Barnsley Museums have resurrected a special Barnsley Christmas Eve Carol 90 years after it was first published in the Barnsley Chronicle in 1933. Written by Barnsley bottle maker Arthur Godfrey ‘Christmas Eve’ follows in a centuries old South Yorkshire carolling tradition. Our Heritage Action Zone officer Dr Tegwen Roberts tells us more.
1933 was an important year for Barnsley, and December was a particularly important month. Not only was the grand new Town Hall opened to the public for the first time, but there was also a royal visit by the future King Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales. The Prince attended the opening of the Town Hall and was served a Barnsley Chop by local butcher Albert Hirst.
Whilst searching for newspaper articles about the opening of Barnsley Town Hall our digital curator Michael discovered another archive gem; a carol written by Barnsley resident Arthur Godfrey (not to be confused with Arthur E Godfrey the music hall performer and composer, or Arthur Godfrey the American radio broadcaster) which was published in the Barnsley Chronicle on the 23 December 1933. The carol is called ‘Christmas Eve’ and is inspired by the Christmas Bell chimes which are traditionally rung by some churches at midnight on Christmas Eve.
The paper published a notice the week before saying that they would publish the words and music to a new carol composed by a Barnsley resident for their readers to play and sing. The 1930s was a period where Christmas carols, and singing together at Christmas, were both very popular, however the tradition has a much longer history, particularly in the South Yorkshire area.
Carols are known to have been sung since the medieval period, although in the past 200 years a lot of local diversity has been lost. Many of the standard versions of the Christmas carols that we know today became popularised during the Victorian period (particularly after the publication of the first edition of ‘Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern’ in 1833) however during the 18th and 19th centuries carols often had various tunes and settings. We are lucky in South Yorkshire that may of these earlier carols have survived and are still sung, often in village pubs, in the run up to Christmas. A number of the South Yorkshire carols (sometimes called the Village or Sheffield Carols – although they are not exclusive to Sheffield and in fact are sung across South Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire) were written by local people who sang and played music in their own time – often as part of church choirs and bands for local dances – whilst also working in local industries in the 18th and 19th centuries.
As with the earlier South Yorkshire carol writers, Arthur Godfrey was also not a professional musician. The 1911 census shows that he worked as a glass bottle neck maker at a mineral water works. He was born around 1873 in Barnsley and in 1911 he was living in a small, terraced house off Pontefract Road with his wife Jane and their four children. The 1921 census records that he was working for Dobson and Nall Limited at their Oaks Glass Works as a glass bottle finisher. By this time Arthur and his wife have seven children, the youngest (May) just 1 year old. Six of their children are still living at home, with their eldest son Ernest (aged 17) also working as a bottle blower at Dobson and Nall, and his sister Lily (aged 16) working as a bobbin finisher.
As with many of the South Yorkshire carols, Arthur Godfrey’s composition (which can now be viewed in Barnsley Archives) is arranged in four parts and the chorus is split into a top and bottom line, each with their own words, working partly as a round and partly as call and response. The words are to a familiar Christmas theme. Christmas bells feature in many other local carols, including Sweet Chiming Bells and Hail Chime On (both versions of While Shepherds Watched) and other popular carols such as Ding Dong Merrily On High.
The introduction to the carol in the paper in 1933 said “[we] hope this carol will be sung and played throughout Barnsley and district this Christmastide, and that it will be appreciated that it is the work of a Barnsley composer.” It was therefore clearly intended by the composer to be sung in social settings, and possibly even as part of formal and informal carol sings within the local area.
With the 90th anniversary of the Town Hall opening, and the publication of the carol both falling this month, we decided to revive this lovely piece of local music, and record it in the Town Hall being sung by one of our museum team (who is also a keen local carol singer) as part of our Christmas celebrations. The words have been very slightly edited to make it easier to sing, and we’ve only included 4 of the original 6 verses (verses 1-3 and the final verse) as is the performance tradition with many of the local carols.
We hope you enjoy it, and that it goes on to be sung as part of the ongoing, living, carol tradition in Barnsley, as was originally intended. Ring on, ring on!
Download the words to the carol using the link below (opens in a word document).
Update
We have been overwhelmed by the love and support for The Barnsley Carol since it was first published a few short weeks ago. Not only has it been played on BBC Radio Sheffield, Radio 4, 5 Live and a radio station in Vancouver it was also shown on Look North in what we believe is the songs first ever public performance (in the 21st century at least) at the Mayor’s Christmas Carol service at St Mary’s Church in Barnsley.
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the song first being published we recorded a special version of Christmas Eve with the Barnsley Music Hub staff in the Library @ the Lightbox
And then, on Christmas Eve itself, the Barnsley Youth Choir gave a very special performance of the carol in the Town Hall, in full four-part harmony, which was broadcast live on Broadcasting House on BBC Radio 4. What a way to end the year!
The Broadcasting House episode is available on BBC Sounds. The Barnsley Carol is the first feature, straight after the news. The story made the national BBC Radio and Television news, and was even featured on the World Service, and we know that people have been sharing it with family and friends across the World, and there have been other lovely versions played in Barnsley over the weekend (including by Barnsley Brass). We’re so pleased that Arthur’s beautiful Barnsley carol has been loved and shared so widely. Arthur Godfrey and The Barnsley Chronicle encouraged people to sing the carol on Christmas Eve, we hope we have started a new tradition that lasts for many years to come!
Merry Christmas from Barnsley!
Barnsley Museums Blogsite 
Congratulations on the stunning performance from Barnsley Youth Choir this morning on
BBC Radio 4. Can’t get much better than the sound they made – or what they were singing.
Happy Christmas!
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