Many parts of the country have their own sets of local carols, but there is arguably nowhere with a set as extensive as in North Sheffield and North Derbyshire.
Going back many years, churches in England had a West Gallery, a raised portion opposite the altar, in which were positioned musicians and singers who provided music for worship. The significance and popularity of the music grew, with local people penning their own hymns. During the 19th century, tensions began to grow between church leaders and the musicians and there became a concern that the musicians were ‘enjoying themselves too much’. Out of a desire to reduce the dominance of the musicians in services, West Galleries, and the musicians who performed in them were replaced by harmoniums, and later, organs and more formal church choirs.
With the musicians and singers finding themselves with nowhere to play and sing their favourite hymns, they headed to the local public houses and began to merrily sing them there! This was particularly the case around the Christmas period, a time of real celebration, and with a few drinks inside them everyone else began to join in.
Perhaps because of the unique geography and the industry in the area, the singing of the carols in busy pubs remained strong in places such as Bradfield, Dungworth, Ecclesfield, Grenoside, Oughtibridge, Wharncliffe Side and Worrall. They were originally sung in four parts, with the sopranos, altos, tenors and basses sitting with each other in the four corners of the pub. David Elliott, one of our team who worked with us on producing our Singing In... Carols book recalled the amazing sound if you found yourself near the centre, “the perfect spot for a cracking good sing!” Different variations of the individual carols were, and still are, found nationally, and indeed locally too. You might travel just a mile up the road from Oughtibridge to Worrall to find your favourite carol sung quite differently.
Over recent decades, as people began to travel more widely and word spread about the carols, more singers joined in, with some travelling nationally and even internationally to experience the scene in Sheffield and North Derbyshire. However in the packed out pubs today, with the beer flowing and a desire from many to sing the tune, you won’t hear the harmonies quite so clearly and some people are fearful that their own local arrangements will succumb to standardisation and be lost forever.
The motivation behind preparing our Singing In... Carols book, one of our larger lockdown projects, was to make the carols more accessible in a choral setting, and we hope it will be of interest to those who want to sing them in the way they were originally intended.
If you've not done so yet, I'd highly recommend that you go and experience the atmosphere of the local carols in the pubs this December. You can find the full list of dates and venues on the Local Carols website.
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