Beer And Carols

Last night was like this:

Not so bad of me, though I look a bit manic: Mark says he looks like a vampire.  Or was it me who said he looked like a vampire?  It’s hard to keep track after so many carols… anyway, Beer and Carols is always a good gig; following the complicated philosophical concept of drinking beer and singing carols, it has grown in popularity and now a number of pubs seem to be hosting similar gigs.  We began with the old favourite, ‘O Hum all Ye Faithful’ which goes like this:

O hum all ye faithful

doubtful and neglectful

o hum ye

o hum ye

the words ye do not know.

Hum and forget them

la-la-la-la-laaaaaaaa-la*

and hum it very quietly

and hum it slightly louder

and hum it very loudly

the tune, the bit ye know.

And after that we had – oh, you name it: While Shepherds Watched, In the Bleak Mid-winter, Once in Royal, We Three Kings, etc etc etc.  The most moving bit – the only moving bit, if I’m honest – was when we sang the first verse of ‘Silent Night’ in German to commemorate the Christmas in the trenches.

Stille nacht, heilige nacht

Alles schläft; einsam wacht

Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

– and seemed to hear the ghostly voices of doomed soldiers coming over the mud and through the fog.  But then it was back to beer and wild dancing as we ding-donged merrily on high and angels from the realms of glory winged their flight all o’er the earth – until I had to go and get my bus.

I gather they did the same sort of thing in our local, the Cradock.  Might go there next year.

Kirk out

*I’ve actually forgotten that bit.  Ironically…