Carols Around the Christmas Tree Quiz

Answer: manger

'Away in a Manger' was first published with the title 'Luther's Cradle Hymn', and was said to have been written by Martin Luther, but that is not now thought to be the case. Because it is so popular, there are a lot of minor changes in the words as sung around the world.

In the lines used for the question, for example, some people sing "no crib for his head", "laid down" or "his wee head". But everyone agrees it was in a manger, which is a container for hay to feed cattle. According to tradition, Jesus was born in a stable because the inns were full with others who had arrived for the census.

Answer: angels

Charles Wesley's original words were slightly different, and the tune he used was slow and stately, not the cheerful one we know today, which was written a century later by Felix Mendelssohn and William Cummings. The original hymn started "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings" (welkin being an old-fashioned word for the skies), and the lines we know today came twenty years after Wesley's, provided by George Whitefield.

Some hymnals still include the original tune, which is the same as that of the Easter hymn 'Christ the Lord is Risen Today', as an alternative for use with this Christmas carol.

Answer: kings

The other three words have been used to describe the people who brought gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh, according to the Gospel of Matthew) for Jesus when he was a child. We don't really know how many of them there were, but since there are three gifts named, tradition has made it into three. Neither is there any definitive reason for ascribing the names Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar to them, or saying that they were kings who came from the east.

These later additions to the story are based on trying to show how Old Testament predictions of the Messiah might be seen to have been fulfilled. 'We Three Kings', also known as 'The Quest of the Magi', was written in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins Jr., but (as is the case for most of the carols in this quiz), later published versions have included a number of variations on the exact words.

Answer: partridge

'The Twelve Days of Christmas' is a traditional chant, probably based on a French rhyme, which originated in the north of England. Because of this, the exact words are even more varied than in most carols, with local pronunciations and dialectical words especially leading to changes. The fourth day once referred to colly birds, meaning black birds; this word quickly turned to calling as the song spread around the world. It was not until 1909 that the familiar tune was added to the rhyme by Frederic Austin; at the same time, the word "On" was added to the start of each verse, and the word "sent" became "gave".

This is what is called a cumulative song - each verse gets a bit longer, and repeats the earlier ones. The choice of twelve days is in reference to the traditional Christmas season, extending from Christmas Day to the Feast of the Epiphany. It was probably played as a game, with each person in turn having to produce the next verse, and going out of the game if they stumbled.

Answer: holly

The tune of 'Deck the Halls' is an old Welsh folk song, 'Nos Galan', which was actually used as dance music to celebrate the winter solstice and the New Year. Words were added later, with the first English version written in 1862 by Thomas Oliphant. The use of the string of nonsense syllables "Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la" after each line was carried over from the Welsh. About ten years later, a number of the words were amended to remove the references to drinking, and introduce a more Christmas-oriented feeling to the lyrics. Since holly is evergreen, and has bright red berries, it fits well with the traditional Christmas colors of red and green when used as a decoration.

Answer: snow

The song is said to be in honor of Saint Wenceslaus (Svatý Václav), Duke of Bohemia who lived in the 10th century. It tells of his kindness, as would be expected in a good king, towards a peasant in his domain, carrying him food and drink through the bitter winter's night.

The Feast of Stephen is December 26, but the tune to which John Mason Neale set his lyrics in 1853 is a 13th century springtime tune called 'Tempus adest floridum' ('The time of flowering is coming').

Answer: shepherds

This carol relates the events described in Chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke (the angels telling the shepherds of the birth of Jesus, and their subsequent visit to worship him) and then adds the visit by the Magi described in Chapter 2 of the Gospel of Matthew.

Despite strong evidence that they arrived years later, the Cornish carol links them with the Nativity, and that has continued to be the case in many people's minds when they think of Christmas. Nowell, also seen as Noel, was the word used for Christmas in Tudor times, probably an adaptation from the French 'Noel'.

Answer: stars are

If you study French in school, you might find yourself being taught the French version ('Minuit Chrétiens!') in the leadup to Christmas break. The English translation was made by Adolphe Adam in 1847, when he also provided music for Placide Cappeau's poem. The words retain the feeling of the original, rather than being a literal translation.

Answer: ivy

Holly has long been used as a Christian symbol in England, with its sharply-pointed leaves recalling the crown of thorns that Jesus was said to have had placed on his head, and their bright red berries representing the blood that flowed when his side was pierced during his crucifixion. So the holly in this song is thought to represent Jesus, and the ivy his mother Mary.

The chorus, however, shows how the Christmas tradition is being merged with older religious celebrations, with its reference to "the rising of the sun, and the running of the deer".

Answer: bells

In 1863 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem called 'Christmas Bells', in which he reflected on the contrast between the misery that surrounded him (both in his personal life and because the United States was in the middle of a lengthy civil war) and the hope for peace associated with church bells.

Much of the reference to the war has been left out of the various versions produced for singing, the first being from Jean Baptiste Calkin in 1872. A number of other tunes have also been used.