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There are more than 30 different versions of While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks By Night, though most of us will have heard only one. The rest can be found in the cosy pubs of Sheffield and Derbyshire on winter evenings, crooned with pints in hand adjacent to roaring fires.
There was a time when all carols were local, sung in only one village, or with lyrics or music varying from place to place. When church carols became standardised in the 1800s, hundreds of local carols died out. But in Sheffield, generation after generation has held on to their tradition, singing those beloved folk songs in pubs to keep them alive.
That wholesome heritage is being celebrated on the stage in the Crucible theatre’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. When audience members from the city and the surrounding villages watch the show, they are transported to their local pubs by the sound of carols that were once almost lost.
“There’s nothing in the show that doesn’t come from the Sheffield carols to some extent,” says Matthew Malone, the composer and arranger of the production. “And we thought that was important, because it’s an aural tradition. It’s important to have the cast do everything.”
The director, Elin Schofield, says that, working with a music historian, songs were collected from different pubs and incorporated into places in the show that fitted with the story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taught compassion and kindness by a visit from three spirits.
“The aural traditions of one pub differ slightly from the aural traditions of another, so the carols have developed and augmented over time.” Sheffielders are “fiercely proud” of their tradition, she says.
Nowhere is that more evident than at a carol-sing in Dungworth village hall.
“People tend to learn them by osmosis,” says Dave Eyre, a folk music enthusiast who previously had a folk show on a local community radio station. He is among a group of about 100 singers who have gathered to participate on a chilly Wednesday evening, some with songbooks in hand but many, like Eyre and the generations who came before, know them by heart.
There is a mix of ages, demographics and singing ability, with some people travelling from outside Sheffield to take part in the tradition. A couple come from Sweden every year to participate, Eyre says; tonight there are visitors from near Leamington Spa.
Do the same people come every week? “We’re in South Yorkshire; not only do they come every week but they stand in the same place every week,” Eyre jokes.
And they are very committed. “I’ve walked up here in thick snow and then back, people are that dedicated,” he adds.
Paul Horton, one of the organisers, who has been singing the Sheffield carols “for more years than I can remember”, asks for quiet as a soloist gets ready to sing. The chatter dies down as the rest of the singers hush and the organ begins.
After a verse, the crowd joins in, many sipping festive drinks as they belt out the familiar tunes.
The solos are sung by the same people each year. Some solos are breathtakingly beautiful – in fact, many who come to sing are professionals – but everyone is welcome to join in at the small village hall adorned with glittering decorations and tinsel.
Some carols are more folksy, especially when sung in the local dialect. One appeared to be about a woman hiding in a chest on her wedding day who gets stuck and perishes, only to be found when there is nothing left but her skeleton. Another local song, called The Miners Dream of Homem is sung only once a year, on New Year’s Day.
“There are dozens we don’t sing any more,” says Eyre. “One of my missions has been to bring back songs that haven’t been sung for a long time.”
Horton says the “bangers” are saved for the end – “not that they’re not all bangers!” – and the last few songs are cheerily belted out by the crowd before the doors open and they are out into the cold once again.
At the Crucible, the magic of the Sheffield carols carries through to the show, its creators say.
Malone says: “I’ve never experienced anything like this, as in this version, I guarantee – I’ll fight to the death about this – you won’t see a version of A Christmas Carol like this.”
Schofield adds: “It’s for this city. It’s embracing this rich, rich history. And I don’t think you can beat that at this time of year.
“I’m really confident that it will really surprise and delight and raise Christmas spirits this Christmas. I think it’s going to be really quite magic.”
A Christmas Carol runs at Sheffield Crucible theatre until 10 January. The Sheffield carols are held in pubs across the city every night of the week.
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