Deck the Halls

Thomas Oliphant's original English words as they appear in "Welsh Melodies With Welsh and English Poetry" (volume 2), published in 1862

The English-language lyrics were written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant. They first appeared in 1862, in volume 2 of Welsh Melodies, a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas, including Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Oliphant.[2] The repeated "fa la la" goes back to the earlier Welsh and may originate from medieval ballads. The lyrics run as follows:

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Troul the ancient Christmas carol,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

See the flowing bowl before us,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Follow me in merry measure,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
While I sing of beauty's treasure,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Laughing, quaffing all together,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

The phrase "'Tis the season", from the lyrics, has become synonymous with the Christmas and holiday season.[3][4] 'tis being an archaic contraction of "it is".[3]

Variants

Pennsylvania School Journal, 1877

A variation of the lyrics appears in the December 1877 issue of the Pennsylvania School Journal.[7] This version, in which there is no longer any reference to drinking, runs as follows:[8]

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Don we now our gay apparel,
Troll the ancient Christmas carol,

See the blazing yule before us,
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Follow me in merry measure,
While I tell of Christmas treasure,

Fast away the old year passes,
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!
Sing we joyous all together,
Heedless of the wind and weather,

An identical printing appeared four years later in The Franklin Square Song Collection.[9]

The pluralizing of the title of the carol to "Deck the Halls" is found as early as 1892.[10]

Other common alterations change "Christmas" to "Yule" or "Yuletide" in various locations where it appears. For example, "Christmas carol" may be changed to "Yuletide carol" and "Christmas treasure" to "Yuletide treasure".

Melody of "Deck the Hall", from John Hullah, The Song Book (1866)

The melody of "Deck the Hall" is taken from "Nos Galan" ("New Year's Eve"), a traditional Welsh New Year's Eve carol published in 1794, although it is much older.[1] The music is in AABA form.[11]

The tune is that of an old Welsh air, first found in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry dating back to the 1700s. Poet John Ceiriog Hughes later wrote his own lyrics. A middle verse was later added by folk singers. In the eighteenth century the tune spread widely, with Mozart allegedly using it in his 18th violin sonata (1778)[12] and later Haydn arranged it in under the Welsh title, "Nos galan" (Hob. XXXIb:29, 1803).

In 1912, Ruth Herbert Lewis made a wax cylinder recording of a Welshman named Benjamin Davies singing a song, "Can y Coach faier", which uses the old melody now associated with "Deck the Halls". The recording can be heard on the British Library Sound Archive website.[13]

The Welsh and English lyrics found in the earliest publication of the "Nos Galan" melody are as follows:[14]

First known publication of the melody "Nos Galan" (1794) by Edward Jones[14]

• Free scores of Deck the Hall in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free sheet music of "Deck the Halls" for SATB from Cantorion.org
• Musicanet.org