ACTUALLY, what was the partridge doing in the pear tree?

For the answer, please turn to page 62 of the compendium of carolling by Mark Lawson- Jones, the Pontypool-born rector of Magor, who has written about the origins of our bestloved carols.

The Reverend Lawson-Jones, who has served his South Gwent parish for five years, said he was preaching at Redwick Church when a worshipper who was also a publisher approached him after the service.

“She said she had enjoyed what I had to say, and the subjects of carols and the possibility of writing them was broached.

“Before long, I found myself researching the earliest origins of carols and carol-singing in general and of the most-popular songs which have persisted down the ages.”

In a British history which contains both Saxon and Celtic elements, the origins of carols are, Mr Lawson-Jones said, to be found in wassailing, a term still in use today.

“The proposer of a winter toast would call, in Anglo- Saxon, ‘waes hael’ – it translates as ‘be in good health’. To which the seconder would reply ‘drinc hael’ – loosely translated as ‘let’s drink to that’. And there would be singing.”

It is almost certain that this forerunner of carolling which accompanied the wassail was enacted at the meeting of Hengist, the 5th Century Saxon mercenary leader, with Vortigern, the Celtic king who was his paymaster. It was a meeting that was to lead to bloodshed and presage the Germanic invasion of Britain.

Tumultuous though dealings between Saxon and Celt often were, there was some convergence over the matter of midwinter drinking, feasting and singing.

“In Wales, the tradition of wassailing sat very well with that of the Mari Lwyd, in which a horse skull with a lower sprung jaw and the whole covered in a white sheet, is taken round town. The leader of the party carries a stick with which to knock on doors, to challenge householders to a singing contest, with drink being very much involved.”

Many modern carols were written in the Victorian period when, together with the Christmas tree, they contributed to the modern idea of Christmas.

“These are more than songs.

They are part of the glue that binds society together,” Mr Lawson-Jones says.

“They lead us to believe in a better future while celebrating the best of the past.”

Mr Lawson-Jones is to appear with Aled Jones on BBC Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday on Christmas Day.

“I’m a bit nervous about that, but also pleased at having such a high-profile chance at getting the true message of Christmas across,” he said.

Discover the history of Christmas hymn-singing

Why Was The Partridge in the Pear Tree? The History of Christmas Carols by the Reverend Mark Lawson-Jones is published by the History Press at £7.99 www.historypress.co.uk