Ding dong,
merrily on high
In heav'n the bells are ringing;
Ding dong, verily the sky
Is riv'n with angel singing.
Gloria, hosannah in excelsis!
Gloria, hosannah in excelsis!
E'en so here, below, below,
Let steeple bells be swungen,
And io, io ,io,
By priest and people sungen.
Gloria, hosannah in excelsis!
Gloria, hosannah in excelsis!
Pray ye dutifully prime
Your matin chimes, ye ringers;
May ye beautifully rhyme
Your evetime song, ye singers.
I have never known the words to that song apart from the "ding dong merrily on high" line. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI know the words simply through having sung and taught them so many times!
DeleteThank you Janice, I enjoyed reading these lyrics. Happy Boxing Day!
ReplyDelete. . . and to you, Denise. 😀
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ReplyDeleteGreat words and spirit
It is very lively - great for elevating the heart rate!
DeleteOne of my favourite carols. 😊
ReplyDeleteMine, too.
DeleteI'm not good with music so I cannot imagine the tune that goes with this. The words don't mean anything to me so I may not have heard it before. But I liked reading the words.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the clip didn't play for you. It's rather lovely to hear.
DeleteAside from the main words, I hadn't really paid attention to the rest. There is some older English in there. I like it.
ReplyDeleteThe old words appeal to me.
DeleteThank you for the collection of carols this week.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure.
DeleteYes, thank you for the carols and for your lovely and always interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Inger.
DeletePossibly my favorite Xmas song to sing (especially in a choir) - great sound and properly merry. I found myself singing it in the sewing room (where no one can hear me) after reading your post.
ReplyDeleteIt has that effect, doesn't it? When I sing, the dogs look at me with some concern. I used to be able to sing . . . what happened?
DeleteAnother carol I'm not familiar with!
ReplyDeleteI think it's very 'English.'
DeleteI remember years ago hearing Eric Idle or one of the Monty Pythons guys say excitedly, “Let’s have a Ding Dong!” and not knowing what he was talking about. After hearing the carol at one of the Kings College Cambridge choir televised Christmas concerts, it became one of my favorites! Thank you for posting the lyrics!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure.
DeleteI hope you had a nice Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThank you, we did. I hope yours was enjoyable, too.
DeleteAny chance of translating this carol into plain English? For example, what is "riv'n"? And who was "Gloria"? Why "sungen" and not "sung"?
ReplyDeleteI know people who still talk about 'boughten' bread - I'm sure you do, too. Archaic language is interesting and you've given me an idea for a blog post, so, thank you. (Another yawnfest??)
DeleteAs most of the Christmas carols have been translated from German, this one is an exception and that's why I don't know it (I think) Language English, Latin
ReplyDeletePublished 1924
Genre Christmas carol
Songwriter(s) George Ratcliffe Woodward
I googled !
Well done, Ingrid! Good old Google!
ReplyDeleteI've only listened to this carol the other day, so thank you for sharing its lyrics! xxx
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. 😀
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