinburne, an English poet of-the Nineteenth century, wrote one of the loveli est of all Christmas poems and called it A CHRISTMAS CAROL ^Three damsels in the queen’s chamber, The queen’s mouth was most fair; She spake a word of God’s mother As the combs went in her hair. Mary that is of might. Bring us to thy Son’s sight. They held the gold combs out from her, A span’s length off her head; She sang this song of God’s Mother And of her bearing-bed. Mary most full of grace. Bring us to thy Son’s face. When she sat at Joseph’s hand. She looked against her side. And either way from the short silk band Her girdle was all wried. Mary that all good may. Bring us to thy Son’s way. Mary had three women for her bed, The twain were maidens clean; The first of them had white and red, The third had riven green. Mary that is so sweet. Bring us to thy Sen’s feet. She had three women for her hair, Two were gloved and shod; The third had feet and fingers bare, She was the likest God. Mary that wieldeth land. Bring us to thy Son’s hand. She had three women for her ease, The twain were good women; The first two were the two Maries, The -third was Magdalen. Mary that perfect is. Bring us to thy Son’s kiss. Joseph had three workers In his stall. To serve him well upon; The first of them were Peter and Paul, The third of them was John. Mary. God’s handmaiden, Bring us to thy Son’s ken. “If your child be none other man’s. But if it be very mine. The bedstead shall be gold two spans. The bedfoot silver fine.” Mary that made God mirth, Bring us to thy Son’s birth. “If the child be some other man’s, And if it be none of mine. The manager shall be straw two span*. Betwixen kine and kine.” Mary that made sin cease. Bring us to thy Son’s jfeace. Christ was born upon thi* wise, It fell on such a night. Neither with sounds of psalteries. Nor with fire .for light. Mary that is God’s spouse. Bring us to thy Son’s house. The star came out upon the east With a great sound and sweet: Kings gave gold to make him feast And myrrh for him to eat. Mary, of thy sweet mood. Bring us to thy Son’s good. He had two handmaids at his head. One handmaid at his feet; The twain of them were fair and red. The third one was right sweet. Mary that was most wise, Bring us to thy Son’s eyes. Eleanor Farjeon, an American, has written this delightful carol called “Six Green Singers,” that is brimming with the old medie val spirit: The frost of the moon fell over my floor And six green singers stood at my door. “What do ye here that music make?” “Let us come in for Christ’s sweet Sake.” “Long have ye journeyed in coming here?” “Our pilgrimage was the length of the year.” “Where do ye make for?” I asked of them. “Our shrine is a stable In Bethlehem.” “What will ye do as ye go along?” “Sing to the world in evergreen song.” What will ye sing for the Ustening earth?” “One of the Holiest Mystery, The Glory of glories shall one song be, “One of the Memory of things. One of the Child’s imaginings. “One of our songs is the fadeless Faith, And all are the Life more mighty than death.” “Ere ye be gone that music make. Give me an alms for Christ’s sweet Sake.” "Six green branches we leave with you; See they be scattered your houae-place through. “The staunch, blithe Holly your board shall grace. Mistletoe bless your chimney-place, “Laurel to crown your lighted hall. Over your bed let the Yew-bough fall, “Close by the cradle the Christmas Fir, For elfin dreams in its branches stir, “Last and loveliest, high and low. From ceil to floor let the Ivy go.” From each glad guest I received my gift And then the latch of my door did lift— “Green singers, God prosper the song ye make As ye sing to the world for Christ’* sweet Sake!” Here is another by an Amer ican poet, Lizette Woodworth Reese: Mary the Mother Sang to he.* Son, In a Bethlehem shed When the light was done. “Jesus, Jesus, Little Son, sleep; The tall kings are gone. The lads with the sheep. “Jesus. Jesus, My bosom is warm; And Joseph and I Will keep you from harm.” Mary the Mother Sang to her Son, In Bethlehem town When the light was done. IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL S UNDAY I chool Lesson Bv HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D. Dean of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. „ . . (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) Lesson for December 24 CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT FULL DRESS TUXEDOS—FROCK SUITS ] with Striped Trousers, W Complete Accessories OITIdT for Waddings and AH Formal Occa- ■ olons Anywhere. Writ* for detail* M. STEIN & CO, 1714 L St N. W„ Washington, D.C. Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se lected and copyrighted by International Council of Religious Education; used by permission. THE CHILD AND THE KINGDOM LESSON TEXT—Matthew 1:18-25; 18:1-6; 19:13-15. GOLDEN TEXT—A little child shall lead them.