We Wish You a Merry Christmas

The author and composer of We Wish You a Merry Christmas cannot be traced however it is believed to date back to England in the sixteenth century. The tradition of carollers being given Christmas treats for singing to wealthy members of the community is reflected in this Christmas song - We Wish You a Merry Christmas! Over the years the fashion for figgy puddings mentioned in We Wish You a Merry Christmas has faded. But for the curious, the recipe consisted of the most important ingredient which was of course figs together with butter, sugar, eggs ,milk, rum, apple, lemon and orange peel, nuts, cinnamon, cloves and ginger! Not dissimilar to the modern day Christmas Puddings!

In the days of Merrie Olde England, a good part of life went on to the sound of music. Rich merchants hired bands to accompany them on strolls; peddlers enhanced their sales pitches with song; and a municipal chorus of singers, called waits, were licensed to sing out the hours of day or night, to greet visiting dignitaries, and to enliven weddings of the rich and near-rich. Waits were especially busy at Christmastime, serenading on frosty nights, telling the Nativity story in song, and generally making the festivities of that favorite holiday even merrier. In return, they might receive coins, or a bit of fig pudding, spiced ale or roasted pig. Many of the oldest carols are Wait’s carols, including We Wish You a Merry Christmas. --William L. Simon, ed., The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook (Pleasantville, NY: Readers Digest Association, revised 2003)