Welsh carols

This entry is in two parts, the first by Sally Harper, the second by Alan Luff. Welsh carols before 1700 There is little evidence to confirm that Wales had its own vernacular counterpart to the regular strophic structure and repeated burden of the English medieval carol (See ‘English carols’*), although two carol-like texts recorded retrospectively from oral tradition in the 1950s in rural Cardiganshire may indeed be medieval survivals. Both are couched in rhymed accentual verse with a burden at the end of each strophe, are distinctly ‘Catholic’ in tone, and share the direct simplicity of many English carols. Both are also partnered by singable melodies featuring largely step-wise...