—Isaiah 11:6. The children’s holiday! Yes, Christmas is the children’s day of days, and it is also the day for those who have been “converted and become as little children” (Matt. 18:3). It is quite proper that it should be so, for Christmas really means nothing very significant ex cept as we gather at Bethlehem’s manger and there we find a child, the Christ-child. Those who come on the morrow to do homage to Him in the spirit of childlike faith will truly keep Christmas. In that spirit the writer of these notes wishes for you who read these lines just that kind of a holy day of joy and glad ness. Let us then go first of all to Beth lehem, and there having seen the One who “became flesh and dwelt among us” as a little child, we shall be ready to go on and learn from Him what a blessed example, re sponsibility, and opportunity there is in the childhood which we see all around us. I. The Child—Jesus Our Saviour * (Matt. 1:18-25). The virgin mother Mary “brought forth her firstborn son” and “called his name Jesus”—the one who should “save his people from their sins” (w. 21, 25). In order that He might be the Saviour, He had to be both God and man. This could only be true as God sent His own only-begotten Son into the world by giving to Him a human mother in whom He as the eternal Son of God was “conceived by the Holy Ghost” (as we express it in the creed) and became the Son of Man. For anyone who believes that God has all power and all wisdom to do what He wills and as He wills, and who further believes that Christ was pre-existent as the Son of God be fore His incarnation, there is no difficulty in believing in the virgin birth. In fact, no other manner of incarnation would have been possi ble. It necessarily follows that the one* who denies the virgin birth of Christ thereby declares that He does not believe in the God of the Scrip tures and in Jesus Christ His Son our Lord. II. The Child—Our Example (18: 1-4). The disciples had been having a discussion about who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. This was not because they desired their brothers’ advancement, for each one wanted to be the greatest (Luke 9:46). Jesus frankly told them that they needed a real change of heart, a conversion. True greatness is not a matter of worldly position or am bition, but of a childlike humility. Such an idea was absolutely revo lutionary in the day of Jesus, and in fact sounds unbelievable to the worldly man today. But it is none theless true that the great man or woman is the one who knows and recognizes himself to be utterly de pendent on God in every moment, every circumstance, every trial, and in every opportunity of life. We need to learn of our children. III. The Child—Our Responsibili ty (18:5, 6). i These awful, solemn words should) be considered with great care. What' a terrible judgment awaits those who cause little ones to stumble by reason of their false teaching, their failure to bring God’s Word to bear upon their lives, improper discipline in the home, or the influence of a bad example. There are probably preachers, teachers in the Sunday School, grandparents, uncles, aunts, mothers, fathers, yes, even friends of little children who need to reread these verses and then cry out to God in repentance before it is too late. IV. The Child—Our Opportunity (19:13-15). Jesus knew the real value of a child and His loving heart reached out to invite the children to come unto Him in love, in obedience, and in trust. When they came, He never failed to bless them. The glorious thing is that we are privileged to thus bring little children to Him. Someone may say, “Jesus is no longer on earth, I can not take my child to him.” Jesus is not here in the flesh, but He is here ever present with His children. Ypu can bring your child to Him, for the coming which He has in mind in these verses is not in any physical sense but rather spiritual. The parents who teach their little ones about the birth of Christ on this Christmas day have brought them to Him. Every word of in struction, every encouragement to pray, every example of devotion to Christ which the child may follow is the true bringing of that child to Him. Will you do it this Christmas—in the home, in the Sunday School, in the church, anywhere? If you do, there will be blessing beyond your ability to contain it and you will have A Blessed Christmas! REAL ESTATE Farms, Acreage Wanted—For quick indus trial development. Must be PRICED LOW! Details first letter! Owners only. Private buyer. Wolf, 501, 1545 Broadway, New York. Cutwork for Linens Mark of Good Taste JUST a touch of this needlework adds distinction to linens. Do these motifs in a color to match the linen or in varied natural col ors. They are just the thing for cloths, scarfs, towels and pillow cases. So replenish your liner; Pattern 6300. closet with these and you’ll be proud to show it. 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