| Christmas Carols are sung mostly during the holiday | | | | Windsor" when it is played as traitors are hanged. |
| season but most of us find ourselves humming them | | | | Jingle Bells was written by James Pierpont in 1857 for |
| periodically during the course of the year. They come | | | | a Thanksgiving program at his church in Boston. |
| out of our mouths mindlessly and we rarely stop and | | | | Everyone liked it and so it was repeated at Christmas |
| wonder where they came from. Most revolve around | | | | and it has been a Christmas song ever since. |
| the birth of Christ but the variety, history and popularity | | | | O Little Town of Bethlehem was composed by Lewis |
| of Christmas carols is fascinating. Two of the most | | | | Redner with words by Bishop Phillips Brooks in 1868. |
| popular songs of all time are Christmas carols. | | | | The Bishop had been to the Holy Land a few years |
| Silent Night - was a poem written by an Austrian priest, | | | | earlier and was inspired by looking down on Bethlehem |
| Joseph Mohr, in 1816. It became a Christmas carol on | | | | from the hills of Palestine at night. |
| Christmas Eve in 1818 in Obendorf, Austria, a village | | | | Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - A twentieth |
| near Salzburg, when Joseph decided he needed a | | | | century carol created for Montgomery Ward by |
| carol for Christmas Eve services. He gave the poem | | | | Robert May. Montgomery Ward asked May to write a |
| to his friend Franz Xavier Gruber who wrote the | | | | Christmas story to be given out to shoppers during the |
| melody in a few hours. It was composed for the guitar | | | | holidays. May was inspired by the tale of the Ugly |
| which was Joseph's favorite instrument. It is the most | | | | Duckling and his own sad youth as a small, shy child |
| famous Christmas carol of all time. | | | | and created the idea of the reindeer outcast shunned |
| God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman - was first published in | | | | by the other reindeers because of his bright red nose. |
| William Sandy's "Christmas Carols Ancient and | | | | He wrote the story in rhyming couplets. It almost didn't |
| Modern" in 1833. The author is unknown. Most people | | | | get published because his boss at Montgomery Ward |
| sing and interpret this song as God Rest Ye, Merry | | | | thought that the public would view the red nose as |
| Gentleman thinking it means for merry fellows to rest. | | | | caused by drinking. May eventually acquired the |
| The rest wasn't intended to mean lie down but to | | | | copyright for the song and it was recorded by Gene |
| keep as you are, to stay merry. Rest ye merry means | | | | Autry in 1949. It is the second best selling song of all |
| to remain peacefully content and so the true meaning | | | | time with White Christmas being the first. Rudolph the |
| of the song is hoping God will bestow this contentment | | | | red-nosed reindeer is also a popular Christmas |
| on the gentleman. Even Dickens misinterpreted the | | | | ornament with a festive Christmas wreath hung |
| comma as God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman when he | | | | around his neck. |
| refers to it in "A Christmas Carol". Scrooge didn't like | | | | Lynn Jebbia is the owner of Acadia Wreath Company. |
| the carol being sung at his keyhole speaking of | | | | Acadia Wreath Company, based in Bar Harbor, Maine, |
| merriment. Bah Humbug. | | | | handcrafts fresh Maine balsam fir Christmas wreaths, |
| What Child is This - with words written to the melody | | | | Christmas Centerpieces and Kissing Balls which are |
| Greensleeves. It originated in Elizabethan times and is | | | | shipped directly to customers and corporate clients |
| mentioned by Shakespeare in "The Merry Wives of | | | | throughout the United States. |