Wexford Carol
Encyclopedia
The Wexford Carol is a traditional religious Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...

 originating from County Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...

, and specifically, Enniscorthy
Enniscorthy
Enniscorthy is the second largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. The population of the town and environs is 9538. The Placenames Database of Ireland sheds no light on the origins of the town's name. It may refer either to the "Island of Corthaidh" or the "Island of Rocks". With a history going...

 (whence its name), and dating to the 12th century. The subject of the song is that of the nativity
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....

 of Jesus Christ.

"The Wexford Carol" is one of the oldest extant Christmas carols in the European tradition.
Traditions abound concerning the song. For many years, it was felt that only men should sing it. It was only at the current revival of all things Irish that this attitude changed. Many popular female artists, such as Loreena McKennitt
Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM, is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals...

, recorded the “Wexford Carol” during the 1990s.

The song achieved a new popularity because of the work of William Grattan Ford (1859 - 1928), who was organist and musical director at St. Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy. He transcribed the carol from a local singer, and had it published in the Oxford Book of Carols, putting Enniscorthy into most carol books around the world.

The song is sometimes known by its first verse, "Good people all this Christmas time."

English lyrics

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray,
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn,
There was a blessed Messiah born

The night before that happy tide
The noble Virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town
But mark right well what came to pass
From every door repelled, alas
As was foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble ox's stall

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God's angel did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
Arise and go, the angels said
To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you'll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus, born

With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went the babe to find
And as God's angel had foretold
They did our Saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side a virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of Life
Who came on earth to end all strife

There were three wise men from afar
Directed by a glorious star
And on they wandered night and day
Until they came where Jesus lay
And when they came unto that place
Where our beloved Messiah lay
They humbly cast them at his feet
With gifts of gold and incense sweet.

Irish Lyrics

Ó, tagaig' uile is adhraigí
An leanbh cneasta sa chró 'na luí
Is cuimhnígí ar ghrá an Rí
A thug dár saoradh anocht an Naí.
'S a Mhuire Mháthair i bParrthas Dé,
Ar chlann bhocht Éabha guigh 'nois go caomh,
Is doras an chró na dún go deo
Go n-adhram' feasta Mac Mhuire Ógh.

I mBeithil thoir i lár na hoích'
Ba chlos an deascéala d'aoirí,
Go follas don saol ón spéir go binn
Bhí aingle 'canadh ó rinn go rinn.
"Ghluaisig' go beo," dúirt Aingeal Dé,
"Go Beithil sall is gheobhaidh sibh É
'Na luí go séimh i mainséar féir,
Siúd É an Meisias a ghráigh an saol."


Cover versions

  • 1966 - Julie Andrews
    Julie Andrews
    Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...

     - A Christmas Treasure (reissued on CD as Greatest Christmas Songs)
  • 1987 - Loreena McKennitt
    Loreena McKennitt
    Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM, is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals...

     - To Drive the Cold Winter Away
    To Drive the Cold Winter Away
    To Drive the Cold Winter Away is Loreena McKennitt's second album, released in 1987. It pays homage to her childhood memories of music for the winter season, the most vivid of which “came from songs and carols recorded in churches or great halls, rich with their own unique ambience and...

  • 1987 - Revels
    Revels
    Revels is a contemporary series of American seasonal stage performances, initially given at Christmas time as the Christmas Revels at Town Hall in New York City in 1957, which involve singing, dancing, recitals, theatrics , and usually some audience participation, all appropriate to the season...

     - Christmas Day in the Morning
  • 1990 - Cambridge Clare College Choir
    Clare College, Cambridge
    Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...

     - The Holly and the Ivy: Carols from Clare College
  • 1991 - The Chieftains
    The Chieftains
    The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...

     with Nanci Griffith
    Nanci Griffith
    Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...

     - The Bells of Dublin
    The Bells of Dublin
    The Bells of Dublin is an album of Christmas songs and traditional carols by the Irish band The Chieftains. The album features guest performances by various artists, including Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Marianne Faithfull, Nanci Griffith, Rickie Lee Jones and the...

  • 1996 - James Galway
    James Galway
    - External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...

     - Celtic Christmas II
  • 2002 - Dordán - Narada Presents: The Best of Celtic Christmas
  • 2002 - John Rutter
    John Rutter
    John Milford Rutter CBE is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.-Biography:Born in London, Rutter was educated at Highgate School, where a fellow pupil was John Tavener. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the...

     - The John Rutter Christmas Album
  • 2002 - Anúna
    Anúna
    Anúna is an Irish choral group. In 1987 Dublin composer Michael McGlynn founded An Uaithne, a name which describes the three ancient types of Celtic music, Suantraí , Geantraí and Goltraí . One of the group's stated aims is to explore and redefine this music...

     - "Winter Songs"
  • 2003 - Anonymous 4
    Anonymous 4
    Anonymous 4 is a female a cappella quartet, based in New York City. Their main performance genre is medieval music, although they have also premiered works by living composers such as John Tavener and Steve Reich...

     - Wolcum Yule
  • 2004 - Jon Schmidt - Winter Serenade
  • 2005 - Moya Brennan
    Moya Brennan
    Moya Brennan, born Máire Ní Bhraonáin , also known as Máire Brennan , is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist who began performing professionally in 1970, when her family formed the band Clannad, and is now widely considered as the "First Lady of Celtic Music"...

     - An Irish Christmas
    An Irish Christmas
    An Irish Christmas is a music album by Irish musician Moya Brennan. According to Moya, the idea for the album first came to her some time ago: "I’ve been involved in number of other people’s Christmas projects in recent years," explains Moya, "but I wanted to capture a truly Celtic Christmas...

  • 2005 - Michael McDonald
    Michael McDonald (singer)
    Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...

     - Through the Many Winters
  • 2006 - Celtic Woman
    Celtic Woman
    Celtic Woman is an all-female musical ensemble conceived and assembled by Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show Riverdance...

     - Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration
    Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration
    - Bonus Track on Japanese edition :- Chart positions :- Sales and certifications :...

  • 2007 - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
    Mormon Tabernacle Choir
    The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...

     - Spirit of the Season
    Spirit of the Season
    Spirit of the Season is a song from the movie The Polar Express. A cover of the song by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Sissel was nominated for 2 Grammys, Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Engineered Album - Classical....

  • 2008 - Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...

    , Alison Krauss
    Alison Krauss
    Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...

    , & Natalie MacMaster
    Natalie MacMaster
    Natalie MacMaster, CM is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music....

     - Songs of Joy & Peace
  • 2008 - Marit Larsen
    Marit Larsen
    Marit Elisabeth Larsen is a Norwegian singer and songwriter.She began playing violins at age of 5,and played it until the age of 8. She gained international fame during her teenage years as a member of the pop duo M2M with childhood friend Marion Raven. More recently she has pursued her own music...

    , Odd Nordstoga
    Odd Nordstoga
    Odd Nordstoga is a musician, actor and editor from Vinje in Telemark, Norway. In 2004, he went from relative obscurity to becoming the country's biggest selling recording artist, with the phenomenal success of his first solo album proper, "Luring"...

     - JuleSessions - Live NRK P3 Radio
  • 2010 - Bryn Terfel
    Bryn Terfel
    Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....

     - Bryn Terfel: Carols and Christmas Songs
  • 2010 - Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...

     (Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss, Natalie MacMaster) - "Songs of Joy & Peace"

External links

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