God Rest You Merry!

Christmas music is comfortingly familiar and most people enjoy hearing the same tunes year after year. Many traditional carols are ancient, their history obscure, with words that are not common in our 21st-century vocabularies. I remember singing as a young child, "Hark Uncle Harold's angels sing..." because my uncle was more familiar to me than "herald angels", whatever they were.

Other common childhood lyrical errors include,

See the grazing mule before us (Deck the Halls)

Get dressed ye married gentlemen (God rest ye Merry, Gentlemen)

He rules the world with Ruth and Grace (Joy to the World)

When shepherds washed their socks (When shepherds watched their flocks)

Round John Virgin (Silent Night)

I know the correct words of Christmas carols now, but I was today-years-old when I noticed the placement of the comma in the song,

God rest ye merry, gentlemen

When this carol was first sung, perhaps in the 15th century, the word "rest" did not mean "to sleep or to relax" but it meant "to keep" or cause to continue, to remain. Wikipedia (a maligned but useful source) states, 

"The historic meaning of the phrase God rest you merry is may God grant you peace and happiness. The Oxford English Dictionary records the use of this phrase from 1534 onwards. It appears in Shakespeare's 1599 play As You Like It."   [William.  God rest you merry, sir.  Exit]

And this is my wish for family, friends and the world this Christmas Eve.

God rest you merry...

                   May God grant you peace and happiness...

                                        Ladies, gentlemen and children everywhere!

I love listening to British choirs at this time of year. Here is King's College Choir, Cambridge singing a stirring rendition of God Rest You Merry, Gentleman, with the correct grammatical form using "you" not "ye". The best carols and hymns connect the present and the past with beautiful music, timeless words, and meaningful tradition.

Lyrics of the first and last verses

God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay.

For Jesus Christ our Saviour

Was born on Christmas Day.

To save us all from Satan's pow'r

When we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises,

All you within this place,

And with true love and brotherhood

Each other now embrace;

This holy tide of Christmas

All other doth efface.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy.

Merry Christmas!