Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Celtic

Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Anglo-Saxon

Digging deeper into my ancestral lines brings me to the Celts. The Celts are a diverse lot with a diversity of territories, languages, and cultures.

Source

The Celts were the inhabitants of the British Isles at the time of the Roman Invasion in 43. They are often referred to as Britons. Many of them fought the invaders, all the invaders actually: Romans, Saxons, and Danes. In the first century, missionaries introduced Christianity to them, so I can include the Celts in my Christmas song offerings. 

I've traced ancient ancestors from every country on the above map except the Isle of Man. Of these, the predominant group seems to be Welsh. So for the Christmas song, I chose a traditional Welsh carol. It's sung in Welsh, so the words won't be familiar, but the melody will be.

Next, a Christmas Song of Hope for the Middle East

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Celtic ©Dec 2024

 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Anglo-Saxon

 Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Vikings

 

I've been able to trace several ancestral lines back to the Angles and the Saxons, who, along with the Jutes, began to invade England after the Romans left in the early 400s. 

By mbartelsm - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86531831

These Germanic invaders pushed the Celts (Britons) to the north and west, and eventually occupied much of what is England today.   

 

Source

 

The Anglo-Saxon language is also referred to as Old English. I have no idea about authentic Christmas songs and celebrations of the Saxons, so I have two offerings for you. The first is likely what the Saxons would have heard in church, the second is a more modern carol translated into Old English.

 

This time period predates Gregorian Chant, so in church, it likely would have been Old Roman Chant in Latin. This Alleluia is said to date back to the 2nd century.

 

To hear what Old English sounds like, click the image or caption below to view the video on YouTube. The carol itself isn't authentic for the time period, but the language is.

Click here to view on YouTube

Next, Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Celtic

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Anglo-Saxon ©Dec 2024

 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Vikings

Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Norman French

In 793, the Vikings made their first successful attack on England, and for the next two centuries, they kept on coming. The term "Viking" actually refers to the activity of raiding rather than a specific people group. At the time, they were referred to as Northmen. Today, they would be recognized as Scandinavian. 

Once the raiders successfully conquered the lands, they took to farming it. The Danes were so numerous and so successful, that they claimed a large portion of 9th century England as Danelaw.

public domain

Of the Scandinavian countries, my ancestral lines trace back mostly to Denmark and Norway. So I set about looking for a Christmas song in one or both of their ancient languages. Something I learned, was that Danish has it's roots in Old Norse.

This video is different from the others I've been sharing, in that it isn't embedded at the request of the artist. The image below is a screenshot linked to the video on YouTube. Click on either the caption or the image to hear a 16th century Latin carol sung in Old Norse.

Click here to play the video

Next, Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Anglo-Saxon

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Vikings ©Dec 2024

 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Norman French

Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: English

About the time of the Norman invasion of England (1066), my family tree begins to fill with Norman French ancestors who migrated northward from Normandy to England. 

Normandy. Fobos92, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Northern France was originally populated by Celtic peoples. In the 9th century, the Vikings began raiding, and eventually, the territory was awarded to the Viking leader Rollo, who became the first duke of Normandy. Consequently, Norman French evolved as the language of Normandy. Also known as "Viking French" it was greatly influenced by the language of the Northmen. (Northman easily contracts to Norman, so that's easy to remember.) Two centuries later, Rollo's descendant Duke William of Normandy invaded and conquered England.

For this blog series, I find that the farther back I go, the harder it is to find examples of authentic Christmas songs in the original old languages. If I'm remembering my music history correctly, songs at the time were either sacred or secular. Christmas songs would have been sacred and sung in Latin as Gregorian chant. 

For this blog post, I offer two video clips. The first is what my ancestors might have heard when they attended Christmas Day Mass. The second isn't a song, but a sample of spoken Norman French. Maybe those of you who speak French will hear the difference.

 

Next, Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Vikings

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Norman French

©Dec 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: English

Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Irish

Prior to my early American ancestors' migration to the New World from England, my family tree is filled with several centuries of primarily English ancestors. They were scattered about England, south to north.

This offering is an old traditional English Christmas carol sung in Middle English (spoken roughly from the 12th to 15th centuries).

Next, Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Norman French

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: English ©Dec 2024

 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Irish

Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Native American

My 3x-great-grandfather migrated from Ireland to Canada sometime before 1835, which was when his oldest child was born in Nova Scotia. This child, my great-great-grandfather, "followed the sea" as they used to say, and ended up as a Master Mariner on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he lived the rest of his life after meeting and marrying my great-great-grandmother.

Carul Loch Garman (The Wexford Carol) is a traditional Irish Christmas carol, with origins dating back to the 1400 or 1500s.

Next, Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: English

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Irish ©Dec 2024

 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Native American

Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Early American

My 9th-great grandmother was Wampanoag. She was the second wife of my 9th-great grandfather, who emigrated from England in 1651. They had four children, of which my 8th-great grandfather, born in 1674, was the youngest.

Map of Wampanoag lands (southeastern Massachusetts)
Noahedits, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Even though some Wampanoag adopted Christianity, I have no idea about possible songs that would have been sung at Christmas. Probably none, considering that the earliest European migrants to their area were Separatists, who did not celebrate Christmas. Noteworthy, however, is that the first Bible printed in North America was printed in 1663 in the Wampanoag language.  

I could find very few songs in the Wampanoag language. The closest Christmas song I could find to honor my indigenous ancestors was the Huron Carol, which is credited as being Canada's oldest Christmas hymn. The Huron (Wyandot, Wendat, or Huron-Wendat) and Wampanoag peoples are both considered eastern woodlands peoples of North America, but their languages have different roots. Wampanoag is Algonquian in origin, while Wendat is Iroquoian. This Christmas carol is sung in the Huron-Wendat language.

Next, Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Irish

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Native American

©Dec 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Early American

One of my interests is genealogy. With the help of community efforts at familysearch.org, I've been able to map a generalized idea of my ethnic and cultural roots. My offering to you this Christmas season is a variety of traditional Christmas songs that might have been sung by my ancestors: Early American, Native American, Irish, English, Norman French, Viking, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic. Between now and Christmas, I'll post one a day, starting with my early American ancestors.

The first of my ancestors to migrate to North America came from England in the early 1600s. The Separatists (who wanted to separate from the Church of England) migrated in the 1620s and the Puritans (who wanted to purify, i.e. reform, the Church of England) began arriving in the 1630s. The Separatists did not acknowledge Christmas, and the Puritans in England banned the singing of Christmas Carols in 1649. Both groups, however, likely sang from the Geneva Psalter, which is based on the Book of Psalms. I have no idea what they might have chosen for the birth of Christ, so I picked one that I liked.

 

 Next: Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Native American

 

Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Early American

©Dec 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com