A Soalin'

The poor in Victorian England.

Peter, Paul and Mary - A Soalin' (live in France, 1965) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE0qoVUwqE 

A Soalin'

 Hey ho, nobody home, meat nor drink nor money have I none
Yet shall we be merry, Hey ho, nobody home.
Hey ho, nobody home, Meat nor drink nor money have I none
Yet shall we be merry, Hey ho, nobody home.
Hey Ho, nobody home.

Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,
any good thing to make us all merry,
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

God bless the master of this house, and the mistress also
And all the little children that round your table grow.
The cattle in your stable and the dog by your front door
And all that dwell within your gates
we wish you ten times more.

Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,
any good thing to make us all merry,
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

Go down into the cellar and see what you can find
If the barrels are not empty we hope you will be kind
We hope you will be kind with your apple and PEAR'
For we'll come no more a 'soalin' till this time next year.

Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,
any good thing to make us all merry,
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

The streets are very dirty, my shoes are very thin.
I have a little pocket to put a penny in.
If you haven't got a penny, aN ha' penny will do.
If you haven't got a ha' penny then God bless you.

Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,
any good thing to make us all merry,
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace..
This holy tide of Christmas of beauty and of grace,
Oh tidings of comfort and joy.

Institutionalized poverty has been in place for millenium. This song is a combinaton of the ancient practice of begging in England at Christmastime from the homes of barons and other nobles during the middle ages, and, at the very end of the music, a hint of Victorian England--God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen--where institutionalized poverty was challenged, if not eradicated, by groups with a conscience inspired by Charles Dickens and his literature. 'A Christmas Carol' anyone?

As we go about our holiday business and hear the little bell of the Salvation Army--a group born out of the Victorian conscience transplanted to America--maybe we can hear the voices of the poor going a soalin.'

Civil War Era Christmas Carol--True Story

A Mournful Christmas Eve 1863--Thomas Nast

The lyrics to the Christmas Carol, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day' were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Christmas 1863. It is more of a mental struggle to continue on than a carol. His circumstances were difficult. His oldest son, Charles aged seventeen, had run off to join the Union Army, and although the family strongly supported the abolitionist cause, the thought his boy in the midst of the chaos and danger created a very melancholy and philosophical poem. His second wife had died in an accident three years before; his first wife in childbirth.

So the imminent prospect of his son entering the gruesome War was not the only stressor oppressing the poet's thoughts. The poem reveals his inner struggle. Longfellow fully realizes the tragic powers at work in his life. But, as with his other poems, despite the darkness, he finds the glow of hope. This poem reaches out to all of us suffering loss and worry for our loved ones, whatever war may be threatening them.

Charley was seriously wounded, but lived to become an excellent soldier. 

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Charles Appleton Longfellow

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men." 

This version of the carol just came out  on 'Holidays Rule.' Its by the Civl Wars

The Civil Wars -- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day 

http://www.youtube.co

Christmas Karaoke -Round 1

Christmas song's lyrics--as poetry.

Joy To The World Lyric Video - Hillsong Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDAUPz2RohU

JOY TO THE WORLD

Isaac Watts

George Frederic Handel

[Verse 1]
Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

[Verse 2]
Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

[Verse 3]
No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as, the curse is found

[Verse 4]
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love

Charles Dickens-Documentary

Charles Dickens (Part 1 of 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEYdX5_U0Yg

Charles Dickens (Part 2 of 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R5APXDJ6fE

Charles Dickens (Part 3 of 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXm2QtBxts

Illustrations from 'A Christmas Carol.'