Once I started posting songs for this Christmas season-- as I so commenced on December 27th-- I had every intention of posting once a day regularly until the end of the 12 days. Alas for good intentions: we have had some adventurous times in these regions, and whilst I have thoroughly enjoyed the adventures for the most part, it has rather gotten in the way of musical research. I have, of course, already mentioned the snow-- a snowfall which seemed to me to be entirely in keeping with the sort of snow that is quite usual for us here, but which, it transpires, has set a record for snowfall in the month of December. Well and good that is, especially given Saharan conditions of the past year, but even mighty snowfalls do not, in themselves, adventures make. For a proper adventure we must throw in very badly plowed roads and several main roads in and out of one's small, mountain tourist town shut down due to the weather; and when the street in front of your house finally gets a lick and a promise from the plow drivers, a staggeringly epic berm at the entrance of your driveway, many feet high, and many feet wide, which requires several hours of hard labour to clear away; and masses of people who have not been able to ski here in 3 years for various reasons, running up in a veritable stampede to partake of the fresh white powder; people who, having come up for skiiing and/or Christmas, find themselves snowbound for several days, and who, in their desperation to leave again, attempt to flee en masse, resulting in deadlocked traffic that prevents anyone (including the local population, many of whom are dragging their stiff-from-shovelling bodies in to work) from getting anywhere again ever... and this deadlock exists for miles upon miles upon miles, so that a state of emergency must be called, and the deadlocked motorists are turned back to whence they came; and the town running out of gasoline; and, in the midst of all of this attempting to visit one's own family members who have come in from out of town for this most festive and beautiful of season, specifically to partake in the beautiful festivities, and who must leave sooner than anyone wishes to be the case. All of which is a very round about way of saying that I was too much occupied yesterday to spare much thought for carol-hunting, much less attempt a post. But snow has temporarily ceased to fall, and it is again possible to get from one point of town to another in a reasonable time, and the plows went by twice, leaving considerably less epic berms this time (though the state of the roads is still pretty appalling) so life is quite tame at present, and I can again consider such things as appropriate Christmas songs.
And I got quite lucky with this one. Today is the feast of St. Thomas a Beckett, which is not generally an easy feast to match music to. However, I stumbled into this recording of Welcum Yule, which is not only in fine Middle English (which is, of course not the language of St. Thomas, but its still fun), it specifically mentions the martyred bishop of Canterbury. I am not sure how old it is. Hymns and Carols of Christmas finds it in a collection of Ancient Songs and Ballads From The Reign of King Henry the Second To The Revolution. (1790), and lists it as "Class II. Comprising the Reigns of Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI."... but I do not know from which reign it actually comes. The lyrics listed on the website include several more verses than are sung here, and welcome various other parts of the Christmas celebrations. It is an all together cheerful little carol:
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