Nine Lessons and Carols

This is the traditional pattern in Britain and elsewhere for a Carol Service. The basic template was laid down at King’s College, Cambridge, beginning in 1918. The Dean of King’s, Eric Milner-White, had been a chaplain in the army during World War I, which had ended a month earlier, and was seeking for a Christmas service that would appeal to many people. He based the service on one devised at Truro by Edward White Benson*, ca. 1880, which was the true beginning of the tradition. It was entitled ‘Nine Lessons, with Carols. Festal Service for Christmas Eve.’ It began with the Senior Chorister reading Genesis 3: 8-16, followed by the carol ‘The Lord at first had Adam made’; it ended with the...