Christmastime is here, happiness and cheer and the sounds of Christmas carols are just about everywhere. But where did Christmas carols get their start? Actually, the word “carol” means a dance or song of praise or joy and the first carols were sung thousands of years ago when ancient Celts danced around standing stones in celebration of the winter solstice.
With the dawn of Christianity, songs commemorating the birth of Jesus began to surface. It is believed the very first Christmas carol was written in Latin in the 4th or 5th century and the first song about Christmas day dates back to 15th century Europe.
Christmas songs became widespread in the 20th century via records, movies and television specials. Haley Pal / For Lakes Region Weekly
The custom of caroling door-to-door developed in 16th-century England when peasants visited the homes of their lords to receive a cup of wassail and some food in return for the blessing of the songs. It is at this time that “Here We Come A-Wassailing” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” came into prominence.
When Windham was founded in the mid-18th century, there wasn’t a lot of Christmas music being sung. The early settlers didn’t celebrate the holiday as most of them were Puritans and Quakers and did not believe in such frivolity.
It was after 1843 and the publication of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” that the holiday gained more popularity. The first book of Christmas carols in America was published in 1853. Titled “Carols for Christmastide,” the book introduced many Americans to the joyous sounds of the season. J.M. Neale’s compilation included “Christ was Born on Christmas Day” and “Good King Wenceslas.”
By the 20th century, Christmas songs were all the rage. The popular “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was created in 1939 by the Montgomery Ward department store as a book to be given to children still reeling from the Great Depression. In 1949, it was put to music by Robert May and sold over 2 million copies.
Movies also brought holiday tunes to people all across the country and Windham was no exception. Beautiful songs like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from the 1939 film “Meet Me in St. Louis” and Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” were introduced and immediately embraced.
In the 1960s, Christmas albums were very much in vogue. Such famous crooners as Andy Williams, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra all had collections of Christmas classics and even Barbra Streisand and the Beach Boys got in on the holiday action. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered that decade along with many other seasonal television shows that featured songs we still sing today.
Christmas songs about Maine were also being written by local artists in the 20th century. Malinda Liberty gave us “The Maine Christmas Song” and Carol Noonan wrote and sang “Christmas of ’64” about the year she got her first guitar. Many of us remember singing along with Windham’s own Rick Charette in a rousing rendition of “Christmas tree, Christmas tree, what a joy you are to see, Christmas tree, Christmas tree, shining bright for me.”
The now-famous Windham Chamber Singers first came to our attention in 1995 with their CD “A Holiday Portrait.” Led by conductor Richard Nickerson and produced by Roy Clark of Pine Point Record Company, the CD was a fundraiser to help the singers make their way to Vienna, Austria, to enter the International Youth Music Festival. The money was raised and the Windham Chamber Singers made history of their own by taking first place in the festival’s vocal competition in 1996.
Although this year we may not be singing our carols together, it is still a blessing to have them to get us through this unusual holiday season. So, sing them loud and sing them clear and have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas this year.
Haley Pal is a Windham resident and an active member of the Windham Historical Society. She can be contacted at haleypal@aol.com.
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