Christmas Carols in 1700

I thought it would be interesting this year to put together a list of Christmas Carols that existed around the early 1700's. These might have been sung by ship's crews as part of a Christmas celebration. At the end is a You Tube video of a boy's choir singing A Coventry Carol.

Enjoy!

"While Shepherds Watched" dates back to 1703. The words for While shepherds watched were written by Nahum Tate, who was the Poet Laureate in the reign of Queen Anne, and Nicholas Brady. Only the Psalms of David were sung in the Anglican Church prior to that time. Tate and Brady were the first to paraphrase the psalms for singing in rhyme which then became distinctive of their work. The familiar melody used for While Shepherds Watched was taken from "Siroe," an opera by George Frederick Handel. On a lighter note children love to parody the words “While shepherds watched their flocks by night” and replacing them with “While Shepherds wash their socks by night!” 

From : 10 Christmas Carols of The 18th Century

Written by Rick Brainard

Parent Category: 18th Century History Articles

Category: Society and Culture

The Origin of Christmas Carols & Music

Carols are banned but bounce back
Christmas carols were banned between 1649 and 1660 in England by Oliver Cromwell who thought that Christmas should be a solemn day. (Cromwell also abolished the monarchy.) When Protestants, inspired by Martin Luther, took to the joy of Christmas carols, many had to flee Europe under pressure from the Catholic Church. They took the Christmas carols with them to their new homes across the world. In 1649, John de Brebeur wrote the first American Christmas carol, called Jesus is Born.
Fortunately, in Europe, when carols couldn't be sung in Churches, they found a stage elsewhere. The world's most famous religious play, the Passion Play, was staged in Oberammergau, Germany in 1634 (and has been performed every 10 years since). In the 1700s, the music by Mendelssohn and Händel was adapted and used as Christmas carols.

SOURCE: http://www.didyouknow.cd/xmas/xmascarols.htm

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) - 1700's: The text to the Carol O Come All Ye Faithful was originally written in Latin (Adeste Fideles) and was intended to be a hymn, it is attributed to John Wade, an Englishman. The music to O Come All Ye Faithful was composed by fellow Englishman John Reading in the early 1700s. The tune was first published in a collection known as "Cantus Diversi" in 1751. In 1841 Rev. Frederick Oakley is reputed to have worked on the familiar translation of O Come All Ye Faithful which replaced the older Latin lyrics "Adeste Fideles". (SOURCE: http://www.carols.org.uk/o_come_all_ye_faithful.htm)

Coventry Carol - 1534: The words and lyrics of the' Coventry Carol' were written by Robert Croo in 1534 for the traditional Coventry Plays and included in the Pageant of the Shearman and Tailors Guild which depicted Herod's slaughter of the innocents. The composer of the music is unknown but is also believed to date back to the 1500's. Henry Ramsden Bramley (1833-1917) and John Stainer (1840-1901) were the first to attribute the Coventry Carol which they included in 'Christmas Carols New and Old' in 1878.

I Saw Three Ships - 1666: Words: Traditional; First Publication Date: John Forbes' Cantus, 2nd. ed. (1666), Music: Traditional English.

Pat-A-Pan - 1700's: Words and Music: Guillô, Pran Ton Tamborin, Bernard de la Monnoye, c. 1700 (1641-1728)

From: http://www.digitalgothic.net/Sanctuary/carols.htm

Listen to A Coventry Carol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIvH5GdY4JE