Advent 2024: Sat 7 Dec
Silly Songs?
Last year, the Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College Chapel included this carol:
King Jesus hath a garden
King Jesus hath a garden, full of divers flowers,
Where I go culling posies gay, all times and hours.
Refrain:
There naught is heard but Paradise bird,
Harp, dulcimer, lute,
With cymbal, trump and tymbal,
And the tender, soothing flute.
The Lily, white in blossom there, is Chastity:
The Violet, with sweet perfume, Humility.
The bonny Damask-rose is known as Patience:
The blithe and thrifty Marygold, Obedience.
The Crown Imperial bloometh too in yonder place,
‘Tis Charity, of stock divine, the flower of grace.
Yet, ‘mid the brave, the bravest prize of all may claim
The Star of Bethlem-Jesus-bless’d be his Name!
Ah! Jesu Lord, my heal and weal, my bliss complete,
Make thou my heart thy garden-plot, fair, trim and neat. Refrain
If this was included in a Sunday service there would be serious questions asked about its theology. In a Christmas Service I might ask what on earth it has to do with Christmas, apart from a mention of Bethlehem! Play that soothing flute!
We need to be careful not to be taken in by so-called carols that have pretty tunes, as this one does, but little concrete relevant Christian content. We might love to see children singing Away in a manger. But why do we assume that the little Lord Jesus doesn’t cry when lowing cattle wake him? Is he different from other babies? Does he have special powers already? Of course, this is a small complaint, and the tune (there are different opinions on which is the best one) is sweet, but we should not sweeten up the words to the point where they verge on silliness.
The 1960’s publication, Carols for Choirs, made a huge impact on choirs and their contribution to carol services. The book contains some now-famous versions of Christmas hymns and descants. It also contained songs associated with Christmas, such as the Boar’s head carol. It’s all about a boar’s head. It’s got a cracking tune, but how anyone can justify including it in a service of worship is beyond me. Further editions of the book have been published and the editors have searched farther for material, and some of it may be more for entertainment than worship.
Some of our well-known carols are steeped in pagan or earth-bound traditions. The Holly and the Ivy describes parts of the holly tree, crown of the wood, and connects them to aspects of faith, such as the berry: if only this blood-red fruit could describe the blood of Jesus, but it doesn’t! Likewise, do the bark and gall point to Jesus’ suffering? They don’t. It’s a carol of straw, not worthy of true worship. I saw three ships has no content! And there are plenty more.
The 2023 service booklet (PDF):
https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/pdfviewer/48431
Here is a carol that I'll mention tomorrow:
Paul