The Sinner's Redemption
| The Sinner's Redemption | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Carol |
| Occasion | Christmas |
"The Sinner's Redemption", also known as "All You That are to Mirth Inclined" is an English Christmas carol originating in the 1600s.[1] The carol is about the Nativity of Jesus.[2] It is not known when "The Sinner's Redemption" was first created, though it was mentioned as having been sung in the 1630s in a broadside newspaper and was regularly reprinted by them.[3]
Background
[edit]Professor Peter Davidson of Oxford University claimed that the carol was written by Anna Alcox in the 1650s, but her name was not attributed to it as she was from a family of Catholic recusants; she was also six years old at the time of writing and was under the age of legal responsibility.[4]
The oldest written copy of the carol was found in 1709 under the title "The Sinner's Redemption, The Nativity of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ, With His Life on Earth, and Precious Death on the Cross", in an undated collection by Thomas Deloney.[3] In 1861, in his "A Garland of Christmas Carols", John Camden Hotten called it "this rude old carol" and stated it was a favourite of the peasantry.[5] He also noted the regular reprints by broadsides.[5]
Contents
[edit]The 1709 copy of the carol has 28 verses, but the last 12 would often be omitted.[3] The word "mirth" used in the carol was intended to represent Christian religious joy in celebrating the birth of Jesus rather than "boisterous merriment".[5] "The Sinner's Redemption" was also viewed to have inspired the Irish "Wexford Carol", as five of the six verses of the latter carol were based on "The Sinner's Redemption".[6] The carol was later adapted for formal congregational singing by Ralph Vaughan Williams in the Oxford Book of Carols.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Sinner's Redemption". Hymns and Carols of Christmas. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ Sandys, William (1833). Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern. University Microfilms. p. 84. ISBN 1236374622.
- ^ a b c Husk, William Henry (2014). Songs of the Nativity. Cambridge University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1108082884.
- ^ Davidson, Peter (2001). Early Modern Women Poets (1520–1700): An Anthology. Oxford University Press. p. 400. ISBN 0199242577.
- ^ a b c Sylvester, Joshua (1861). A Garland of Christmas Carols: Ancient and Modern. London: J.C. Hotten. p. 36. ISBN 1432678663.
- ^ Crump, William (2013). The Christmas Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). McFarland. p. 437. ISBN 978-1476605739.
- ^ Wells, Robin (2017). Vaughan Williams Essays. Routledge. p. 124. ISBN 978-1351537797.