Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 03:42 PM

Thanks Reinhard, I'll revert to "draw" for the lyrics.

I can't access the Roud Index again, but your information seems to imply that it's wrongly attributed. That's probably true for the other of her songs in the Blunt collection; as I said only 2 came up when I used Welch in my search.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Reinhard
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 02:48 PM

They lyrics in the album's booklet say "draw round the fire".

And you probably couldn't find the original song with your first Roud search as it is catalogued as "Sing We Are Merry" sung by Miss Lindsay Welsh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 01:58 PM

I've just realised that, as well as the first line, I made another mistake in my original post. In the 3rd verse I missed off the last word of the last line, which should read:
"Oh how we wish they were with us today".

Perhaps a Christmas mudelf could tidy those up for me!

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 01:31 PM

Here's the tune for the Lady Maisery et al version. I also think I made a mistake in my original lyrics in line one. I think it's "jaw round the fire", not "draw round the fire".

---

%abc-version 2.0
X: 1
T: Sing We All Merrily
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
C: Traditional; Hannah James
Z: Mick Pearce
D: Lady Maisery + Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldman: Awake Arise: A Winter Album
I:linebreak $
Q:3/4=61
K: Baeo
C|D F D| B, A, B,|C D C|B,3|$
w: Now, Win-ter is here we will jaw round the fire.
D F D| B, A, B,| C D C|B,3|$
w:Sist-er and broth-er and grand-son and sire.
B A G|F E F| G F E| HC3|$
w: Christ-ians and heath-ens their voi-ces to bring,
B, C D| (E/F/) HG E| F E D| B,3|]
w: Gath-er to-ge--ther, make mer-ry and sing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 12:11 PM

As promised, here is the song Sing We All Merrily as collected by Janet Blunt from Linda Welch in Adderbury, 1918. Janet Blunt notated all three verses separately, but they all use essentially the same tune and singers would be able to fit the other verses without problems. In the original transcription Janet Blunt had "Days that we love best. Days of the year", which I have changed to what I think is the more sensible, "Days that we loved, best days of the year".

The version from Lady Maisery et al uses essentially the same tune, but changed into 3-time instead of 2. I'll post a transcription of that later.

---

%abc-version 2.0
X: 1
T: Sing We All Merrily
M: 2/4
L: 1/4
Z: Mick Pearce
C: Traditional from Linda Welch, Adderbury, 191
S: Collecterd by Janet Burton from Linda Welch, Adderbury, Oxfordshire, UK. 10th Dec 1918
K: Caeo
E G/E/|C/C/ C|D E/D/|C2|
w: Sing w all me-ri-ly! Christ-mas is here.
E G/E/|C C|D E/D/|C2|
w:Days that we loved, best days in the year.
c B/A/|G/< C/-C/> C/|A G/F/|E >
w: Bring forth the hol-ly_ the box and the bay,
E|C D/E/|F/ A F/|G F/D/ C2|]
w: To deck out the cot-tage for glad Christ-mas Day.


SING WE ALL MERRILY
(Traditional)
Sing we all merrily! Christmas is here.
Days that we loved, best days of the year.
Bring forth the holly, the box and the bay.
To deck out the cottage for glad Christmas Day.

Sing we all merrily! Be of good cheer.
Talk of the absent, and wish they were here.
Sisters at service and brothers away
Oh! How I wish they was with us today!

Sing we all merrily! Sing of Christ's Birth.
Sing what the angels sang, Peace upon Earth.
Parents and children in white garments dressed,
Hasten to church to sing praise with the rest.

Source: Janet Blunt's transcription as linked by Reinhard above.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 11:54 AM

Reinhard thanks for that. I couldn't find the correct song when I did a Roud search yesterday - not all the songs collected from Linda Welch came up in the search and I wrongly chose We Wish You A Happy Christmas from the 2 that did. At the time I was (as it seems others were) having problems accessing digital content at VWML. As I said in my previous post, I was able to access the Janet Blunt collection later in the evening and found the correct song, which you linked above. I've just been transcribing this and I'll post it in a short while.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Reinhard
Date: 11 Nov 25 - 03:17 AM

Mick, I chose the Roud number for my "Sing We All Merrily" page just from the song title; this was probably a mis-match.

Thanks for pointing me to the Janet Blunt collection at the EFDSS. There I found Linda Welch's "Sing We Are Merrily! Christmas Is Here" at
https://archives.vwml.org/records/JHB/13/9 but with the Roud number 13314, so I put that on my page now.

