Ding Dong Merrily on High
George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1848-1934
Tune: Brane de l'Official, from Thoinot Arbeau's
Orchesographie, (1588), harmonized by Charles Wood
MIDI / Noteworthy
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1. Ding Dong! merrily on high
In heav'n the bells are ringing
Ding, dong! verily the sky
Is riv'n1 with angel singing
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis
2. E'en so here below, below
Let steeple bells be swungen
And i-o, i-o, i-o
By priest and people be sungen
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis
3. Pray ye dutifully prime
Your matin chime, ye ringers
May ye beautifully rime2
Your evetime song, ye singers
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis.
Sheet Music from Charles Wood and George Ratcliffe Woodward, The Cambridge Carol-Book, Being Fifty-Two Songs For Christmas, Easter, And Other Seasons (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1924), #8.
See A Garritan
Community Christmas for an MP3:
Ding Dong
Jazzily On High, Jon Raybould
Notes:
1. Or: rent Return2. Or: rhyme Return
Earthly Delights: Xmas Carols
This carol is a good example of a carol in the original sense of the word (i.e. a secular dance tune) evolving into a carol as it is understood today (i.e. a song for Christmas). The tune first appeared in the Orchesographie, a dance book written by Johan Tabourot (1519-93), a canon of Langres, under the anagram Thoinot Arbeau. 'Branle l'Officiel' was to be danced by 'lackeys and serving wenches and sometimes by young men and maids of gentle birth masquerading as peasants and shepherd'. The dance title, though sometimes translated as 'The Official Branle' or 'The Officers' Brawl' (Brawl being the appropriate translation of Branle), might better be translated as 'The servants' hall ( l'office) Branle/Brawl'. The very Victorian archaic English lyric was composed early in the 20th century by George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934), the author of several carol books - and someone particularly interested in rehabilitating tunes found in the sixteenth century Finnish collection, Piae Cantiones.
Elizabeth Poston based her version on these lyrics.
