Deck the Halls

"Deck the Halls" or "Deck the Hall" (which is the original version of the lyrics) is a traditional Christmas, yuletide, and New Years' carol. The melody is Welsh dating back to the sixteenth century,^[1] and belongs to a winter carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862.

Lyrics

The English-language lyrics were written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant. They first appeared in 1862, in volume 2 of Welsh Melodies, a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas, including Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Oliphant.^[2] The repeated "fa la la" goes back to the earlier Welsh and may originate from medieval ballads.^[3] The lyrics run as follows:

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Troul the ancient Christmas carol,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

See the flowing bowl before us,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Follow me in merry measure,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
While I sing of beauty's treasure,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Laughing, quaffing all together,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

The phrase "'Tis the season", from the lyrics, has become synonymous with the Christmas and holiday season.^[4][5] 'tis being an archaic contraction of "it is".^[4] A similar archaic contraction is "'Twas the night before Christmas", from the first line of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas".^[4]

Variants

A variation of the lyrics appears in the December 1877 issue of the Pennsylvania School Journal.^[8] This version, in which there is no longer any reference to drinking, runs as follows:^[9]

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Don we now our gay apparel,
Troll the ancient Christmas carol,

See the blazing yule before us,
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Follow me in merry measure,
While I tell of Christmas treasure,

Fast away the old year passes,
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!
Sing we joyous all together,
Heedless of the wind and weather,

An identical printing appeared four years later in The Franklin Square Song Collection.^[10]

The pluralizing of the title of the carol to "Deck the Halls" is found as early as 1892.^[11]

Other common alterations change "Christmas" to "Yule" or "Yuletide" in various locations where it appears. For example, "Christmas carol" may be changed to "Yuletide carol".

Melody

The melody of "Deck the Hall" is taken from "Nos Galan" ("New Year's Eve"), a traditional Welsh New Year's Eve carol published in 1794, although it is much older.^[1] The music is in AABA form.^[12]

History

	Deck the Hall Piano solo of "Deck the Halls" Deck the Halls Alternate version for Deck the Halls. Two violins, viola and Violoncello. Deck the Halls Concert band version performed by United States Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants
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The tune is that of an old Welsh air, first found in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry dating back to the 1700s . The melody Poet John Ceiriog Hughes later wrote his own lyrics. A middle verse was later added by folk singers. In the eighteenth century the tune spread widely, with Mozart allegedly using it in his 18th violin sonata^[13] and, later, Haydn in the song "New Year's Night."

Originally, carols were dances and not songs. The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre. Singers would compete with each other, verse for verse—known as canu penillion dull y De ("singing verses in the southern style"). Consequently, tunes originally used to accompany carols became separated from the original dances, but were still referred to as "carols".

The Welsh and English lyrics found in the earliest publication of the "Nos Galan" melody are as follows:^[14]

O mor gynnes mynwes meinwen, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la: O mor fwyn yw llwyn meillionen, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la: O mor felus yw'r cusanau, [instrumental flourish] Gyda serch a mwynion eiriau fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:

Oh! how soft my fair one's bosom, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la: Oh! how sweet the grove in blossom, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la: Oh! how blessed are the blisses, [instrumental flourish] Words of love, and mutual kisses, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la:

Contemporary versions

SHeDAISY version

"Deck the Halls"
Single by SHeDAISY
from the album Brand New Year
B-side	"Deck the Halls" (Radio Mix)
Released	November 9, 1999
Format	CD single
Recorded	1999
Genre	Country pop
Length	3:50
Label	Lyric Street
Producer(s)	Dann Huff

In 1999, an adaptation of "Deck the Halls" was released by country music group SHeDAISY for the Disney animated film Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. The song was later included on the group's Christmas album, Brand New Year, released in 2000. The music video filmed for the song features scenes from Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.

Chart (1999–2001)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[16]	37
US Billboard Hot 100[17]	61

References

External links

Free scores of Deck the Hall in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)

• Free sheet music of Deck the Hall for SATB from Cantorion.org
• Musicanet.org
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics