Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 47 · Carols of Many Lands · Page 69 in print
The Wexford Carol
The Oxford Book of Carols thought the Wexford Carol’s words seemed to come from England, for Ralph Vaughan Williams had taken down its first verse from a singer at Castleton, Derbyshire.
Jump to a word
The words
Ballycogly
Waddinge’s birthplace in the barony of Bargy, County Wexford.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Castleton
Derbyshire village whose carol book holds most of the same words.
Derbyshire
English county of Castleton.
Devereux
Father William Devereux, compiler of A New Garland (1728).
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Drinagh
Wexford parish where Devereux became priest in 1728.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Enniscorthy
County Wexford town where the carol was collected.
Ferns
The Wexford diocese of Bishop Luke Waddinge.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Grattan Flood
William Grattan Flood (1859–1928), who collected the carol.
Irish Song Project: Types & Histories (opens a new tab) · The Oxford Book of Carols (opens a new tab)
Irish College
The colleges in Paris and Salamanca where Waddinge and Devereux trained.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Killiane
Little chapel where the Devereux carols were first sung.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Kilmore
The Wexford parish where the carols are still sung.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Luke Waddinge
Luke Waddinge (1628–1687), bishop of Ferns and carol writer.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
New Garland
A New Garland Containing Songs for Christmas, Devereux’s manuscript.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab) · Irish Song Project: Types & Histories (opens a new tab)
Salamanca
Spanish city of the Irish College where Devereux studied.
Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs (opens a new tab)
Wexford
The Irish county whose carol tradition gives the carol its name.
Irish Song Project: Types & Histories (opens a new tab) · The Oxford Book of Carols (opens a new tab)
Sources
- Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, “Luke Waddinge’s Christmas Songs and the Wexford Carol Tradition” (DORAS, Dublin City University)doras.dcu.ie
- The Oxford Book of Carols (first published 1928; 1964 printing), Internet Archive scanInternet Archive
- Irish Song Project - Types & HistoriesIrish Song Project, Queen’s University Belfast, “The Wexford Carol”