The Caroling Tradition During Christmas

Caroling Tradition. Have you and your family every sung Christmas carol from door to door? This is one of those traditions that is seen in almost every Christmas movie out there. However, where did it come from and are people still doing this today? 

The History of Christmas Carols

What is surprising about Christmas carols is that they really didn’t start off as Christmas carols. They started as a song sung during the Winter Solstice. However, as people started to embrace Christianity, these carols were transformed into what we hear today. 

But they didn’t take off as people think. In fact, in Italy, during nativity plays that were put on, many people enjoyed the music, but they didn’t go home and start singing these for their friends and neighbors. Then when the Puritans came to North America, the idea of Christmas carols was gone. In fact, they were forbidden to be sung. However, like the true Revolutionaries that people are, they sang these in secret so that they were not lost forever. 

It wasn’t until people started to want Christmas songs to sing during the Christmas season in England that these carols started to take off again. After this time, it became more common for people to sing these with their friends and family, or even in public.

Interesting Theories around Caroling

Here are some interesting theories about caroling that has historians looking into this tradition:

  • Many believe that this practice started when poor people would have to sing for their food
  • It was believed that since the church would not allow singing, this was how people were enjoying music
  • The idea behind calling these carols is due to a little girl in England named Carol, who went missing on Christmas. Those who searched for her were singing in order to show their good intentions. Spoiler alert: this is a fable surrounding the history…and historians have not found anything to back this up as fact.

Whatever the history around carols…will you be caroling this Christmas? 

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