Christmas songs?

[Katia]

Does anyone have any recommendations for Scottish Christmas songs? (I mean actually Scottish, not Deck the Halls played on a bagpipe, which is mostly what I find if I do a google search for "Scottish Christmas songs.")

I thought it might be nice for church. I'm acquainted with Tàladh ar Slànaigheir/Tàladh Chrìosda/Christ Child's Lullaby, and it's lovely and sounds nice in my voice, but wondering if anyone has any other favorites as well.

[The Q]

Hmm strange I put a message saying I didn't know any but one not for Church which hasn't showed up. Unfortunately when I went back I discovered the link wasn't the one I thought it was, I hope it doesn't upset anyone if it appears.
Anyway here's the words of the version I meant
Santa's A Scotsman

It's Christmas time in Scotland,
And my kid said to me
"Just one question daddy,
Before I go to sleep
How will Santa find me?"
so I said, "Wherever he may roam
Santa will find you
because he's coming home."

Chorus:
Don't you know Santa's a Scotsman,
He's loved wherever he goes
He moved from Glasgow to Lapland,
Following Rudolf's nose
Santa's a Scotsman,
come on make a fuss
Too many pies,
not enough exercise,
of course he's one of us!

He only works one day a year,
And then he takes a break;
He'll have a nip of whiskey
And a bit of Christmas cake;
He likes a pudding supper,
And when he arrives tonight
He'll come in through the window
'Cos the chimney is too tight.

[Kiltedjohn]

I'm not sure whether this is the kind of thing you're looking for, but there are some (church) organ pieces based on Scottish lullabies.

There are two sets of Lullabies from South Uist, arranged for organ by Ian Major, and published by Animus music. See their website at www.animusi.co.uk It's a small publishing company (husband and wife team) who are remarkably quick and efficient at sending copies (at least, that's my experience within the U.K. - I can't speak for international shipping!).

[Pleater]

I was always under the impression that Christmas was not celebrated in Scotland, and that the New Year was kept as the midwinter festival.

Christmas, or Yule, was regarded as heathen or pagan.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Taskr]

Search "Scottish Christmas Hymns" and the results are far more than Deck the Halls piped.

[neloon]

I'm afraid Anne's right, Katia. In Calvinist Scotland, the Christ-mass Festival was regarded as some kind of Popish/Episcopalian blasphemy not to be celebrated. When I was young (1940s) people generally worked as usual on Christmas Day - there were no decorations, no carol singing, no over-indulgence. Over the intervening years that has changed as the population became less religious and therefore less bigoted and the commercial influences surged northwards from England so that nowadays Christmas is simply a pre-Hogmanay event and, by combining the two holidays, the whole process can sometimes extend over two weeks.
Anyway, the upshot of history is just that there were no traditional peculiarly Scottish (Lowland) carols post 1500 though, in the Catholic parts of the Highlands, there would have been a few lovely things like the "Christ Child's Lullaby".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuzQmy-muUE
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVTc1HAR1xs
Here are the words
http://www.omniglot.com/songs/bcc/ch...ildlyllaby.php
Ailean

[OC Richard]

In Calvinist Scotland, the Christ-mass Festival was regarded as some kind of Popish/Episcopalian blasphemy not to be celebrated.

Very interesting, thanks for that.

It's another example of how USA culture is, in the main, English, with added German and Dutch influences.

I have a number of CDs from England of Christmas carols and they're nearly all ones that are quite familiar to Americans.

Of course large numbers of Scottish Presbyterians came to the American colonies but after a generation or two the vast majority converted and became Baptists and Methodists; where I'm from, a bastion of British America, there are only two sorts of human beings, Methodists and Baptists.


I do work with a woman whose Christian denomination doesn't celebrate Christmas or Easter, regarding them more or less as pagan holidays.

[Blupiper]

Katia:

I will second The Christ Child's Lullaby--a lovely, contemplative song from the Hebrides. Another one to check out is What Strangers are These? Several nice versions on YouTube. It's, from what I can research, an old Scottish song and very fitting for Christmastide. For others, not strictly Scottish, but still very nice, I like the Wexford Carol and The Holly Bears a Berry.

JMB

[Katia]

I'm not sure whether this is the kind of thing you're looking for, but there are some (church) organ pieces based on Scottish lullabies.

I'm looking for something to sing-- I don't play keyboards-- but it may be something our music director would be interested in, thanks!

I was always under the impression that Christmas was not celebrated in Scotland, and that the New Year was kept as the midwinter festival.

Christmas, or Yule, was regarded as heathen or pagan.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

I'm afraid Anne's right, Katia. In Calvinist Scotland, the Christ-mass Festival was regarded as some kind of Popish/Episcopalian blasphemy not to be celebrated.

Darn. I was rather afraid that might be the case... it explains why there is so little to find. Certainly nothing wrong with the Taladh Chriosda, and anything I come up with will be something the folks at church haven't heard before, anyway, which is my aim. And, it will lend itself nicely to my very rudimentary harp skills, I think. This is one of my favorite Youtube videos of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UHsGGWOcmk

[Lake Mist]

"A Scottish Christmas" - Bonnie Rideout, Maggie Sansone & Al Patteway

http://www.heartoscotland.com/Produc...stmasmusic.htm

http://www.scotslanguage.com/Christm...s_for_children

http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/Scot...mas-Album.html