DECEMBER 17, 2009 ISSUE
Here They Come A-Wassailing
Local Group Keeps Caroling Tradition Alive
A group of women sings carols at Appalachian Brian Estates and Deerfield Ridge Assisted Living on Monday.
In 2005, a National Christmas Tree Association survey found that only 6 percent of respondents planned to go caroling—down from 22 percent in 1996. It would seem, then, that caroling is a holiday musical tradition fading into history.
But here in Watauga County, a small group of people organized by Roland Moy gathers each December to uphold the centuries-old custom and spread good cheer at area rest homes.
Moy started organizing the event in 1998.
“I’d been working with some women who were in a quartet, [and we were] working up some Christmas songs, so I thought, well, we might as well invite more people to go along,” Moy said. “We just sort of started making it an annual event.”
Separate events are held for men and women carolers, with the carols arranged in four-part, barbershop-style harmonies. The women’s caroling group met on Monday, December 14, and the men’s group will meet this coming Monday, December 21.
Both groups meet at the Broyhill Music Center lobby on the ASU campus just after 5:00 p.m., review the music and then travel to sing at Appalachian Brian Estates and Deerfield Ridge Assisted Living in Boone. Afterward, the carolers gather for dinner at Sagebrush.
Moy said about 10 to 15 people usually join in each group, and a student vocal group from ASU has participated the past few years.
“It’s a combination of town and gown,” Moy added.
The groups will sing traditional carols such as “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Silent Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” along with other fun tunes.
“We try to have a mixture of things,” he said.
If you’d like to join in the men’s caroling group, meet at the Broyhill Music Center lobby on Monday, December 21, at 5:15 p.m. The caroling should wrap up around 7:00 p.m., when those who wish can gather for dinner at Sagebrush.
For more information, contact Moy at 828-264-8811.
How Did Caroling Originate?
Well, no one’s exactly sure. But here is some information, mostly culled from a few scholarly-types.
According to Carolyn Parrott, a faculty member at the Concord Community Music School in Concord, N.H., who has researched the history of Christmas music, carols originated as pagan round dances, a form of entertainment that became popular throughout Europe before the year 1020.
Most religions initially opposed the practice of carols because of the drinking and debauchery that accompanied them, Parrott told The Concord Insider in December 2008, but by the 16th century, carols were a permanent part of Christmas tradition in Europe.
Historian William Studwell, professor emeritus at Northern Illinois University, told USA Today in 2007 that the first Christmas carol was likely written in the 4th century. In medieval times, stated the same article, caroling was known as wassailing, a practice of caroling by the poor at the homes of the wealthy with the somewhat-forceful aim of receiving charitable donations for their deeds—as in “bring us a figgy pudding” and “we won’t go until we get some.”
By the 16th century, the popularity of carols had decreased, states an article on About.com. The tradition almost disappeared entirely, until the 18th and 19th centuries, when a revival of caroling occurred. Most of the carols with which we are familiar were written during this period.
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