The Hidden History of Christmas Carols
By Carolyn Emerick
Celtic Guide, Vol.2:12 (December 2013)
Introduction: The story of Christmas caroling is full of unexpected surprises. The practice itself has gone through many changes over the centuries, and our perception of caroling today is based only on the very recent history. We think of Christmas caroling as a wholesome, and even religious, activity. Caroling seems to speak of the beauty, innocence, and magic of the Christmas season. However, in researching this practice, I have discovered that caroling was not as innocent as we might think. In fact, the act of caroling was actively combatted by the Church for hundreds of years.
Uncovering the origins of caroling has proven difficult. Some sources give the 14th or 15th centuries as the earliest date for caroling. I believe the reason for this is because this is the period when caroling began to be adopted by the church, and this is when carols first began to be written down. However, there is much evidence that caroling was around long before that. We don’t have written carols from the early periods, but what we do have are edicts from the Church and recorded sermons which make reference to caroling.
In his book, The Book of Christmas Folklore, Tristram P. Coffin says that “For seven centuries a formidable series of denunciations and prohibitions was fired forth by Catholic authorities, warning Everyman to ‘flee wicked and lecherous songs, dancings, and leapings’”. Apparently early carols could be quite lewd. They were originally associated with dance as well as song. The caroling dancers often went around town in costume, and it is related to the custom of mumming (which is most well known in England, but there are mumming traditions on the continent as well). Coffin mentions that this revelry was considered so offensive to the Church that they referred to caroling as “sinful traffic” and issued decrees against it in 1209 A.D. and 1435 A.D. It must have been a good time, for clerics and priests who found themselves caught up in the fun received a stern scolding in one document from 1338 A.D. They are accused of neglecting their clerical duties “while indulging in dances and masques; for prowling the city ‘streets and lanes’ ‘day and night’; as well as leading a riotous existence”.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
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