The Winter Moon - Songs for Christmas  2019

Here are some of our favorite Christmas songs.

Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day/Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella 2:54
Traditional

The image of the sacred dance of life is perennial and people have always celebrated this time of year with firelight and community dancing

Julia Lane - Vocals and harp
Fred Gosbee - 12-string guitar, chorus vocals, low f whistle

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day

The Cherry Tree Carol 4:12
Traditional (Child #54)

This miraculous apocryphal story remained in the traditional songs found in the countryside of both the UK and the US. We love hearing the conversation between Mary, Joseph and the Child.

Julia Lane - vocals, harp
Fred Gosbee - vocals, baritone 12-string guitar

When Joseph was an old man, and an old man was he,
He courted virgin Mary the queen of Galilee
He courted virgin Mary the queen of Galilee

As mary and Joseph walked through an orchard green
They saw berries and cherries as thick as might be seen
They saw berries and cherries as thick as might be seen

They up bespoke Mary, so meek and so mild
"Pluck me one cherry, Joseph, for I am with child."
"Pluck me one cherry, Joseph, for I am with child."

Then Joseph grew in anger and in anger spoke he
"Let the father of thy baby gather cherries for thee!"
"Let the father of thy baby gather cherries for thee!"

Then up spoke the baby, all in his mother's womb
"Bow down, bow down you cherry tree, so my mother may have some."
"Bow down, bow down you cherry tree, so my mother may have some."

Then bowed down the tallest tree into his mother's hand
And she cried,"See now, Joseph, I have cherries at command!"
And she cried,"See now, Joseph, I have cherries at command!"

The up bespoke Joseph, "I have done Mary wrong.
So eat your cherries, Mary, that grow upon the bow."
So eat your cherries, Mary, that grow upon the bow."

Then Mary plucked a cherry as red as any blood
And Mary she went homeward all with her heavy load
And Mary she went homeward all with her heavy load

The Winter Moon / The Huron Carol 5:25
Winter Moon ©1993 Julia Lane

Shimmering moonlit snow sets the scene for a carol created in 1642 by Jean de Brebeuf a Jesuit missionary at Sainte Marie among the Huron tribe in Canada.

Julia Lane - vocal and harp
Fred Gosbee - low A Irish flute

'Twas in the moon of winter time when all the birds had fled

Patapan 1:55
Traditional

This delightful song dates back as far as 13th century France, but the message that music unites body and spirit is timeless.

Julia Lane - vocal, percussion
Fred Gosbee - Irish flute, pennywhistle

LYRICS

The Shetland Carol/ Christmas Day in da Moarnin' 2:39
Traditional

from the Shetland collection 'Da Sangs at A'll sing ta Dee'

Julia Lane - harp
Fred Gosbee - vocal, Irish flute

Da moon an' stars come oot tae see
Glancin' strips across da sea.
Da meerie dancers far up high
Fans across da nordern sky
Hushed and calm, da sea lies quiet
Saftly breathes da holy nicht

Hark! A distant snyrkin' oar
Saftly lays he to da door
Da coo stays chawin' o' her cüd
Da calf lets fa' the sweet kale rüt
Da hen peeps furt fra cozy wing
To hear da holy midder sing

Up abün da star o' grace
Sent frae God tae mark da place
Shades doon trough da kursy lüm
Eveyting has fallen dumb
Da mouse leaves scrufflin' in da hay
Tae hear da holy infant cry

Lay by, o men, yer quarrels sair
Sing praise an' glory evermair.
Dis baba wha draws his first sweet breath
Is come tae save wîs all frae death
Lift up your voices noo on high
Sing praise an' glory to da sky

The Christmas Hornpipe 3:43
Traditional

This tune appears in many collections of popular traditional dance tunes. In earlier times dancing, in both great hall and kitchen, was a staple of any Christmas celebration.

Julia Lane - harp
Fred Gosbee - pennywhistle

The Darkest Night of the Year 3:12
© 1981 Julia Lane

The darkness of the winter in the north can feel oppressive until we understand the life and light which drives it away.

Julia Lane - vocal, harp
Fred Gosbee - viola

The candles are burning so low this night
The wind is howling; the snow's in flight.
Through the trees can be seen no light
The darkest night of the year>

The windows are shuttered, the doors are barred
Barren are trees in each forest and yard
Not for years has it been so hard
The darkest night of the year

Upon the hearth there's a fire's glow
A mother is singing so soft and low
Naught cares she for the wind and snow
The darkest night of the year

For on this night so cold and drear
A child is born, a child so dear
A child who will teach us that love is here
The darkest night of the year

Scarlet Ribbons 2:25
© 1949 Jack Segal / Evelyn Danzig

In 1949 composer Evelyn Danzig teamed with lyricist Jack Segal to create this tender, magical song of a father's love for his daughter. First recorded by Jo Stafford, it has become a modern classic.

