Forgotten Carols of Jane Austen’s Time

 

Because of laws restricting festivites at Christmastime, Christmas carols weren’t as common in the Regency Era as they are now. However, country people continued to sing carols in their homes and sometimes in churches. In 1822, shortly after Jane Austen’s death, Davies Gilbert, a native of Cornwall, published a collection of carols from his childhood in the West of England, which wasn’t too far from where the Austens lived. (You can find the entire volume here.)
I suspect that Jane may have been familiar with a few of these carols. Here is the first in the volume,entitled “The Lord at First Did Adam Make.”

In all, the carols he shared were as follows (click on each title to link to the words to each carol):

1. The Lord At First Did Adam Make
2. When God At First Created Man
3.  A Virgin Most Pure
4. When Righteous Joseph Wedded Was
5. Hark, Hark! What News The Angels Bring
6. Whilst Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night (You may recognize this one since it’s still a popular carol.)
7. God’s Dear Son Without Beginning
8. Let All That Are To Mirth Inclined

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