Christmas in Victorian England: Christmas Carols

In the early years of the nineteenth century several English folklorists predicted the approaching demise of the Christmas carol. Observers of English folk customs mourned that only a scattered handful of old people knew and sang the traditional songs. This timely handwring-ing may have inspired several important collections of Christmas carols, which were published in the early part of the century. With their renewed interest in Christmas and its traditions, middle-class Victorians welcomed these traditional songs back into their Christmas festivities. By the 1870s churches began to incorporate these almost-forgotten Christmas songs into their holiday services. In 1880 an Anglican bishop, Edward W. Benson, later archbishop of Canterbury, first devised the CEREMONY OF LESSONS AND CAROLS, a special Christmas service blending Bible readings with carol singing.