On Christmas night

On Christmas night. English Traditional, ascribed to Luke Wadding (1628–1691).   Paul Westermeyer* notes that this is a ‘“Wexford carol” (though not the carol most often called the “The Wexford Carol”’ (Westermeyer, 2010, p. 50). The text and the tune of this favorite carol have distinct backgrounds, though the exact origins of each are unclear. The first printed version of an earlier form of the text appears with the ascription, ‘Another short Carroll for Christmas day’ in A Smale Garland of Pious and Godly Songs, Composed by a devout Man, For the Solace of his Freinds [sic] and neighbors in their afflictions (Ghent, 1684) by [Bishop] Luke Wadding (No. XXI, pp. 40–41), one of the Wexford...