All You Who Are To Mirth Inclined
Knock At The Knocker, Ring At The Bell track 3
Similar carol-singing traditions to those to be found in South Yorkshire continue to thrive in certain parts of Derbyshire, such as the village of Castleton in the Peak District. The melody and first verse of All you who are to mirth inclined were taken down by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1908 from a Mr J. Hall – who was also the source for the gloriously gothic carol Down in Yon Forest. The same song was recorded by Peter Kennedy in 1957 from Mrs Elizabeth Hall, along with her reminiscences of many years’ carol-singing in Castleton. Then in the late 1980s Ian Russell recorded a number of carols from singers in the village, including this one from Jessie Hall and Nellie Lampe.
Our version is taken from Vaughan Williams’ Eight Traditional English Carols, where it is titled ‘The Birth of the Saviour’, and filled out with verses from an earlier publication, Old Castleton Christmas Carols. We sing just six of the ten published verses; other 19th century versions have many more, and when first printed there were nearly thirty. Joshua Sylvestre, writing in 1861, stated that “This rude old carol is still an especial favourite with the peasantry… and I find that nearly all the broadside printers include it in their yearly sheets”. In fact the carol dates back to at least 1656, when it was printed as ‘The Sinner's Redemption: The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, with His life on earth, and precious death on the Cross’.