This carol is one of, if not the, oldest Christmas carols in English. It was said to be one of the Christmas carols sung to the military in the fifteenth century. It was published on a broadsheet in around 1760 as a “New Christmas carol” and in a book called “New carols for Christmas” which suggests that it may be newer than the fifteenth century, but that is up for debate as it may mean that it gained notice in those years.
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
In Bethlehem, in Israel,
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy.
From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
“Fear not then,” said the Angel,
“Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan’s power and might.”
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway
The Son of God to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
And when they came to Bethlehem
Where our dear Saviour lay,
They found Him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His Mother Mary kneeling down,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
We Three Kings was written by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr, who was a stained-glass window designer as well as musician. He wrote the music and lyrics to this song. It may have been in use by 1857. Its first appearance in print was in 1863 in the book Carols, Hymns and Song. It is said that its first use was in a Christmas pageant.
We Three Kings
Lyrics
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star.
Chorus:
O Star of wonder, star of night.
Star with royal beauty bright.
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy Perfect Light.
Chorus
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain.
Gold I bring to crown Him again.
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to rein.
Chorus
Frankincense to offer have I.
Incense owns a Deity nigh.
Pray’r and praising, all men raising,
Worship Him, God most high.
Chorus
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume,
Breathes of life of gathering gloom.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
Chorus
Glorious now behold Him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice.
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Earth to heav’n replies.
Edmund Hamilton Sears, who was the pastor of the Unitarian Church in Lancaster, Massachusetts, wrote the lyrics to It Came Upon the Midnight Clear in 1849. It was created at the bidding of W.P. Lunt, and it was possibly first sung at a Sunday school celebration. Its first publication was on December 29, 1849 in the Christian Register in Boston.
There are two common tunes. The Carol tune came first and was made by Richard Storrs Willis in 1859. It is the tune commonly used in the USA. In the UK, it is more common to hear the Noel version. This was adapted from a older English song in 1874 or 1875 by Arthur Sullivan.
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Lyrics
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.
And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
For lo!, the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.
NOTES: Verses 3 and 5 have alternate lyrics that can be used.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the heavenly hymn have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And warring humankind hears not
The tidings which they bring.
O hush, the noise and cease your strife,
And hear the angels sing.
For lo!, the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old.
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold.
When heaven and earth shall own,
The prince of Peace their King.
And all the world give back the song,
Which now the angels sing.
* Means those two alternatives must be used together
The First Noël or just Noël is a carol who’s origins are mostly unknown. There are so many different stories that it is near impossible to find the truth.
The form we know comes from Cornwall and was first published in Carols Ancient and Modern (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys’ Christmas Carols (1833), both were edited by William B. Sandys and had extra parts written by Davies Gilbert.
The song is The First Nowell, but the name has been written, inconsistently with the original, as The First Noël for quite a while. Noël has become standard but the name is Nowell traditionally, and I don’t believe it has been officially changed.
The First Noël
Lyrics
The first Noël the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep:
Chorus:
Noël, Noël, Noël, Noël,
Born is the King of Israel.
They looked up and saw a star,
Shining in the east, beyond them far:
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night:
Chorus
And by the light of that same star,
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wheresoever it went:
Chorus
This star drew nigh to the north-west;
O’er Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay
Right over the place where Jesus lay:
Chorus
Then entered in those Wise Men three,
Fell reverently upon their knee,
And offered there in his presence,
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense:
Chorus
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of nought,
And with his blood mankind hath bought:
