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= Deck the Halls =
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Introduction
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"Deck the Halls” is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is
Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter
carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish
musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862.
Lyrics
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The English-language lyrics were written by the Scottish musician
Thomas Oliphant. They first appeared in 1862, in volume 2 of 'Welsh
Melodies', a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas, including
Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Oliphant.
The original English lyrics, as published in 1862, run as follows
(later variants are discussed below):
The phrase "'Tis the season", from the lyrics, has become synonymous
with the Christmas and holiday season, 'tis being an archaic
contraction of "it is".
Variants
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A variation of the lyrics appears in the December 1877 issue of the
'Pennsylvania School Journal'. This version, in which there is no
longer any reference to drinking, runs as follows:
An identical printing appeared four years later in 'The Franklin
Square Song Collection'.
The pluralizing of the title of the carol to "Deck the Halls" is found
as early as 1892.
Other common alterations replace the word "Christmas" with "Yule" or
"Yuletide". For example, "Christmas carol" may be changed to "Yuletide
carol" and "Christmas treasure" to "Yuletide treasure". Yule is used
in modern times as another word for Christmas and the Christmas
season, though the word has origins in an ancient Germanic midwinter
festival.
The Pennsylvania version from 1877 omits the third "Fa la la" line
(which corresponds to the instrumental flourish in the Welsh
original).
The third and fourth "Fa la la" lines sung to the words "Deck the
Hall" differ from those sung or played in Wales, the fourth having a
more arpeggiated melody in the Welsh version and the third differing
in both melody and rhythm.
Welsh lyrics
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In the original 1862 publication, Oliphant's English lyrics were
published alongside Talhaiarn's Welsh lyrics. Although some early
sources state that Oliphant's words were a 'translation' of
Talhaiarn's Welsh original, this is not the case in any strict or
literal sense. The first verse in Welsh, together with a literal
English translation taken from Campbell's 'Treatise on the language,
poetry, and music of the Highland Clans' (1862), is given for
comparison:
Goreu pleser ar nos galan,
Tŷ a thân a theulu diddan,
Calon lân a chwrw melyn,
Pennill mwyn a llais y delyn,
The best pleasure on new year's eve,
Is house and fire and a pleasant family,
A pure heart and blonde ale,
A gentle song and the voice of the harp
Melody
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The melody of "Deck the Hall" is taken from "Nos Galan" ("New Year's
Eve"), a traditional Welsh New Year's Eve carol published in 1794,
although it is much older. In 1912, Ruth Herbert Lewis made a wax
cylinder recording of a Welshman named Benjamin Davies singing a song,
"Can y Coach faier", which uses the old melody now associated with
"Deck the Halls". The recording can be heard on the British Library
Sound Archive website.
The music is in AABA form.
History
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The tune is that of an old Welsh air, first found in a musical
manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry dating back to the 1700s. He
published it in 'British Harmony Being a Collection of Antient Welsh
Airs The traditional Remains of those Originally Sung By the Bards of
Wales'. Poet John Ceiriog Hughes later wrote his own lyrics. A middle
verse was later added by folk singers. In the eighteenth century the
tune spread widely, with Mozart allegedly using it in his 18th violin
sonata (1778) and later Haydn arranged it in under the Welsh title,
"Nos galan" (Hob. XXXIb: 29, 1803).
The Welsh and English lyrics found in the earliest publication of the
"Nos Galan" melody are as follows:
O mor gynnes mynwes meinwen,
fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.
O mor fwyn yw llwyn meillionen,
fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.
O mor felus yw'r cusanau,
[instrumental flourish]
Gyda serch a mwynion eiriau
fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.
Oh! how soft my fair one's bosom,
fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.
Oh! how sweet the grove in blossom,
fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.
Oh! how blessed are the blisses,
[instrumental flourish]
Words of love, and mutual kisses,
fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.
Weekly charts
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Weekly chart performance for "Deck the Halls" by Nat King Cole Chart
(1960-2024) Peak position
Lithuania (AGATA) 71
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) 68
US Holiday 100 ('Billboard') 13
All-time charts
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All-time chart performance for "Deck the Halls" by Nat King Cole
Chart Position
US Holiday 100 ('Billboard') 63
See also
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* List of Christmas carols
External links
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*
*Free [http://cantorion.org/music/489/Christmas%20Carol%20Songbook
sheet music] of "Deck the Halls" for SATB from Cantorion.org
License
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License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_the_Halls