What are England’s Favourite Christmas Carols?
It’s not so common these days, but carol singers have a strong part in English history. There’s nothing nicer on a winter dark night, to discover a band of carol singers in town, something that has happened since Victorian times.
Read our post on keeping pets safe at Christmas (foods, plants including holly and mistletoe, and other hazards).
The History of Christmas Carols in England
In medieval times, most Christmas songs were church hymns sung in Latin. Monks and choirs would fill stone cathedrals with serious, chant-like melodies. A bit like Gregorian chants you hear today.
As time went on, some were translated into English, and people would sing them in circles, holding hands. Gradually people sang them in pubs, and then in public streets.
The Victorian age saw Christmas carols grow more popular still.
Popular Christmas carols during these times were:
- O Holy Night
- O Come All Ye Faithful
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
- The First Noel
- Silent Night
- Away in a Manger
- Once in Royal David’s City
- Good King Wenceslas
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
- Ding Dong Merrily On High
- In the Bleak Midwinter (words by poet Christina Rossetti)
Top‑Streaming Carols Today
Here are the five most streamed carols in England in recent years.
- Silent Night (King’s College Choir)
- O Holy Night (Andrea Bocelli)
- Fairytale of New York (The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl)
- O Come All Ye Faithful (St Paul’s Cathedral Choir)
- All I Want for Christmas is You (Maria Carey)
BBC’s Christmas Eve broadcasts by King’s College are enjoyed by millions each year.
Ever Read the Book ‘A Christmas Carol?’
A Christmas Carol remains one of the most read books of Charles Dickens, who often focused on how the poor suffered in society. This book was so influential, real-life stooged began to make charitable donations.
Charles himself had a heavy childhood, being sent to work age 12, due to his father (who raised him in Portsmouth) being so in debt that he was actually sent to prison.
This of course gave Charles good fodder to try to inspire change for the downtrodden, through his written work. Although he eventually became a rich man, he never forgot his roots and the poverty he endured.
A Christmas Carol is the story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, who won’t even pay money for coals to keep cold people warm (sound familiar in the present political climate?)
Always offering excuses, one night he sees a ghost of his dead partner, who basically persuades him (mostly through fear) to change his ways.
Ebenezer then meets crippled Tiny Tim (a kind and happy boy) and is inspired by all the happiness around him, of those less fortunate than himself. He then decides to change his ways, and finds peace for the first time.
