https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001thbn

BBC Radio 3 Christmas Eve 18:15 2023

While Shepherds Watched: The hidden world of the South Yorkshire village carol sings

Sunday Feature

Elizabeth Alker explores the ancient tradition of South Yorkshire carolling. Originally sung in churches by musicians and choirs, the carol tradition in the Victorian era suffered what must have appeared to some as a huge reverse. Carols, it seemed, had failed the Victorian humour test and all but a few were driven out of churches. They found a new home, however, in pubs around Sheffield and South Yorkshire, where they found favour and sometimes a licentious edge. They flourish there today where the tradition has survived intact and according to the international carol singing expert, the musicologist Dr Ian Russell, Professor Emeritus of the University of Aberdeen, the movement is proving increasingly popular, spreading across county lines to other part of the UK and abroad. And the tradition of carol composing is still evolving there too - there are over 30 charted versions of While Shepherds Watched, for instance, including revivals of once lost examples. Elizabeth Alker sets out in search of lost carols, a thriving and binding social phenomenon, speaking with Dr. Russell, local punters for whom these carols serve an important social function and folk musicians like Kate Rusby, brought up on the pub carolling tradition and one of the vast array of musicians who are enabling this hidden tradition to flourish.

Release date: 24 December 2023
44 minutes