|
'Glory,
Glory in the Highest' and 'We'll Never Say Goodbye' are two of the many
versions of 'While Shepherds' and take their titles from the words of the
choruses.
These
are some of the carols from our Records.
Audrey
E Aylmer
Bude & Stratton District Old Cornwall Society
The
following article first appeared in the 1936 Winter edition of the Old Cornwall
Journal and was written by Mrs Ethel Jewell.
Stratton,
in common with many other small towns in Cornwall, has a very interesting
collection of Carols, but this Carol of the Months, which has recently come to
light (1931), is as far as I can find out, unique in Cornwall, and the discovery of it is
only another instance of how much and how varied is the store of folk lore still
existing in our midst.
It
was in 1931, that in a conversation with another Stratonian, Mrs English, of
Bradford Manor, Devon, our talk drifted to some old inhabitants of Stratton,
amongst them a mother and daughter, named respectively, Lizzie and Jinnie
Kempthorne.
Immediately
their names were mentioned, memory called up their figures and their homes. At
that time they lived in a tiny two roomed cottage at Gibraltar Square, since
tumbled down. The floor downstairs was of beaten earth and the interior of the
cottage, even on bright days was so dim that it was no wonder that the upper
latch was invariably open to give the dwelling extra air and light. Moreover I
never seem to remember seeing the two women without their bonnets. To my
childish imagination it appeared as if they wore them even in bed
Mrs
English then told me that Lizzie, the elder woman was for many many years a
kitchen visitor for Christmas Day at St. Cyprian’s the home of Mrs English’s
Dr. John King, and that after dinner on Christmas evening, Lizzie would come
into the drawing room and sing this old song. She would then turn around very
solemnly three times and say to the assembled company. “Good evening ladies
and gentlemen all, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
I
was so interested in this story that I got Miss Grace English to give me the
bare notes of the air, and this together with the words and the suggestion that
perhaps the “turning around” might refer to the Trinity I sent to Dr Ralph
Dunstan.
The
following is part of Dr Dunstan’s letter in reply.
“
The Carol of the Months” is very interesting I send you what I think might be
the rendering, and a simple harmony such as might be sung if there happened to
be “a company of singers.” “Turning about three times” might possibly in
later times refer to the Trinity, but Dr Dexter the distinguished Cornish
antiquarian, says it was undoubtedly the usual “turnings” in Sun-worship
observance, common in every part of the world. Christmas Day was one of the
chief dates of Sun-worship Festivals, the date being borrowed by the early
Christians and allotted to that of the birth of Christ.
This
makes the Carol in some form or other a very ancient one, and you have certainly
rescued a noteworthy example of old custom.” Dr Dunstan also added that he
arranged a copy of the Carol, with details of its history, for insertion into
the Second Part of his Cornish Song Book if and when it should ever be
published. Alas! Very soon after this he died, and Cornish music lost its best
exponent.
|
Carol of the Months
January's when cold winds do blow,
February brings us frost and snow,
March is when young lambs do play,
April brings us flowers so gay,
May is when the fields are green,
June is when new hay is seen,
July’s days are very warm,
August brings the thunder storm,
Septembers harvest fields are clear,
October’s when we brew fine beer,
November dreariest days in the year,
December ends the fleeing year.
|
— Mrs. E. Jewell, Holsworthy, Devon.
|
