The Oxford English Dictionary confirms this – that until a few hundred years ago, ‘waind’ used to be the normal English pronunciation for ‘wind’ when used in poetry. ‘wind’ used to be pronounced ‘waind’, as in ‘find’ it had a longer vowel, which was pronounced in a lower place in the mouth to its modern pronunciation. Long vowels shifted upwards that is, a vowel that used to be pronounced in a lower place in the mouth would be pronounced in a different place, higher up in the mouth. Where our dear Saviour lay, They found Him in a manger, Where oxen feed on hay His Mother. chords by: (verse 1) Em B7 Em C B7 God rest ye merry, gentlemen let nothing you dismay, Em B7 Em C B7 Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day, Am B7 Em D/F To save us all from Satans powr when we were gone astray, G C G B7 Em O tidings of comfort and joy, D comfort and joy, G C B7 Em O tidings of. You see, back in 16th-century England, some pronunciations were pretty different, owing to a Great Vowel Shift – a series of changes in pronunciation that affected the long vowels used in English – roughly during the 15th to 18th centuries. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - Pentatonix. Traditional Christmas Carol by The Irish Rovers, lyrics begin: God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay - For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born. It’s the carol’s sheer age that contributes to this. Last year, we noticed carol singers and vexed tweeters were taking to their keyboards to vent over the fact second and forth lines of the third verse of ‘God Res Ye’ don’t rhyme exactly as they should.

Read more: Best Christmas Carols in a minor key >

The lyrics are wonderfully uplifting and it is indeed difficult to feel dismay with those wonderful “tidings of comfort and joy” the carol shares in abundance. Like a lot of well-known Christmas carols, the lyrics (see below) of ‘God Rest Ye’ centre around the joy experienced at the news of Christ’s birth – all sung in a beautiful minor melody.īorn on Christmas Day, the Christ the Saviour will “save us all from Satan's power / When we were gone astray.” What is ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’ about?

God rest ye merry gentlemen lyrics