Cowley Carol Book

Cowley Carol Book. This was a two-part collection of Christmas carols edited by George Ratcliffe Woodward*. The ‘First Series’ (1901, revised 1902) consisted of 39 carols, many already published. The Second Edition (1902) had 65 items. The ‘Second Series’ was delayed by the First World War, and appeared in 1919, with a further 37 carols. Charles Wood* co-edited this second volume. The origin of the title lies in a request for a carol book from the Church of St John, Cowley, Oxford, home of the Society of St John the Evangelist, also known as the ‘Cowley Fathers’. One third of the texts in these books were by John Mason Neale*; the rest were by Thomas Helmore* and by Woodward himself...