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Old Cornwall Christmas Traditions Cornish Carols - A Tradition For The World
7. St Just in Penwith
The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies wish you all Nadelek Lowan.
Counting Carols have always been popular and the "Seven Joys of Mary is one of the ancient ones recorded by Cornishman Davies Gilbert in 1822. Click here to hear it being sung by over 200 children from seven schools accompanied by the Cornwall Youth Brass Band. They all attended a Cornish Carol day at St Just organised by "Cornwall World Heritage" and Cornwall Art Centre Trust. We thank them for making this recording available.
William Bottrel, (Old Celt)* wrote the following in the Christmas 1872 edition of "One & All" :-
Some of us remember
when it was a custom, in the parishes of West Cornwall, for a few
elderly persons to meet in Church, late
on Christmas Eve, and sing till after midnight, a good number of
cheerful, quaint old carols, which were quite different from the solemn
Christmas hymns that have supplanted them.
Such, for instance, are the circumstances
referred to in the Cherry-Tree carol, beginning with
Many other examples might be given of
these legendary pieces, which are now almost forgotten. We were delighted, however, last Christmas, to hear a few youngsters singing in Penzance streets the pleasant one called the Sunny Bank, or the Three Ships, which is also very old.
Among those of special interest may be
noticed “In those Twelve Days,” “The Joys of Mary,” and “Man’s Duty.”
Slightly different versions of these are common here and in Wales; and
according to Mr. W. Sandys, there is a Breton song, as old as the fifth
century, in the dialect of Cornouaille, called “Ar Rannou,” or “Lea
Series," arranged as a dialogue between a Druid and his disciple on
their ancient maxims and rites, which is similar in idea and
construction to “In those Twelve Days,” or “What is that which is but
one I”
The early missionaries engrafted on this
ancient Armorican poem a Latin hymn, in the same form, where the series
of twelve subjects in connected with the Christian religion and agrees
with those of the carol,
“What is that which is but one?” At the end of each verse in the Druids song, the Latin hymn, and the three last mentioned carols, all the previous subjects are repeated in the style of “The House that Jack built.” The whole piece can be constructed from the last verse. That of “The Joy of Mary,” is given as an example, below.
Old country folk may still be often heard
chanting this ancient effusion, with all its repetition it is more
frequently, however, recited or taught to children as a kind of pious
exercise for their memories at Christmastide.
Cornish people have been famous for their
carols from an early date. Scawen says :—“ They had them at several
times, especially at Christmas, which they solemnly sung, and sometimes
used in their churches, alter prayers, the burthen of them being
“Novell, Novell, goad news, good nova, of the Gospel.” These old joyful Christmas songs have long held their own— thanks to there wonderfully interesting legends and their lively tunes, that seem like the echoes of merry peals of bells. The mining area of St Just in Penwith has seen some sad sights at Christmas as well as joyful ones. In 2007 we saw a joyful gathering of over 200 children in the local Methodist chapel. They had come together to learn about Cornish carols and to rehearse for an evening concert.
*William Bottrell is probably the best known recorder of Cornish folk-lore. Born in St Levan he collected folk tales in different parts of the world as well as in his native Cornwall.
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