Deck the Hall

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" Deck the Halls " or " Deck the Hall " (which is the original title) is a traditional Yule tide/ Christmas and New Years' carol (music)|carol . The melody is Wales|Welsh dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, Nos Galan . (In the eighteenth century Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart used the melody for a violin and piano duet, Sonata No. 18.). Last accessed December 13, 2011.

The lyrics were thought to have been American in origin, dating from the late nineteenth century; however they first appeared in Welsh Melodies , a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas (harpist)|John Thomas with Welsh words by Talhaiarn|John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Thomas Oliphant (musician and artist)|Thomas Oliphant , although the repeated "fa la la" goes back to the original Welsh Nos Galan and may originate from medieval ballads. The song is in AABA form .Boyd, Jack (1991). Encore!: A Guide to Enjoying Music , p. 31. ISBN 978-0-87484-862-5. The series Welsh Melodies appears in four volumes, the first two in 1862, the third in 1870 and the final volume in 1874.

Nos Galan

The melody of "Deck the Hall" is taken from "Nos Galan" ("New Year's Eve"), a traditional Welsh New Year's Eve carol published in 1794, although it is much older. The Welsh language|Welsh and English lyrics supplied there are as follows:
:O mor gynnes mynwes meinwen,
:fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:
:O mor fwyn yw llwya meillionen,
:fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:
:O mor felus yw'r cusanau,
::Gyda serch a mwynion eiriau
:fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:
:Oh& #33; how soft my fair one's bosom,
:fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:
:Oh& #33; how sweet the grove in blossom,
:fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:
:Oh& #33; how blessed are the blisses,
::Words of love, and mutual kisses,
:fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:

Lyrics

The modern lyrics and melody of "Deck The Hall" are found in The Song Book edited by John Hullah , originally published in 1866. The words are there ascribed to Thomas Oliphant|Oliphant , translated from the Welsh of Talhaiarn .
The following lyrics are found in the printings of 1877 and 1881 (which are identical):
: Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.
:'' wiktionary:'tis|'Tis the season to be jolly,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.
: Don we now our gay apparel
: wikt:troll#Etymology 3|Troll the ancient Christmas carol,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.

: See the blazing yule log|yule before us,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.
: Strike the harp and join the choir|chorus .
: Fa la la la la la la la la.
: Follow me in merry bar (music)|measure ,
: While I tell of Christmas treasure,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.

: December 31|Fast away the old year passes ,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.
: wikt:hail|Hail January 1|the new , wikt:ye|ye male|lads and female|lasses !
: Fa la la la la la la la la.
: Sing we joyous all together,
: Heedless of the wind and weather,
: Fa la la la la la la la la.

Variants

The major difference from the current version is the omission of the third "Fa la la" line in the early printings (which corresponds to the instrumental flourish in the Welsh original).
The alteration of the first line to "Deck the halls" (plural) is found as early as the 1930s:e.g. both "hall" and "halls" are found today.

Other common alterations change "Christmas" to "Yule" or "Yuletide" in various locations where it appears. For example, "Christmas carol" may be changed to "Yuletide carol".
By the 1970s, perhaps because of developments in the meaning of the word "gay", we see the line "Don we now our gay apparel" changed to "Fill the mead-cup, drain the barrel" in some sources.e.g.

History

The tune is that of an old Music of Wales|Welsh Air (music)|air , first found in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall (c. 1710–1782), but undoubtedly much older than that. The composition is still popular as a dance tune in Wales, and was published, with both Welsh and English lyrics, in the 1784 and 1794 editions of the harpist Edward Jones's Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards . Poet John Ceiriog Hughes later wrote his own lyrics. A middle verse was later added by Folk song|folk singers . In the eighteenth century the tune spread widely, with Mozart using it in a piano and violin concerto and, later, Joseph Haydn|Haydn in the song "New Year's Night."

Originally, carols were dances and not songs. The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre. Singers would compete with each other, verse for verse — known as canu penillion dull y De ("singing verses in the southern style"). The church actively opposed these folk dances. Consequently, tunes originally used to accompany carols became separated from the original dances, but were still referred to as "carols". The popular English lyrics for this carol are not a translation from the Welsh.

The connection with dancing is made explicit in the English lyrics by the phrase "follow me in merry measure" as "measure" is a synonym for dance.
A collection of such sixteenth and seventeenth century dances danced at the Inns of Court in London are called the Old Measures . Dancing itself having been previously suppressed by the church was revived during the renaissance beginning in fifteenth century Italy.

The Welsh melody with English lyrics appeared in the December 1877 issue of the Pennsylvania School Journal , with the melody, described as a "Welsh Air" appearing in four-part harmony, and unattributed lyrics. The melody is substantially today's, except that the third "Fa la la" is omitted. An identical printing appeared four years later in The Franklin Square Song Collection .

Charles Wood arranged a version, the words from Talhaiarn; translated by Thomas Oliphant. Oliphant died in 1873 and the English version of the 1881 publication ( The Franklin Square Song Collection ) is also attributed to Oliphant. The Franklin Square Song Collection

SHeDAISY version

In 1999, an adaptation of "Deck the Halls" was released by country music group SHeDAISY for Disney animated film '' Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas ''. The song was later included on the group's Christmas album, Brand New Year , released in 2000. The music video filmed for the song features scenes from ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas .

Chart performance

Chart (1999-2001)	Peak position

Other

The characters in the comic strip Pogo traditionally sang this song at Christmas, using nonsense lyrics, "Deck us all with Boston Charlie", and so on. A version expounding on these lyrics was recorded by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross .

In the United States and Canada it is common for children to sing "Deck the halls with poison ivy", a playground song based on "Deck the Halls".

Copyright Citations

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