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Oxford Ramble

Speed the Plough

Wassail

Jack-in-the-Green

A Taste of Ale

Six for Gold

Knock at the Knocker, Ring at the Bell

The Robber Bird

Three Quarter Time

The 25th


Miscellaneous

Sources

Recorded source

English Village Carols: Traditional Christmas Carolling from the Southern Pennines, Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40476

 

Foster (While Shepherds Watched)

Knock At The Knocker, Ring At The Bell track 1

An area famous for its carols is South Yorkshire. In villages around Sheffield, rather than singing in the streets, the carol-singers have found a home in pubs – pubs such as the Black Bull at Ecclesfield, the Blue Ball at Worrall, and the Travellers Rest at Oughtibridge. In some of these pubs the singing is unaccompanied; in some it may be accompanied by a piano or electronic organ. The songs sung include present-day favourites such as ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’; some secular pieces; and an incredible variety of pieces originating in the “West Gallery” church bands of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

At any of the pub carol-singing sessions you will hear at least one setting of ‘While Shepherds Watched’ – in some you may hear the words sung to half a dozen different tunes during the course of the evening. The verses – ‘Song of the Angels at the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour’ - were actually written by Nahum Tate (1652-1715), poet laureate to William of Orange. In part the ubiquity of the words, not just in South Yorkshire but across the country, must be due to the fact that they were included after the metrical Psalms in the Book of Common Prayer.

Our setting is based on a recording made by Ian Russell at the Fountain, Ingbirchworth in the 1970s, originally heard on the classic (but sadly long-deleted) Leader LP A People’s Carol. It is referred to locally as 'Foster' or 'Old Foster', a reference to its composer John Foster of High Green, Yorkshire (1762-1822). The music was published just a couple of years before Foster’s death, originally as a setting for the 47th Psalm; however it has long been associated in the area with Tate’s carol words.