"The First Nowell", also known as "The First Noel (or Noël)", is a traditional English

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.The First Nowell
''Hymns and Carols of Christmas''. "carol of the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th Century." Barrie Jones (ed.), ''The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music'', Routledge, 2014, s.v. "carol", "Christmas carols were common as early as the 15th century. ..Many carols, such as ' God Rest You Merry Gentlemen' and 'The First Nowell', date from the 16th century or earlier." It is listed as number 682 in the

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the Londo ...

Origin

"The First Nowell" is of Cornish origin. Its current form was first published in ''Carols Ancient and Modern'' (1823) and ''Gilbert and Sandys Carols'' (1833), both of which were edited by William Sandys and arranged and edited by

Davies Gilbert Davies Gilbert (born Davies Giddy, 6 March 1767 – 24 December 1839) was an English engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830. He ...

(who also wrote extra lyrics) for ''Hymns and Carols of God''. ''Nowell'' is an

Early Modern English Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...

synonym of "

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

" from French ''Noël'' "the Christmas season", ultimately from Latin ''natalis

ies The initialism IES may refer to: Government organizations * Indian Economic Service * Indian Education Service, in British India * Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission * Institute of Education Sciences of the ...

' " ayof birth". The word was regularly used in the burden of carols in the Middle Ages towards the early modern period; Sir Christèmas (

Ritson Manuscript The Ritson Manuscript (London, British Library, Add.5665) is a late fifteenth-century English choirbook, that is a major source for English carols. In addition to 44 carols, it includes three masses, 23 motets, several other sacred pieces, and se ...

), "Nowell sing we now all and some" ( Trinity Carol Roll) and "Nowel - out of youre slepe arise and wake" (

Selden Carol Book The ''Selden Carol Book'' is a medieval carol manuscript held by the Bodleian Library in Oxford (MS Selden B.26). Along with the Trinity Carol Roll, with which it shares five contemporaneous carols and texts (for example the Agincourt Carol), it ...

) being 15th century examples. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a refrain which is a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale. Writing in the '' Journal of the Folk-Song Society'' in 1915, Anne Gilchrist notes it was not recorded prior to Sandys' publication. She speculated based on a set of church gallery parts discovered in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

that the tune may have had its origin as a treble part to another carol "Hark, hark what news the angels bring"; her suggestion was that the treble part was passed down orally and was later remembered as the melody rather than a harmony. A conjectural reconstruction of this earlier version can be found in the '' New Oxford Book of Carols''. Today, "The First Nowell" is usually performed in a four-part hymn arrangement by the English composer

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

, first published in his ''Carols, New and Old'' in 1871. Variations of its theme are included in Victor Hely-Hutchinson's '' Carol Symphony''. American folklorist James Madison Carpenter made audio recordings of several traditional versions of the song in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

in the early 1930s, which can be heard online via the

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House. It is a multi-media library comprising books, periodic ...

Textual comparison

In common with many traditional songs and carols the lyrics vary across books. The versions compared below are taken from the '' New English Hymnal'' (1986) (which is the version used in Henry Ramsden Bramley and

's ''Carols, New and Old''),Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer
The First Nowell
in ''Carols New and Old'' (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., ca 1878).''New English Hymnal'', (Canterbury Press, 1986), No. 36.

Ralph Dunstan Ralph Dunstan (born 17 Nov 1857; died 2 Apr 1933) was born at Carnon Downs in the parish of Feock, Cornwall and is buried at Perranzabuloe. He is honoured now as one of the greatest song collectors in the Cornish musical tradition. Dunstan is be ...

's gallery version in the ''Cornish Songbook'' (1929)Ralph Dunstan, ''The Cornish Song Book'' (London: Reid Bros., Ltd., 1929), pp. 126. and Reverend Charles Lewis Hutchins's version in ''Carols Old and Carols New'' (1916).Rev. Charles Lewis Hutchins, ''Carols Old and Carols New'' (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916), No. 643. The

Annunciation to the shepherds The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols. B ...

and the Adoration of the shepherds are episodes in the

Nativity of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of Matthew, Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea (Roman ...

described in the second chapter of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

(

Luke 2 Luke 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. It contains an account of Jesus's birth and an incident from his ...

). The

Star of Bethlehem The Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask him: ...

appears in the story of the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...

(the Wise Men) in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

; it does not appear in the story of the shepherds.

Charts

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
version

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Glee Cast ''Glee'' (stylized as ''glee'') is an American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on the Fox network in the United States from May 19, 2009, to March 20, 2015. It centers on the glee club called the New Directions at the fictional ...
version

Gabby Barrett Gabby Barrett Foehner (born March 5, 2000) is an American country music singer. She finished third on the 16th season of ''American Idol''. Her debut single " I Hope" was the first top 10 Hot Country Songs debut by an unaccompanied woman sinc ...
version

References

External links

* Free arrangements fo
piano
an
voice
from ''Cantorion.org'' {{DEFAULTSORT:First Noel, The Christmas carols Cornish folk songs Crash Test Dummies songs Bob Dylan songs Elvis Presley songs Songs about Jesus Aly & AJ songs

Origin

Textual comparison

Charts

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ... version

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ... version