feature – Christmas Carols

feature

Christmas Carols

Christmas is almost here, and most of us really look forward to singing and hearing Carols, they evoke the traditional spirit of Christmas and the winter season.

Actually Carols did not originate with Christianity, but were pre-Christian. The word carol derives from Old French, carole, a circle dance accompanied by singing. The tunes are lively, and were very popular as dance songs from the 1150s to 1350s, after which they became processional songs sung during festivals and also accompanied the religious mystery plays. Much earlier people danced, possibly round a stone circle, at the winter solstice, in order to encourage the return of the sun.

‘Traditional’ carolling, as we know it, was introduced by the Victorians. The best known Carol service of all, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, most famously sung in Kings’ College Chapel on Christmas Eve, and heard all over the world, was introduced in the late 19th century.

Some of the carols we sing today, such as ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ originate in pagan fertility myth, where Holly is male and good, and Ivy is female and evil. Some churches do not allow this carol for fear of encouraging dancing and debauchery! ‘Silent Night’ (Stille Nacht) comes from Germany, from a village near Salzburg, when on Christmas Eve a priest discovered that the organ did not function as mice had damaged it. He quickly wrote some simple verses, and his organist found the tune, which could be played on a guitar. This carol has been translated into more than 200 languages, and was sung across the trenches during WWI.

‘Good King Wenceslas’ (a Boxing day Carol, as the Feast of Stephen is December 26th) is rather strange. Wenceslas was a tenth century Catholic Duke of Bohemia, Vaclav the Good, who was murdered by his brother, Boleslaw the Bad, and is buried in St Vitus cathedral in Prague. He is the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic. Why he is taking firewood to a peasant who lives in a forest is a mystery! The tune is Finnish, and was obviously a vigorous dance.

Of course there was singing in early Christian times, and the Apostles would have sung songs of praise, probably based on the psalms of the Old Testament. One of the earliest Christmas songs is from the 4th century, composed by St Hilary of Poitiers. St Francis of Assisi encouraged composers and poets to write music for Christmas, but lighter Christmas music was introduced during the Renaissance in the 14th century. These tunes spread after the introduction of the printing press, and monks made significant contributions.

However, in England between 1649 and 1660 carols were banned, by Oliver Cromwell, who thought that Christmas should be a solemn occasion. On the continent, when carols couldn’t be sung in churches, they found a stage elsewhere, and the most famous religious play, the ‘Passion Play’ was performed in Oberammergau, in Germany in 1634, and has been performed every 10 years since then.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was fascinated by English church music and folk music, and travelled round the country recording music in villages, pubs, farms and churches. These were edited, and published as the English Hymnal for the Church of England.

About 500 early English carols have been found in museums and libraries, some in English and some in Latin, and some in a mixture. The most famous of the latter is ‘The Boar’s Head Carol’, the verses of which are in English, with the last line in Latin, and the refrain in Latin ‘Caput Apri defero’, Reddens laudes Domino. (I bring in the Boar’s head, Give thanks to God). This is thought to date back to Anglo Saxon times, and probably from Scandinavia, where a Boar’s Head was brought in to honour the gods.

The best selling Christmas song of all time is Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’, which has sold more than 30 million copies.

‘Waits’ were official groups led by important local leaders, they sang, and collected money, food and drink from the public: if others did the same thing they could be called beggars! Waits were so called as they sang only on Christmas Eve, wait-night or watch-night, as the shepherds were watching sheep when the angels appeared to tell them of the birth of Jesus. From this has developed the modern practice of groups of carol singers going from house to house singing to collect money for charity, (and receiving mince-pies and a drink!) Ann Dekkers

Royal British Legion Women’s Section to help towards the cost of transport to events outside of the village.

Meridian Triathlon Club, who are based in Melbourn, to help towards the cost of a training qualification for their head coach.

This list illustrates the fantastic range of local clubs and activities that are available within our village to a very wide range of age groups.

We are already starting to plan for next year and will be able to start to update our website in the next few weeks.

