A traditional carol and one by a tall preacher

Part two of a series of four articles giving readers some background about some of the popular Christmas songs and carols.

GOD REST YE MERRY, GENTLEMEN

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.

This is a traditional English carol first printed in 1760, sung in the streets of London by the “waits,” municipal employees who were licensed to sing seasonal songs, similar to what carollers do today.

In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge is infuriated by its singing and threatens the singers if they do not stop their song. It has quite a different message than the commercial ads that say “Great Holiday Gift Ideas.”

The words of the carol are found in the Lethbridge Herald’s “Carols and Cookies” publication, on page 16.

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

O little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie,

Above the deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.

Yet in they dark streets shineth the everlasting Light,

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

This carol was composed by the famous six-and-a-half-foot Boston preacher, Phillip Brooks, in 1868 for use by the Sunday School at Trinity Church in Philadelphia. It was inspired after riding by horse through Bethlehem in the Christmas season. The lovely traditional tune, “St Louis,” was composed by the organist, Louis Henry Redner of the same Trinity Church.

The carol appeals to the singer to let Christ come, not only into Bethlehem, but into our hearts.

The words are found in “Carols and Cookies” on page 9.

Rev. Austin Fennell is a retired United Church minister.