Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circle. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. Usually taking place around 22nd December. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived.

Early Christmas took over the pagan solstice celebration for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. In 129, a Roman Bishop said that a song called “Angel’s Hymn” should be Sung in a Christmas service in Rome. Another famous early Christmas Hymn was written in 760, by Comas of Jerusalem, for the Greek Orthodox Church. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write and sing in Latin, a language that normal people couldn’t understand Christmas altogether. This was changed by Francis of Assisi in 1223, he started his nativity plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs or ‘canticles’ that told the story during the plays. Sometimes, the choruses of these new carols were in Latin but normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play and that could understand and join in! The new Carols spread to France, Spain, Germany, and other European countries.      

The earliest carol, like this, was written in 1410. Sadly only a very small fragment of it and that still exists. The Carol about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem. Most of the Carols from this time and the Elizabethan period are unique stories. They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches! Traveling singers or Minstrels started singing these carols and the words were changed for the local people they were traveling. One carol that changed like this is “I saw three ships”. When the Puritans came to power in England in 1640, the celebration of Christmas and singing cards was stopped, However, the Carols survived as people still sang them in secret Carols, remained mainly unsung until Victorian times when two men called William Sundays and Davis Gilbert collected lots of old Christmas music from villages in England.    

Before Carol’s singing in public became popular, there were sometimes official Carol singers called “Waits”. These were bands of people led by important local leaders who had the only power in the towns and in the villages to take money from the public At this time, many orchestras and choirs were being set up in the many cities of England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing. So Carol’s once again became popular. Many of the new Carols. New Carol’s services were created and became popular, as is the custom of singing Carols in the Streets. Both of these are still popular today. That one of the most popular types of Carol’s services is Carols by Candlelight services. At this service. The church is only lit by candlelight.