Finally, the committee want to say thank you to all of the volunteers who give up their time to help us put on such a successful day their efforts are greatly appreciated by us all.

We look forward to seeing you at the next fete on Saturday 18 June 2016 Trevor Purnell, Deputy Chair

Mens’ Breakfast

We meet usually on the third Saturday of the month at 8.30 am at Foxton Village Hall for a full English or Continental breakfast. At about 9.00 am our speakers talk for 20 to 30 minutes and then take questions from our members or have a discussion on aspects of the topic. A vote of thanks is given by one of our members and then members all assist with the washing and clearing up to leave about 10.30 am. We usually have about 20 to 25 + attending, mostly retired but active senior men and their guests including ladies who are welcome. We are a convivial group offering friendship and outreach to the local villages in south Cambridgeshire and supported by the Anglican Four Churches Benefice of Foxton, Fowlmere, Thriplow, Shepreth and Foxton Methodist Church. With members from Meldreth, Barrington and Melbourn.

The Revd. Dr. Helen Wordsworth was our guest speaker at our September meeting. Helen, who is a Baptist Minister and also a Doctor, has been a Parish Nurse for many years. She told some interesting stories about the work done by Parish Nurses, including the case of someone who collapsed during a Church service who received an immediate diagnosis, was taken straight to Hospital and as a result avoided a very serious stroke.

The concept started back in 1986 in a Chicago hospital, where a Hospital Chaplain named Granger Westberg recruited six nurses to work in the community, helping to promote health and care for people in a holistic way. His argument was that contemporary health care should no longer be viewed and delivered in a compartmentalised way, but take into account all the contributory factors to health.

There now many thousands of ‘parish’ nurses or ‘faith community’ nurses in America attached to churches and congregations rather than hospitals. Here in the UK there are about 80 churches that have a Parish Nurse and the movement is growing as the NHS recognises the value of community based initiatives in health. The Revd. Dr. Helen Wordsworth is the founder and former CEO of Parish Nursing Ministries UK and now works as its ambassador to promote the organisation and develop its potential.

Thanks go on this occasion to our cook Michael Husband.

Our November meeting was held on Saturday 21st in Foxton Village Hall, with guest speaker Vanessa Mann, formally of BBC Radio Cambridge. Her talk was entitled “Re- Homing Post Cards”. Vanessa talked about how she has “re-homed” Edwardian postcards and other items to descendants of the recipients and senders with the help of census and genealogy websites.” – Our cook was Tony Garrick.

There is no meeting in December so our next meeting will be on Saturday 16th January 2016 in Foxton Village Hall. Our guest speaker will be our own vicar The Rev. Angela Melaniphy giving us her New Year message.

Please contact Mark Howard Tel. 01223 503377; email: Mark-Howard@

Melbourn Short Reading Group

Promoting: Fun & enlightenment – but mostly fun Culture in Melbourn & civilized values everywhere We are a Free and Not for Profit Group. All proceeds go to the long-established English Charity WaterAid (Reg Charity No 288701) Date: Every Tuesday Time: 10-11.00 a.m. VENUE: Library Area at Melbourn Community Hub Afterwards enjoy what your building & your Community Hub has to offer Enjoy Our Great Culture – It Belongs to Everyone All Welcome – Come as You Are!* Free – Donation to Water Aid Welcomed * If you wish to guarantee a seat & reading material on the day please register your interest in advance with Group Co-ordinator Hugh Pollock on 01763 260253 or email: hugh.m.pollock@gmail.com Tuesday 1st December Melbourn Short Story Reading Group (Writer: Charles Dickens: 1812 - 1870) Community Hub 10.00 - 11.00 weekly Tuesday 8th December Melbourn Short Story Reading Group (Writer: Samuel Beckett: 1906 - 1989) Community Hub 10.00 - 11.00 weekly Tuesday 15th December Melbourn Short Story Reading Group (Writer: Virginia Woolf: 1882 - 1941) Community Hub 10.00 - 11.00 weekly

Supported by: Melbourn Parish Council; Melbourn Community Hub; Melbourn Library Access Point; Royston Library; Cambridge Central Library

The Wassailing Carol

Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green, Here we come a-wassailing, So fair to be seen:

Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too, And God bless you and send you, A happy New Year, And God send you, A happy New Year. See page 39 for more on wassailing

UWclub.net or Tony Garrick Tel. 01223 510201; email garrick.tony@gmail. com so we know how many to cater for and whether you would like a Continental or Full English breakfast.

