Carolers in Union Square, San Francisco. Some rights reserved by EricF2000.

“The First Noel” has a fairly obscure history. Both the English and the French claim it. The first English text was published only in 1823. The tune didn’t appear in print until 1833, but both the tune and text are probably much older than that.

The text, at least, has something of the flavor of the Medieval mystery plays. It may or may not be that old.

We owe the English version to two early nineteenth-century antiquarians, Davies Gilbert and William Sandys. At first, they published for scholars. It didn’t take long, however, for the general public to discover “The First Noel” and take it to heart.

Davies Gilbert

Davies Gilbert (1767-1839) was born Davies Giddy. Nine years after his marriage, took his wife’s surname. That choice enabled the couple to inherit a sizeable estate from her uncle. He served for a while as a member of Parliament and became active in the Royal Society for Science and the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.

At the time, music was not considered an occupation suitable for an English Gentleman. Nevertheless, he compiled eight texts and tunes and published them as Some Ancient Christmas Carols in 1822.

The following year, he issued a second edition with twelve more texts but supplied a tune for only one. This was the first collection of carols published in Victorian England. The second edition included “The First Nowel” (sic) with no tune.

In a way, Gilbert helped the way for the renewed popularity of Christmas. Observance of Christmas had been forbidden during the Cromwell Protectorate. The government forbade churches from being open on December 25 unless it was a Sunday. Celebrating holidays seemed too Catholic.

The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 restored Christmas, but English society had gotten out of the habit of celebrating it. It saw rather subdued acknowledgement, if at all, until Gilbert and others reinvented it

William Sandys

The Three Magi (Balthasar, Caspar, Melchior) / Made at the Hohenburg Abbey, France, 1185 by its abbess Herrad of Landsberg (c.1130 – July 25, 1195)

William Sandys was a lawyer (specifically a solicitor) by profession and an antiquarian by avocation. He advanced the story of “The First Noel.”  His collection of 80 carols (Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, 1833) dwarfs Gilbert’s effort. It is considered the first major English collection of Christmas music.

Sandys divided his collection into three sections: “Ancient Carols and Christmas Songs from the Early Part of the Fifteenth to the End of the Seventeenth Century,” “Containing a Selection from Carols Still Used in the West of England,” and “Containing Specimens of French Provincial Carols.” “The First Nowell” (sic) appears in the second section.

Sandys cited Gilbert as one of his sources for these pieces. But, of course, he had to find the tune elsewhere. It seems interesting that, where Gilbert specifically collected ancient carols, Sandys published “The First Nowell” in his modern section. It apparently had never been completely forgotten. Just confined to a corner of England with little social prestige.

By 1853, when Sandys published a second edition of his collection, Christmas had again become a popular holiday. So he marketed it not to scholars but to the general public. “The First Noel” had apparently also become popular by that time.

John Stainer arranged the version of the tune found in most hymnals later in the century.

The text of The First Noel

Annunciation of the Shepherds / Benjamin Gervitsz Cuyp, Dutch (1612-1652)

Nowadays, it seems, churches seldom sing more than three verses of any hymn,  no matter how many are printed in hymnals. Gilbert’s (and Sandys’) version has nine verses.

The anachronism of placing the wise men at the manger with the shepherds must be very old. Also, Jesus was probably not born on “a cold winter’s night.” If shepherds were spending the night in the fields with sheep, it was probably springtime.

1. The first Nowel that the Angel did say
Was to certain poor Shepherds in fields where they lay;
In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,
In a cold Winter’s night that was so deep.

Chorus.
Nowel, Nowel, Nowel, Nowel,
Born is the King of Israel.

2.They looked 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.Chorus.

3. And by the lightning of that Star
There came three Wise Men from countries far,
To seek a King was their intent,
And to follow the Star wheresoever it went. Chorus.

4. This Star drew nigh to the North West,
And at Bethlehem Jury she took up her rest,
And there she did both stop and stay,
Right over the house where the King did lay. Chorus.

5. Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
Then entered in one for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty. Chorus.

6. Then entered in these Wise Men three,
Most reverently upon their knee,
And offered there in his presence
Both gold, and myrrh, and frankincense. Chorus.

7. Between an ox-stall and an ass
This Child truly there born was;
For want of clothing there did him lay
All in an ox-manger amongst the hay. Chorus.

8. Now let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our Heavenly Lord,
The which hath made Heaven and Earth of nought,
And by his blood Mankind hath bought. Chorus.

9. If we in our life-time doth do well,
We shall be free from the pains of Hell,
For God hath prepared and for us all
A resting place in general. Chorus.

The French text of “The First Noel”

Some rights reserved by alwaysmnky

“Noel,” it should be noted, came into the English language from French. The French sing a version of “The First Noel” that has nothing to do with Gilbert’s and Sandys’ collections. The history of the carol, then, can’t be complete without considering its French story.

The French lyrics take the form of an angel serving as town crier and spreading news. They begin, “Aujourd’hui le Roi des Cieux au miliieu de la nuit.” (Today the King of the Heavens in the middle of the night. . . )

The structure of the text resembles Medieval French poetry. The familiar tune may be French as well. In any case, it’s the one the French use.

It helps to remember a bit of history:

Through much of the Middle Ages, the French-speaking English kings ruled much of what is now France. When the ruling classes of the Middle Ages and Renaissance got tired of a particular style of music or poetry, it often got passed down to townspeople, who represented what would eventually become the middle class.

If “The First Noel” does have French origins, it should not surprise anyone that an old French tune may have survived in English provincial areas for centuries and acquired new words.

Sources:

Davies Gilbert / The Hymns and Carols of Christmas
The fascinating story and lyrics of ‘The First Noel’ in French / ThoughtCo. February 11, 2019
The First Nowell  / The Hymns and Carols of Christmas
William Sandys / The Hymns and Carols of Christmas