The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #160899   Message #3818719
Posted By: Reinhard
07-Nov-16 - 12:12 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Sweet Chiming Bells
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sweet Chiming Bells
The lyrics bradfordian cited are from Nowell Sing We Clear's 1995 CD "Hail Smiling Morn!". They are a combination of the chorus from "While Shepherds Watched" and the poem "A Song for Christmas Eve" by Clara Broughton Conant as the liner notes stated:

"Hail, Smiling Morn!, Old Foster, and Jacob's Well are from the Yorkshire pub Christmas singing traditions found in several parts of the city of Sheffield. Our versions are taken from The Joy of Christmas: Words & Music of Traditional & Local Carols, compiled and presented by Worrall Male Voice Choir, privately published, ca. 1980.

Sweet Chiming Bells is from the same source, though it was originally another setting of "While Shepherds Watched." We loved the tune and the chorus but didn't feel the verses suited them very well. The solution was to add the poem "A Song for Christmas Eve" by Clara Broughton Conant from Kriss Kringle Recitations, Dialogs and Songs for Christmas, compiled by Hal J. Weigle (Chicago: Meyer and Brother, 1914). Over the years, our "fifth man," friend and sound technician, Steve Voorhees, has produced Christmas related curiosities on his perennial search of yard sales and antique stores. Compared with LPs of "Calypso Christmas" and "Christmas Rap" this little book of poems and stories yielded pure gold."