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Archive for the 'St. Stephen's Day' Category

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Good King Wenceslas – A Carol with a Video – Come Hear it Performed!

Happy Saint Stephen’s Day

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Good King Wenceslas – A Carol with a Video – Come Hear it Performed!

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Good King Wenceslas was written in 1853 by the Englishman John Mason Neale. The tune is from “Tempus Adest Floridum”, a spring carol from the 13th Century. I’ve posted these lyrics before. Since then, there’s been an explosion of videos on YouTube. It seemed like a good time to post this wonderful song again, with a video rendition for the holiday season.

Good King Wenceslas has become a Christmas song, even though it sings about St. Stephen’s Day, which is the day after Christmas.

Wenceslas was born in 907. He was actually the Duke of Bohemia, not a king. Bohemia is now an area of the Czech Republic.

The story of “King” Wenceslas is a sad one. When he was 13 his father was killed in battle. His mother, Drahomira, became the ruler of Bohemia. She seems to have been a pagan. His grandmother taught Wenceslas Christian ideals. His mother was threatened by this and had his grandmother killed. Two years later she was deposed in an uprising, and King Wenceslas became the ruler of Bohemia. He was said to be an honest, kind man. He even allowed his mother to move back into the castle with him. Unfortunately, his evil brother Boleslav murdered him in 929.

King Wenceslas eventually became a saint.

This song shows his hospitality to a poor stranger on a harsh, cold winter evening.

Here’s video rendition of Good Kind Wenceslas, followed by the lyrics…

Here are the lyrics to Good King Wenceslas…

Good King Wenceslas

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel.

“Hither, page, and stand by me
If you know it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
You and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather.

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread you in them boldly
You shall find the winter’s rage
Freeze your blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
You who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Here’s a midi of Good King Wenceslas, if you’d just like to hear the tune.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Christmas, Christmas Songs, Countries & Cultures, Czech Republic, English, Good King Wenceslas, Great Britain, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, St. Stephen's Day, YouTube | 1 Comment »

Happy Saint Stephen’s Day

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Ed Gawlinski pointed out that today is St. Stephen’s Day. He wrote…

St. Stephen’s Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint’s day celebrated on December 26th in the Western Church and December 27th in the Eastern Church.

In Irish it is called Lá Fhéile Stiofán or Lá an Dreoilín – the latter translates literally as another English name used, the Day of the Wren or Wren’s Day.

There is a song that goes with this day …

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze*,
Up with the kettle and down with the pan,
Give us some money to bury the wren.

*A prickly, dense evergreen shrub.

Midi Tune of the Wren Song

On Wren Day, people go from door to door dressed in motley attire, sometimes with ribbons, singing and asking for money. This is based on an ancient tradition that’s still practiced in parts of southern Ireland.

It was also the tradition to “bleed” horses (i.e. to let some of their blood out for medical purposes). It was thought to be good for them. Of course, they now know it’s not! In Austria, priests still bless horses on this day, since St. Stephen is the patron saint of horses.

-Mama Lisa

Many thanks to Ed Gawlinski for letting us know about St. Stephen’s Day and for the midi tune of the Wren Song!

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, England, Great Britain, Holidays Around the World, Ireland, Mama Lisa, St. Stephen's Day, Wren's Day | 5 Comments »

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