Auld Lang Syne

Perhaps one of the most popular songs sung on New Year's Eve is Auld Lang Syne. A Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788, the title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago" or "days gone by".


Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Here's a guide to the Scottish terms used in the song:

auld lang syne - times gone by
be - pay for
braes - hills
braid - broad
burn - stream
dine - dinner time
fiere - friend
fit - foot
gowans - daisies
guid-willie waught - goodwill drink
monie - many
morning sun - noon
paidl't - paddled
pint-stowp - pint tankard
pou'd - pulled
twa - two

Twelve Days of Christmas

Even if Christmas is already over, there are more Yuletide songs coming your way!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, and the associated evenings of those twelve days, called Twelve-tide, begin on the eve of Christmas Day (December 25) through the morning of Epiphany (January 6). Meanwhile, the evenings associated with the twelve days begin on the night before the specified day. The first night of Christmas is December 25–26 and Twelfth Night is January 5–6. The Twelfth Day of Christmas is January 6. This period is also known as Christmastide.

The song, The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol, although evidence suggests that if may have Frnch origins. It details a series of increasingly grandiose gifts given on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Adding up the gifts given daily, a total of 364 gifts have been given by the "true love" by the twelfth day.

Each verse of the popular carol is built on top of the previous. Such a song is called a cumulative song.

Over the years, some misinterpretations have crept into the English-language version. The fourth day's gift is often sung as four calling birds. It was however, originally four colly (or collie) birds, another word for a blackbird (from the word coal). The fifth day's gift, five golden rings is not jewelry but is actually five ring-necked birds such as the ring-necked pheasant. Thus, the pattern of the first seven gifts all being birds is noticed if these errors are corrected.


On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!

O Come All Ye Faithful

In 1743, John Francis Wade wrote a hymn entitled Adeste Fideles, after the first line of the Latin text for which the tune was written. The lyrics has unclear beginnings as it may have been written since the 13th century. The song was translated to English by Frederick Oakeley as O Come All Ye Faithful.


O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Lo! star led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,
Offer Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
We to the Christ Child bring our hearts’ oblations.

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.


The original Latin lyrics is still being sung today in certain churches.


Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes;
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte Regem angelorum.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Parturit virgo mater,
Deum verum, genitum, non factum.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

En grege relicto, humiles ad cunas
Vocati pastores approperant:
Et nos ovanti gradu festinemus.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Stella duce, Magi Christum adorantes,
Aurum, thus, et myrrham dant munera.
Jesu infanti corda praebeamus.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Aeterni Parrentis splendorem aeternum
Velatum sub carne videbimus,
Deum infantem, pannis involutem.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Pro nobis egenum et foeno cubantem
Piis foveamus amplexibus;
Sic nos amantem quis non redamaret?

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Perhaps, one of the most popular songs used in Christmas cantatas and musicals is this carol, Angels We Have Heard on High. Based on a traditional French carol, Les Anges dans nos campagnes (which translates to "Angels in our countryside"), the English version was written in 1862 by James Chadwick.

The carol commemorates the story of the Jesus Christ's birth found in the Gospel of Luke. Before shepherds tending to sleeping sheep outside Bethlehem, a multitude of angels appear, giving praise and singing to announce the birth of Jesus. The most popular part of the song is its chorus, Gloria in Excelsis Deo!--which is Latin for "Glory to God in the highest."


Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

See him in a manger laid
Whom the angels praise above;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While we raise our hearts in love.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Silent Night

Silent Night was originally a German song written by the Austrian priest Father Josef Mohr. Its melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. It was first performed in Oberndorf, Austria on December 24, 1818 although the lyrics were written two years earlier, in 1816. The English lyrics were written by John Freeman Young in 1863.

In 1914, during World War I, this song was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce. The 2002 movie Silent Night immortalizes the power of the song and the impact it had to the warring troops.


Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round yon virgin mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia;
Christ the Saviour is born
Christ the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

One of my favorite Christmas carols is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. A Christmas hymn written by Charles Wesley, the song first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. It is interesting to note that several tunes were used for the words we are familiar with, including the tune for Amazing Grace! The melody used today is composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840.

The original opening couplet of the carlo was "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings". After being edited several times most notably by George Whitefield, Wesley's co-worker, we have the present-day Christmas carol.


Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Come, Desire of nations, come,
fix in us thy humble home;
rise, the woman's conquering Seed,
bruise in us the serpent's head.
Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;
stamp thine image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

O Holy Night

Today, I will begin writing trivia about my favorite Christmas carols in time for the Christmas season.

O Holy Night is one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time. Composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847, the original French was entitled Cantique de Noel. In 1855, it was later translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian minister and editor of Dwight's Journal of Music. The song has translations in other languages.


O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Behold your King.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Sheet music is available here.