(Melbourn magazine issue 83)

Bloomsday – The Outcome

Melbourn’s final Bloomsday Celebration event for 2015 was held in the Community Hub during September. Opened by Parish Council Chairman Bob Tulloch, the principal item of business was a £903 cheque handover by Eirwen Karner to a WaterAid representative.

Louisa Peaver received the cheque on behalf of WaterAid. She spoke eloquently, and very movingly, about the development work WaterAid does in impoverished communities and isolated villages in many countries. The picture she painted – a daily life without access to clean water- was harrowing and very difficult to imagine. Yet, she assured all present that it is a life lived day after day by many millions of people. It was on behalf of those millions that she thanked “all those wonderful thoughtful people who, as they went about enjoying themselves and celebrating Bloomsday in Melbourn, displayed great kindness by generating publicity and money to enable us to do the work we do in WaterAid”.

Bloomsday Group Co-ordinator, Hugh Pollock, in reply paid tribute to the readers and the singer and musician who had performed before the cheque handover took place. He also thanked the Group’s sponsors by name saying “Together we created a unique day of celebration in Melbourn. It was hard work, of course, for all involved, but also great fun. We certainly achieved all the objectives we set ourselves. As Louisa Peaver said, an important objective of which we can be proud is that we raised publicity and money for WaterAid. So let us rejoice and be happy at a small good deed in a very harsh world. A day to remember and a job well done by all involved.” Hugh Pollock, Group Co-ordinator, Melbourn Bloomsday Celebration Group

Left: Louisa Peaver from WaterAid Below: Naomi & Adrian Brind 5TH October, 2015 Dear Editor, I was delighted to read your feature on Louis and Peggy Valentine in the autumn issue of Melbourn Magazine. My parents, Joan & Ernest Bailey, had been great friends with the Valentines in the 1950’s when they rented Wisbridge Farmhouse in Reed, and later when they built their own home in Jackson Lane Reed, prior to moving to Melbourn. My parents had met whilst both students at the Royal College of Music so were naturally drawn to creative artistic folk in the Royston area. This little group participated in several of the Royston Amateur Dramatic Pantomimes and Gilbert & Sullivan operetta productions staged at the Town Hall, for which Louis painted the scenery and Peggy supplied the ‘corps de ballet’: mother sang and danced. Many rehearsals were held at our home in Buckland and as children we drifted off to sleep to the rehearsals of music and songs interspersed with lots of giggles and hilarities from the cast.

In the early 1950’s my sister and I attended Peggy’s ballet classes where mother played the piano. Having studied ballet herself mother’s accompaniments were truly ideal. I have recently had an old family cine film transferred to CD and was delighted to find one item is a ballet dance display at Reed Village Fete in the grounds of Reed Hall. I remember both Peggy and my mother supervising the rolling out of the upright piano into the garden: luckily it was not a rainy day! Dancers beside my sister and me included Susan Valentine (Peggy and Louis’ daughter). Peggy and mother are seen graciously receiving thankyou bouquets, Peggy’s curtsy echoing those of Margot Fonteyn in the best ballet tradition.

Joan Bailey continued to play for Peggy’s ballet classes in Royston and Melbourn Village College well into the 1970’s. Having been a dancer herself she and Peggy enjoyed a special friendship, selecting the music together and watching the development of budding ballerinas over the years brought them both a great deal of happiness. One of Peggy’s comments when faced with less than light young dancers, thumping the floor, was “Not like a cart horse!”

Several years after Louis died; Peggy retired to the West Country. I am not sure of what became of Susan Valentine. Perhaps one of your readers may know? Angela Louch