From: Nichael Lynn Cramer (nichael@sover.net)
Date: Wed Dec 23 1998 - 09:06:15 EST
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In recent years, a major part of the build up to Christmas for us has
been <br>
going to see Nowell Sing We Clear (for those not in the area NSWC is a
<br>
four-man "Christmas Revels" troupe that plays several shows
around the New <br>
England area this time each each :
<a href="http://www.sover.net/~barrand/NSWC.html" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF"><u>http://www.sover.net/~barrand/NSWC.html></font></u><font color="#000000">).<br>
<br>
Anyway, this year their encore piece was a version of "The First
Noel" that <br>
the leader of the group, Tony Barrand, had reputedly picked up in a pub
in <br>
Yorkshire during a trip home to England.<br>
<br>
The version was notable for two reasons. First, while (most of, see
below) <br>
the lyrics were the same as in the "standard" version, the
melody was <br>
completly different. A bit rowdy, actually. Sort of what you would expect
<br>
from a bunch of festive pub-dwellers singing around the fireplace in an
old <br>
episode of "All Creatures Great and Small".<br>
<br>
Second, while I've always loved this carol, their version included a
final <br>
verse that I must admit to having never heard before. So attached below
<br>
is a copy of the verse --back-morphed to fit the standard melody.<br>
<br>
[The first of each pair of lines is a "guide verse". Much more
helpful in <br>
a fixed-width font.]<br>
<br>
</font><font face="Courier, Courier"> | The | first | No- | el |
the | ang-els | did | sing | <br>
| A | B | and | C | and
| D------ | and | E | <br>
<br>
| was | to | cert- | ain | poor | shep- | herds | <br>
| and -----| F | G |
H | I |
J | <br>
| in | fields | as | they | lay | <br>
| K | M |
N | O | P |<br>
<br>
| In | fields | where | they | lay | keep- | ing |<br>
| and| Q | and |
R | and | S | T
|<br>
| their | sheep | <br>
| U |
V |<br>
<br>
| On | a | cold | win- | ters | night | which |<br>
| and---- | doub-| -le- | -U |
X | and |<br>
| was | so | deep | <br>
| Y | and |
Z |<br>
<br>
<br>
No-L ... No-L.... No-L.... No-L...<br>
<br>
<br>
</font>Merry/Happy/Jolly whatevertheheckyouwant, ol' net.buddies.<br>
May the next year grant us no more months like this last one.<br>
<br>
N<br>
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