We love to sing them, but where did Christmas Carols come from?

One source tells us that Carols were originally sung thousands of years ago, but they were pagan songs, sung at winter solstice celebrations, as people danced around stone circles.

Then in 1223 St Francis of Assisi started nativity plays in Italy and the actors sung songs that told the story. The new carols spread across Europe. The earliest carol like this was written in 1410 and a piece of it still exists. It’s about Mary and Jesus meeting people in Bethlehem. The songs were generally untrue and sung in homes rather than churches.

When Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in England in 1647 the celebration of Christmas and carol singing was stopped. During the Victorian era William Sandys and Davis Gillart collected lots of old Christmas music from villages in England which helped revive Christmas Carols forever.

Whichever Carol you sing this year, remember the One who Angels lift up on high every day of the year… Jesus… and Merry Christmas.