Here We Come A-Caroling

Even though the word "wassail" is an Anglo-Saxon expression that means "be in good health," we usually alter "wassailing" to "caroling" whenever we do arrangements of this familiar English tune. Wassail is also a beverage, usually alcoholic in nature, so we simply don't go there with children's music. We also usually keep the adaptation secular so that more schools can use it, but you can use the more traditional lyrics if you prefer. For example, during the chorus:

Love and joy come to you, and a merry Christmas, too!
And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year!

This might also include adding the pick-up to the third verse, "God bless the master of this house,..."

This arrangement transitions between 6/8 time and cut-time, the former having a rollicking feel, the latter a more driving feel. As with many of our Celtic-style pieces, we used lots of drums (including a bodhran, various toms, and a concert bass drum), and a combination of penny whistle and fiddle. There's also some very nice acoustic guitar noodling throughout.

For the vocals, we've added the familiar "Here we come a-caroling" phrase in the first and second endings, as well as in a brief two part echo at the end of the song. The echo is optional, of course.