Blog caroling: Ding Dong Merrily on High!

For The Footnotemaven's annual tradition of blog caroling, in which you only have to post lyrics and/or a video of your favorite Christmas music and post a link in her comments by December 14th, I chose "Ding Dong Merrily On High!"

The music for this Christmas carol first appeared in a book of dance music by French cleric Jehan Tabourot in the 16th century. English minister and composer George Ratcliffe Woodward would give it lyrics and publish it in 1924.

Lyrics:

Ding dong! merrily on high
In heav'n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
Is riv'n with Angel singing

REFRAIN:

Gloria,
Hosanna in excelsis!
Gloria,
Hosanna in excelsis!

E'en so here below, below,
Let steeple bells be swungen,
And "Io, io, io!"
By priest and people sungen.

[REFRAIN]

Pray you, dutifully prime
Your matin chime, ye ringers;
May you beautifully rime
Your evetime song, ye singers.

[REFRAIN]

Music of my ancestors: Tum Balalaika

Sometimes, in researching one's family history, it's easy to get caught up in dates and documents and lose sight of our ancestors' humanity. What were their daily lives like? What did they eat and wear? What kind of music and entertainment did they know?

To that end, I found an old Russian Jewish folk tune that was probably familiar to my grandfather and his family. Though I had never heard it before, the song is apparently well-known, about a man trying to choose the right woman to marry.

"Tum" means "noise", and a balalaika is a triangular-shaped stringed Russian instrument.