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This is Our Christmas Day

from The Wexford Carols by Caitríona O'Leary

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Beautifully designed hardbound digibook with lyrics, historical articles and notes.

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about

Or, to give its full title: “On Christmas Day, the Yeare 1678, when the Clergie were Banish’d in the Time of the Plot”.
The Plot was the infamous “Popish Plot”, a bogus conspiracy invented by Titus Oates who claimed there was a Catholic plot to assassinate Charles II. It resulted in the execution of at least 22 men (including Oliver Plunkett, whose mummified head is still on display in St. Peter’s Church in Drogheda) and the outbreak of
massive anti-Catholic hysteria throughout the Kingdoms of Ireland, Scotland and England.
This carol is no longer sung in Wexford, but Waddinge gave the instruction that it should be sung “To the tune of bonny-brooe.” There is a traditional Scottish song called “The Bonny Broom” that was popular in the 17th century (it was printed in Playford’s Musick’s Delight on the Cithren, 1666) and I have used this as our main tune, interwoven with a more modern, traditional version of the song (“Cowdenknows” as printed in the Grieg-Duncan Folk Song Collection, 1925).

lyrics

This is our Christmass day
The day of Christs birth
Yet we are far from Joy
And far from Christmass mirth On Christmass to have no masse Is our great discontent
That with out mass this day should pass Doth cause us to lament.
No masse heard this great day No mattins sung last night No bells to call to pray
No lamps, no taper light
No chalice, no rich robes
No Church no Chapple drest No Vestments precious Coapes No holy water blest.
King David in his dayes Before the Arke did dance With musick and with praise. Its honour to Advance
But we our sad Eyes fix
To see layd on the ground Our Arke our Crucifix
Our tabernacle downe.
But if Church wales could speak And Old times to us tell
If dead those graves could breake Where thousand years they dwell If that they could Arise
To preach what practis’d was We should have Preists alwayes Our Aulters and our Masse.
But good Old times are past And new bad times Are come And worser times make hast And hasten to us soone Therfore in frights and feares Those holy-dayes we pass
In sorrow and teares
We spend our Christmass.

credits

from The Wexford Carols, released November 18, 2014
Caitríona O'Leary, lead vocals

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Caitriona O'Leary

Caitríona is known for her performances of Early Music and Traditional Irish song. She has recorded over twenty critically acclaimed albums. The Wexford Carols with Tom Jones, Rosanne Cash, and Rhiannon Giddens, reached #1 on Billboard.

She has performed at Royal Albert Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, Halle Handel Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Utrecht Early Music Festival, etc. ... more

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