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''Here We Come A-wassailing'' (or ''Here We Come A-caroling'') is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Years song,〔(Hymns and Carols of Christmas )〕 apparently composed c. 1850.〔William Henry Husk, ''Songs of the Nativity'' (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868): "This carol is from a broadside printed at Bradford in Yorkshire within the last twenty years."〕 The old English wassail song refers to 'wassailing', or singing carols door to door wishing good health,〔"wassail." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. Merriam-Webster Online. 19 December 2008 According to ''Readers Digest''; "the Christmas spirit often made the rich a little more generous than usual, and bands of beggars and orphans used to dance their way through the snowy streets of England, offering to sing good cheer and to tell good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie or, let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. The wassail bowl itself was a hearty combination of hot ale or beer, apples, spices and mead, just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of the singers".〔(Here We Come A-Caroling ) ''Readers Digest''〕 == Lyrics == As with most carols, there are several related versions of the words. One version is presented below, based on the text given in the ''New Oxford Book of Carols''. The verses are sung in 6/8 time, while the chorus switches to 2/2. Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand'ring So fair to be seen. REFRAIN: Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too; And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year And God send you a Happy New Year. Our wassail cup is made Of the rosemary tree, And so is your beer Of the best barley. REFRAIN We are not daily beggars That beg from door to door; But we are neighbours' children, Whom you have seen before. REFRAIN Call up the butler of this house, Put on his golden ring. Let him bring us up a glass of beer, And better we shall sing. REFRAIN We have got a little purse Of stretching leather skin; We want a little of your money To line it well within. REFRAIN Bring us out a table And spread it with a cloth; Bring us out a mouldy cheese, And some of your Christmas loaf. REFRAIN God bless the master of this house Likewise the mistress too, And all the little children That round the table go. REFRAIN Good master and good mistress, While you're sitting by the fire, Pray think of us poor children Who are wandering in the mire. REFRAIN 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Here We Come A-wassailing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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