Oh, internet hive mind, can you help me?
I need a carol-like anthem for a group of coldmongers to sing that is like Good King Wenceles but written prior to 1816. Coldmongers are, in essence, magicians who specialize in chilling things.
Features that I like about Good King Wenceles
- Nice marching tempo
- Already mentions frost
- Reasonably recognizable
The lyrics are, unfortunately, from 1853. Any suggestions on alternate songs?
Edited to add: A drinking song would also work.
‘Twas in the Winter Cold?
Oh, the third verse is a very good fit.
I’ll try to find out the date – it’s in an 1870s book of carols, but might be earlier.
Sources seem to point to Joseph Barnby (born 1838) as composer. If true, it’s a bit too late for the desired timeframe. Tragic, as that third verse sounds awesome.
Darn! So close and so good.
Ah, I think the words are mid-century. Tell me if you want me to hit up the hymnal, or the USC music dept.
I saw three ships? http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/carols_stories.shtml#ships
Not finding frost songs, but tossing up here ones I do find :s
Joy to the world 1719 http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-carols/joy-to-the-world.html
Ding Dong Merrily on High 16th Cen http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-carols/ding-dong.html
Edit: First Noel? (‘cold winter’s night’) http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/first_nowell.htm
Edit2: A resource maybe… I’m off to bed http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/HTML/The_hymns_and_carols_.htm
Hmmm… I found you a drinking song… not exactly the best fit. “The Little Barley Corne” http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Barley-Corne/dp/B00124FK8A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322452493&sr=8-1 There is a line about “against the cold ye may be clad with the little barley-corne.”
EDIT Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/7aeulxWQ0ltrsuje6uc6hY
EDIT 2: An 18th century(?) carol with the refrain “To Drive the Cold Winter Away” – probably the opposite of what you need, but possibly useful:
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/drive_the_cold_winter_away.htm
Ooo! Drinking songs are a GREAT idea.
Er, well, these are kind of longshots, but what they hey?
Adam Lay Ybounden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Lay_Ybounden
That one definitely meets the “older than 1816” requirement – blasted thing’s in Middle English.
The Snows They Melt the Soonest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snows_They_Melt_the_Soonest
That’s not really a carol, just a traditional song. The article says the earliest it can be found in print is 1821, but given that it’s a traditional folks song, it’s a good bet it was around long before then.
Wow. The Snows They Melt the Soonest might be perfect.
Drive The Cold Winter Away – http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/drive_the_cold_winter_away.htm and on the flute: http://www.flutetunes.com/tunes.php?id=744.
There seems to have been a derived drinking song version also: http://vclvm54.isis.unc.edu/mediawiki/index.php/Talk:Drive_the_Cold_Winter_Away. Also http://www.petecooper.com/eftnotes.htm
“The Cold Song” – Too bad it’s an aria. The lyrics look promising. http://rogerbourland.com/2007/11/28/henry-purcell-king-arthur-the-cold-song/
When the Chill Sirocco Blows: Only found some old sheet music for this drinking song http://www.americanrevolution.org/songs/songs%20-%20drinking/ds35.jpg
Lots of good possibilities here.
Blow, Blow Thy Winter Wind?
http://www.americanrevolution.org/songs/songs%20-%20misc/ms22.jpg
Here’s a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUBGsf86ifk&feature=related
The songs we associate with the Christmas season are all generally going to be later, since Christmas was an obscure church holiday in 1813, and not widely celebrated. Musical tastes also changed considerably over the course of the 19th century, and a lot of what was popular just didn’t carry over into today. You may want to do a search for winter madrigals and see if anything jumps out at you.
I think the problem with carols is that all the ones I’ve seen with cold imagery are from mid-19th century and later. Older Christmas carols use a lot of holly, ivy, rose images. There are some older ones (like “’twas in the moon of wintertime”) that weren’t translated into English until the mid-19th century either. It’s too bad that for your purposes Christina Rossetti wasn’t regency – “in the bleak midwinter,” etc.
There’s this one, which is a very old tune: http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/sing_we_now_of_christmas2.htm
Are you still looking for a song for this? I’m just catching up on the last month…