Fred Gosbee - vocal, 12-string guitar

I stepped in to say good night when I heard my child in prayer
"Please send me some scarlet ribbons, scarlet ribbons for my hair"
All the shops were barred and shuttered. All the streets were cold and bare
In our town no scarlet ribbons, not one ribbon for her hair

All that night my heart was aching but then just as dawn was breaking
I looked in and on her bed, in gay profusion, lying there
I saw ribbons, scarlet ribbons, scarlet ribbons for her hair
If I live to be a hundred I will never know from where
Came those lovely scarlet ribbons, scarlet ribbons for her hair

The Friendly Beasts 3:16
Traditional

Originally a 12th century French song in Latin, "Orientis Partibus" , it was part of the Fete de l’Ane (The Donkey’s Festival) which celebrated the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. The popular modern version by Robert Davis in the 1920's has lyrics describing the gifts given by the animals at the manger

Fred Gosbee - 12-string guitar

The Kentucky Wassail / The Gloucester Wassail 5:14
Traditional

Wassail! means Good Health in Old English and is part of the ancient custom of visiting neighbors to wish them well and share a libation or traditional fare in exchange for a song. Not surprisingly, the practice crossed the Atlantic and continues in Appalachia and New England.The Kentucky Wassail was collected by John Jacob Niles and published in 1934. The lyric in our version has drifted somwhat away from the published version.

Julia Lane - vocal, harp
Fred Gosbee - vocal, 12-string guitar

Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our cup is white and our ale is brown
Our cup is made of the old oak tree
And the ale is made in Kentucky
And it's "Joy be to you and a jolly wassail!"

Good master and missus are you within?
Oh, open up your door and let us come in
We see you a-sittin' by the boot of your fire
Not givin' us a thought in the mud or the mire
And it's "Joy be to you and a jolly wassail!"

Now where's that gal with the silly little pin
Good master andmissus it's our desire
For a good piece of cheese and a toast by your fire
And it's "Joy be to you and a jolly wassail!"

There was on old woman, she had a little house
And for her pet she kept a wee, tiny mouse
And a wee, tiny stove just to keep her house warm
Now a little bit of liquor won't do us no harm
And it's "Joy be to you and a jolly wassail!"

An old man from Bristol drank his booze from a pail
And this is the night we sing WASSAIL
Good master and missus, alas, we part
But we bless this house from the bottom of our heart
And it's "Joy be to you and a jolly wassail!"

Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown
Our cup it is made of the white maple tree
With a wassail bowl we'll drink unto thee

Here's to broad May and to her broad horn
May God grant our master a good crop of corn
And a good crop of corn, that may we all see
With a wassail bowl we'll drink unto thee

And here's to Dobbin and to his right eye
May God grant our master a good Christmas pie
And a good Christmas pie, that may we all see
With a wassail bowl we'll drink unto thee

Now where is the girl in the lily-white smock
Who'll trip down the stairs and slip back the lock?
Who'll slip back the lock and pull back the pin
To let these jolly wassailers in?

Miss Fogarty's Christmes Cake 5:32
Traditional

Traditional holiday fruitcake often gets mixed reviews. With typical Irish humor we hear of a particularly challenging confection. Verses in this version were collected from Jack McNally of Stacyville, Maine, in 1942, which Julia transcribed from the audio field recording in the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection, Middlebury College.

Julia Lane - chorus vocal, harp
Fred Gosbee - vocal, 12-string guitar

As I sat by my window one evening the letterman came unto me
And he brought a nice neat invitation. It was asking me over for tea.
Well I knew it was Fogarty sent it so I went just for friendship's sake
But the first thing they gave me to tackle was a piece of the Christmas cake

There were plume and prunes and cherries, raisens and currents and cinnamon, too
There were nuts and cloves and berries, but the crust it was made out of glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance. T'would give you a fine stomach ache
'Twould kill a man twice to be eating a slice of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake

Now Mulligan wanted to try some. But really, it wasn't no use.
For we worked at it over an hour but we couldn't get none of it loose
So Mulligan went for a hatchet, while Kelly, he went for a saw
But they only succeeded in smashing the hatchet and Kelly's left jaw

Old Houlagan took with the colic. McNulty complained of his head
McFadgen lay down on the sofee and he swore that he wished he was dead
Miss Daily went into hysterics and started to wiggle and shake
And the men swore thy all had been poisoned after eating Miss Fogarty's Cake

Miss Fogarty, proud as a peacock, kept smiling and blinking away
Till she tripped over Finnegan's brogans and spilled a whole brewing of tay
"Gillhooley," she says, "You're not eating. Have a little bit more of my cake."
"Oh, no," says I, "Miss Fogarty, please, I've had quite enough of your cake

Then a man came in from the army, a sergeant or some such like.
He had a big bow of matches and a hundred-weight of dynomite.
We went five hundred yards (maybe seven) and watched while the fuse flame raced.
The house it went up to the heavens. The confection was still in place

The Gentle Dove 1:58
Traditional

A Welsh folksong saved from obscurity in 1837 by collector Maria Jane Williams. We used this tune for a 2010 stage production of Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales

Julia Lane - harp
Fred Gosbee - Irish flute

I heard the Bells 2:46
music © 1956 Johnny Marks

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned this poem in 1864 at the height of the American Civil War. Not only was the country divided, his son was mortally wounded and his wife had been tragically killed in a house fire. It has been set to music several times. This is the Johnny Marks tune with lyrics adapted by Julia Lane

Julia Lane - harp, chorus vocals
Fred Gosbee - vocal, 12-string guitar

I heard the bells on Christmas day, their old familiar carols play
And wild ans sweet they words repeat of peace on earth, good will ti men
I thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christiandom
Had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.

But 'twas as if an earthquake rent the hearthstones of the continent
And made forlorn the households born of peace on earth, good will to men
And in despair I bowed my head. "There is no peace on earth," I said,
"for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep
The wrong shall fail and right prevail with peace on earth, good will to men."
Then ringing, singing on it's way the world revolved from night to day
A song, a chime, a chant sublime of peace on earth, good will to men