![]() ![]() Soon, even the protestant English clergy of the Victorian era were enthusiastically teaching “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” to their parishioners. By that time-thanks in part to Queen Victoria’s love of carols-the song found favor in the Anglican Church. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” was sung for hundreds of years before it was finally published in the nineteenth century. Though it might have been rejected by the church leaders, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” better presented the message of the first Christmas and the life of Jesus than did many of the songs used in formal worship of the day. The writer also fully understood the power of Christ and what His arrival meant to all who embraced it. He included the high points of the gospel throughout the carol’s verses. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’s” lyrics reveal that the song’s unknown writer knew the story of Jesus’ birth well. Not only did they sing to this carol, they danced to it. Written with an upbeat melody and speaking of the birth of Jesus in joyful terms, the song may have shocked early church leaders, but it charmed their flocks. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” was the most famous and most loved of all the early carols. Their Christmas folk songs became the foundation of what are now knows as Christmas carols. In this way, the peasant class led a quiet rebellion against the tone of religious music by writing religious folks songs that were light, lively and penned in common language. So, while they continued to go to worship, they created their own church music outside the walls of the cathedrals and chapels. ![]() In fact, though few admitted it in public, most church members secretly disliked the accepted religious songs of the day. During this period, the songs of organized religion were usually written in Latin and their melodies were somber and dark, offering singers and listeners little inspiration or joy. Like so many early Christmas songs, this carol was written as a direct reaction to the music of the 15th Century Church. What Americans hear when they listen to “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is not anything like what the English peasants meant when they first sang this song more than 500 years ago. It was first published in 1827, but even then it was introduced as “an ancient carol, sung in the streets of London.” In fact, old London had municipal watchmen who were licensed to perform certain tasks, including the singing of Christmas carols. The earliest known printed edition of the carol is in a broadsheet dated to c. This Christmas carol is one of the oldest extant carols, dated to the 16 th century or earlier. GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN written in 1760 ![]()
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