Of course Hannah James "rewrote and added verses to this song" so her version looks quite different.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 10 Nov 25 - 06:02 PM

Now I've got VWML up again I was able to see the Janet Blunt papers and there were 2 or 3 more songs from her (all Christmas related I think) that didn't come up in my Roud search earlier, including a version of Sing We Merrily! It has tune and one verse by the looks of it. It's late for me to poke around with now, but I'll have a proper look tomorrow.

Subject: Lyr Add: Sing We All Merrily
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 10 Nov 25 - 02:12 PM

SING WE ALL MERRILY
(Traditional, Hannah James)


Now winter is here we will draw round the fire,
Sister and brother and grandson and sire.
Christians and heathens their voices to bring,
Gather together, make merry and sing.

Sing we all merrily and sing with good cheer,
For the day we love best of the days of the year.
Bring out the holly, the box and the bay.
Deck out our cottage for glad Christmas Day.

[2nd verse repeated twice more with inst verse between them]

Sing we all merrily and sing with good cheer,
Talk of the absent and wish they were here.
Sisters at service and brothers away,
Oh how we wish they were with us

Sing          we          all          merrily
                                       (Sing with some cheer)
Sing          we          all          merrily
                                       (Sing with some cheer)
Sing          we          all          merrily
                                       (Sing with some cheer)
Sing          we          all          merrily
                                       (Sing with good cheer)

Sing we all merrily and sing with great mirth,
Sing loud and joyful for peace upon earth.
Parents and children down icy streets walk
Hasten together to lighten the dark

To lighten the dark.


<>Source:<> Album: Awake Arise: A Winter Album, Lady Maisery + Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ix8m1wuq8&list=OLAK5uy_lWr_W9WoGxw2oxi8YL6QAgLXqCwNw0IFk

I really quite like their version of this song!

According to Dave Kidman's review at: KLOFmag (and repeated on Mainly Norfolk):

"The aim is to sing and gather to take stock of the year, to reinforce which theme Hannah has rewritten and added verses to this song originally collected by Vaughan Williams in Oxfordshire in 1918." And Mainly Norfolk gives the Roud No. as 13245.

Here we have a slight problem. According to the Roud Index We Wish You All A Happy Christmas was collected from Linda Welch on Dec 10 2018 at Adderbury, Oxon by Janet Blunt (Janet Blunt Collection, Vol 13, p511), not by Vaughan Williams. (I assume this is the one intended; Linda Welch only has 2 entries, the other being I Saw Two Ships. I assume Christmas was on her mind on the 10th December!) And the Roud No. is given as 230, which leads to what seems a variety of Christmas songs, mostly The Cock Sat Up The Yew Tree.

On the other hand Roud 13245 does give a song called Sing We All Merrily (Sing we all merrily, for Christmas has come), whose single source seems to be Mr. Thomas of Stainton, Yorks, from R.A.A. Gatty MS collection (Birmingham Ref Lib 661164 11R 20) n/bk 4 pp.50-52 / n/bk 1 p.14.

I don't have any sources, though Sing We All Merrily from Mr. Thomas is in Paul Davenport's book Down Yorkshire Lanes (2013), p75. (I can't reach digItal content at VWML as they seem to be having problems at the moment.)

Sing We All Merrily appears online with the Welsh tune Llwyn Onn (The Ash Grove), with lyrics mostly like these (often just verse 1):


Sing we all merrily, Christmas is here—
Day that we love best of days in the year;
Bring forth the holly, the box and the bay,
Deck out the cottage for glad Christmas day.

Refrain:
Christmas is here, Christmas is here,
Sing we all merrily, Christmas is here;
Christmas is here, Christmas is here,
Sing we all merrily, Christmas is here.

Sing we all joyfully, sing of Christ’s birth,
Sing what the angels sang, "Peace upon earth!"
Parents and children in bright garments dressed,
Hasten to church to sing praise with the rest. [Refrain]

Sing we all merrily, bring out good cheer,
Think of the absent, and wish they were here;
Pray for our armies by land and by sea,
Our brave defenders, the noble and free. [Refrain]

Sing we all merrily, draw round the fire,
Father and mother, and grandson and sire;
Tell of the mercies to every one given,
Talk of the dear ones now mansioned in Heav’n. [Refrain]

Sing we all merrily, Christmas is here,
Day that we love best of days in the year;
Sisters and brothers, and friends far away,
O how we wish they were with us today! [Refrain]

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #9019