An Every Folk Song chronology of some of the major Christmas songs in history. From The Friendly Beasts to Frosty the Snowman and more!

Matt takes a break from pure folk songs to bring you this look into the history of some of your favorite Christmas songs. This is a long one, so I advise you listen in chunks.

Happy Holidays!

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Roud 15 is called "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter," but if you know it, it would probably be as "Pretty Polly." And old English song about a brutal, calculated murder which became an American bluegrass standard, this song has a well-traced history behind it.

In this episode, I bring along Paul Slade of http://www.planetslade.com/ to talk about it with me.

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A little diversion from the normal path down the Roud Folk Index, Matt sets off on a quest to solve a mundane little mystery and discovers a horrific and little known true crime story with twists and a turns which consumes his life. 

Thanks to the Daviess County Historical Society and Museum and Don Cosby: https://www.daviesscountyhistory.com/

Thanks to Paul Slade: http://www.planetslade.com/

And HUGE thanks to The Windfarmers: https://soundcloud.com/user-485899048

And Adam Gordon: https://youtu.be/dpiQuuFz8DU

http://everyfolksong.xyz

Roud 14, "The Daemon Lover." Or "The House Carpenter." It's a song that epitomizes a literary and cultural motif that's been expounded on in depth by people a lot smarter than me, but I try to capture the ideas here.

A lot of people helped with this episode, so thanks to all of them, and all of your for listening.

http://everyfolksong.xyz

Roud 13 is called "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow." It is as much about a small area of Scotland and its history as it is about a man betrayed and the woman who mourns him.

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Roud 12 is called "The Elfin Knight." You would definitely know it better as "Scarborough Fair." It's about a magical man and his would-be young bride. And it's about an old merchant's fair in North Yorkshire. And it's about 4 herbs, which you know very well. 

There's a lot of modern history with this song, so as such, there's a LOT of information. 

http://everyfolksong.xyz

http://www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk/

This episode focuses on Roud 11, "The Baffled Knight." It's a moral swamp and I have a few breakdowns about it. The oldest published version was in 1609 and that's almost as long as it's been since I last released an episode.

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Roud 10, "Lord Randall" is the last song about murder for a little while, I think. Evolved from an old Italian song first printed in the 1600s, this English song has been incredibly popular. And it's one of Matt's favorite songs we've covered so far.

http://everyfolksong.xyz