Ding dong! merrily on high in heav'n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky is riv'n with Angel singing.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
E'en so here below, below, let steeple bells be swungen,
And "Io, io, io!" by priest and people sungen.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
Pray you, dutifully prime your Matin chime, ye ringers;
May you beautifully rime your Evetime Song, ye singers.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
Yes, any song where the steeple bells be swungen is a good song in my book! This is a rollicking little tune, a call to celebration and rejoicing. Bells are ringing, people are singing, the ringers are chiming, angels are singing–it's a party. I love the image of the dual celebration. The angels are in the heavens, verily so, and here below on earth, we ring the church bells, we sing, and we rejoice. Gloria, gloria. I like two versions particularly: the Chieftains on The Bells of Dublin, and the Tavener Consort, Choir, and Players. It's an old carol, as one can surmise from the language, and these two versions do justice to the history.
OK, If the steeple bells are swungen,and io,io,io by people sungen, then later is it all right if the same people are by wassail drunken?
Do you see what happens when you don’t contemplate? Some people’s thoughts could go awry or even haywire. And if They get in a group singing io,io,io, they could lose all control and could whimsically prime the matin chime and well-instead of angels singing- all hell could break loose!
Just contemplate on that!
I was going to leave a funny comment about the steeple bells being swungen and the io, io,io, but Heidi has said it all! 🙂