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The First Noel

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"The First Nowell" (sometimes The First Noel or just Noel) is a traditional English Christmas carol, most likely from the 18th century.[1] In its current form it is of Cornish origin, and it was first published in Some Ancient Christmas Carols (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys Christmas Carols (1833), edited by William B. Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale. The refrain, also unusually, merely repeats the melody of the verse. It is thought to be a corruption of an earlier melody sung in a church gallery setting; a conjectural reconstruction of the earlier version can be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols (1992, ISBN 0193533235).

An orchestral arrangement, by Victor Hely-Hutchinson from his Carol Symphony, was memorably used as the theme to the BBC adaptation of John Masefield's seasonal fantasy adventure, The Box of Delights (1984).

The word Nowell comes from the French word Noël meaning "Christmas", from the Latin word natalis ("birth"). It may also be from the Gaulish words "noio" or "neu" meaning "new" and "helle" meaning "light" referring to the winter solstice when sunlight begins overtaking darkness.

Lyrics

In common with many traditional songs and carols the lyrics vary across books. The version below is taken from the New English Hymnal.

The first Nowell the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep:
refrain
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
Born is the King of Israel.
They lookèd up and saw a star,
Shining in the east, beyond them far:
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night:
And by the light of that same star,
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star whersoever it went:
This star drew nigh to the north-west;
O'er Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay
Right over the place where Jesus lay:
Then entered in those Wise Men three,
Fell reverently upon their knee,
And offered there in his presence,
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense:
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of nought,
And with his blood mankind hath bought:

Notable versions

Other versions and recordings


Parodies

  • The First Nowell appears as a 60-second holiday preview spot that would air every year, starting in 2003, on the digital cable network The Family Channel. However, it is transmitted to a song called "Never A Dull Mark Moment". Any of which, the song is a definite source of the channel's shows which would be shown on an upcoming event. The announcer's voice would be combined in a singing voice which would sound like one of the characters from Sesame Street, but this time, in a common vocal.
  • A parody of the song appeared on an episode of Animaniacs. In it, they use different scenes, the joke being that each verse involves someone saying something that sounds like the word 'nowell'. In the first verse, Yakko Warner is showing his brother how to spell Santa Claus' name. Wakko was spelling it "Santla", but of course, Santa's name has No "L". The second verse begins telling the story of Jack and Jill, but Jill(Dot Warner) is upset because the hill is empty. There's No well. In the third verse, Captain Ahab searches for Moby-Dick, but when he asks other ships, they "ain't seen No Whale." In the final verse, the Warners admit that the tune of the parody is a song you should Know well. But their parody has completely ruined it... "Oh well"!

Notes

  1. ^ Remembered as the treble part to a carol "Hark, hark the angels sing", according to Annie G. Gilchrist, "Note on the Carol "The First Nowell" Journal of the Folk-Song Society 519 (June 1915), pp. 240-242.
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