God's Growing Garden: European Christmas Music #5

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

European Christmas Music #5 - UNITED KINGDOM

European Christmas Music - UNITED KINGDOM

There won't be much travel this Christmas season due to the Pandemic, so I thought it would be fun to bring the sounds of Christmas in Europe into our homes.

We will be visiting 7 European areas during this musical trip (click the following titles to visit):

France

Ireland

Germany

Italy

United Kingdom

Sweden

Spain

Also, after the featured songs, I will share some of my recipes that coincide with that area.

Today we are visiting the United Kingdom. The U.K. is comprised of 4 countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Please enjoy the following U.K. Christmas songs!

Many of the Christmas carols that we are familiar with originate in Great Britain. I have included 3 of those familiar carols at the end of the music feature below. Firstly, I shared 4 carols from each of the four countries.

ENGLAND

The Gloucestershire Wassail

A special thanks to "Waverly Consort - Topic" for sharing this with us on YouTube

WALES

Ar Gyfer Heddiw'r Bore

(For Today's Morning)

This is the first verse translated to English:

For the sake of this very morning
As a little baby, a little baby
Was born the root of Jesse
As a little baby;
The Strong one who came from Bosra,
The Lawmaker of old on Sinai,
The Redemption to be had on Calvary
As a little baby, a little Baby,
Suckling the breast of Mary,
As a little Baby.

A special thanks to "brigyn" for sharing this with us on YouTube

SCOTLAND

Naoidhein Priseil

(Precious Child)

This is the first verse translated to English:

Little baby asleep in peace,
With a gold circle above his head:
Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary -
To Bethlehem's stable come with me.

A special thanks to "Fiona Mackenzie - Topic" for sharing this with us on YouTube

NORTHERN IRELAND

Bells Over Belfast

A special thanks to "The Irish Rovers" for sharing this with us on YouTube

Finally, three carols that should sound very familiar to all of us (and that originated in Great Britain):

The Holly and the Ivy

This carol only dates back to the early 19th century but the custom of bringing greenery like holly and ivy into the home for Christmas dates back to medieval times.

A special thanks to "StarlightShade" for sharing this with us on YouTube

Good King Wenceslas

This song was written by John Mason Neale in 1853. It's about a king who helps a poor peasant boy through a strong winter storm and gives him food for "The Feast of Stephen" (December 26th).

My favorite line in this song is:

Ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.