Ding! dong! merrily on high

Ding! dong! merrily on high. George Ratcliffe Woodward* (1848-1934). From Woodward’s The Cambridge Carol Book (1924), in which he collaborated with Charles Wood* to revive many forgotten carols, providing new words to old tunes. The note to this carol says 'Words by G.R.W. Tune, Branle de l’Official, from Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1588), harmonized by C.W.’. The detailed and helpful note in NOBC identifies this as a French collection of music for dancing by Jehan Tabourot (1520-1595), known for the purposes of that work as ‘Thoinot Arbeau’. Woodward provided the simple but jolly words, including the ‘io’ of verse 2 (a variant of ‘eia’, a sound of rejoicing): the text is notable for...