Sumer is icumen in

[alatarhasko]

one line translates to "the goat is farting"

[jzxlovesmjj]

my choir class is singing this

[gogokt1]

O Lord! O Jesus Christ!

[MyKrishkrish]

This is a pretty song but because of The Wicker Man, I can't helped but feel a bit creeped out when I hewer songs like this one now.

[evenyscrewd]

devil music

[TristanBMusic]

Absolutely wonderful- very bouncy and lively. Thank you for this brilliant recording!

[sacredthornapple]

And another thing: see on this site "apple wassail"

[sacredthornapple]

I actually did research into this subject. "Witches¨ were more commonly burned in Scotland and mainland europe. In England, most were hung, some were drowned or quartered. For more info on continuation of a limited amount of pre-christian folk belief, see the wikipedia article on "cunning folk". Also look up the etymology (word origins) of the words "bless", "yule" (see especially yule log and ham), and "easter"

[Cajek2]

Where can this be downloaded?

[jwmitch51]

Very much so. But a nice version of this traditional song, nonetheless.

[ekras01]

What a weird and random conversation

[scalasaig]

@ Enzo012: My objection to ManinCognito's statement indicating an absolute where at best a possibility (though one without any particular support) applied. I certainly have no problem with your statement -- it's actually a good question, though folk songs are notorious for morphing; if it WAS originally made-up in the 6th C., it probably had very different words and melody then....

[scalasaig]

@ Enzo012: Indeed the song MAY be much older (though there is nothing in the text or music to indicate that, there is nothing to refute it, either ); also, no region/country is ever TRULY monolithic in its belief system -- but it is considered reasonable to consider a country to be of a particular faith if a large majority of the people profess it (e.g. Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia or Shi'a Islam in Iran).

(Please see continuance)

[ManlnCognito]

This song (or round) pre-dates Christianity in England.

[scalasaig]

@ManlnCognito Sorry to disagree, but your timeframe is incorrect. Anglo-Saxon England had pretty much completely converted to Christianity by the end of the 7th C. C.E. This song is attested (and its form clearly shows it to be) from the 13th C. C.E. England had been Christian for something like 600 years by then.

[ManlnCognito]

@scalasaig how do you know

[suznrob]

@scalasaig you go girl

[Enzo012]

@scalasaig it may have have written then but the song itself may be much older. And the conversion to Christianity was only complete after the witch burning period between 1550-1650.

[liveyorehistory]

@Enzo012 The "which Burning Period" is a dubious historical cliche at best. the period 1550-1650 was the period in which a sense of religious paranoia and insecurity resulted from the same social,religious and political movements as were responsible for the protestant reformation. The Practice of burning people alive as a form of punishment was at best rare and obscure during the middle ages and was a punishment for the crime of heresy. (see Joan of arc).

[liveyorehistory]

The vast majority of people tried and punished during the which trials (which were more in america than anywhere else) were practicing Christians by faith and were accused by their own people for community based crimes of a supernatural nature.

These people had nothing to do with pagan folk religions native to Europe and Scandinavia. The Closest thing to a mass which hunt in the middle ages were the papal inquisitions which targeted Cathars (Christian heretics) and other political seperatists

[liveyorehistory]

See a book called "The sign of the witch" by Dr. David Waldron for a good account of the idea of witchcraft in English history. look it up on amazon.com

[EmmaLooseInParadise]

hahaha i am never going 2 learn this song....im gonna fail when we sing it :P

[evilAramed]

haha we're going to sing this in a group in schools music class :S i'm not sure how good it'll sound but :)