Lloyd, a collector and researcher of folk songs, wrote: “In its sundry variants, it is commonest melody for quête songs” (a song that brings luck). As the words of the song say, “Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan’s power.” Surely, this news should keep believers in good spirits it is a true tiding of “comfort and joy.” According to the Penguin Book of Carols, “It is not, as so often thought, addressed to merry gentlemen but rather to those who may be anxious.”As the first stanza of the carol reveals, there is a spiritual battle against evil. The comma should be after the word “merry.” Thus, the original intent of the carol was that “God keep you in good spirits, gentlemen,” not that God give rest to merry gentlemen. For example, the Old English meaning of the word “rest” is perhaps best translated “keep” the word “merry” is perhaps best translated as either “good spirits” or “strong.” Additionally, the meaning of the first line changes significantly depending on where the comma is placed. In addition to the variety of words associated with this carol, there is also tremendous confusion on the meaning, and even the punctuation, of the first line of the carol. In fact Dickens’ version of the words say “God bless you” instead of “God rest you.” The first known published version of the carol was in 1833. Though the author is unknown, the carol was “a piece so often printed and sung in districts so widely separated there are several variations in the different copies of ” (William Husk, Songs of the Nativity). It has thus been deemed the “Christmas carol of A Christmas Carol.” This comes as no surprise since it was arguably the most popular song of Dickens’ era. In the 1843 classic story A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wrote how Scrooge drove away a caroler who came singing this carol. Here it is.History of “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”: Having read this story, a reader was reminded of the Covid version of the carol from the last two years, and sent us the local version they were singing last Christmas. “God rest you, queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still, Believe that you are deeply known and part of God’s good will For all to live as one in peace the global dream fulfilled.” Some of the new lyrics read: “God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased, Through history ignored and scorned, defiled and displaced Remember that your stories too, are held within God’s grace. However, at a carol service on Monday, an alternate version of the lyrics was printed in the order of service to feature “new inclusive words for a traditional hymn”.Īll Saints with Holy Trinity in Loughborough used the carol with updated lyrics that removed reference to Christ as saviour and to Satan, instead referring to “queer and questioning” and “women, who by men have been erased”.Ī parishioner and Church of England ordinand tweeted a picture of the order of service for the Mayor’s Community Carol Service with the updated lyrics. The traditional 17th century carol God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen features lyrics about Jesus’s birth and the joy of the shepherds and Mary. A Christmas carol rewritten to be more “inclusive” to women and “queer” people has prompted a row within the Church of England, after critics said the move was an attempt to “push political ideology”.
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