Every year, and it seems like it's getting earlier and earlier, you start hearing the very familiar songs of Christmas.

And every year we hear the exact same songs, many of which have been passed down for centuries.

But where do these songs come from and why do we

call Christmas songs Carols? Learn more about Christmas Carols, Christmas music, and the origin

of these songs on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Let's start this discussion of Christmas songs with the big question.

Why are Christmas carols called carols?

We don't have birthday carols or Halloween carols.

So why do we use this word in association with Christmas music and nothing else.

The word Carol dates back to the Middle Ages, and the origin of the word comes from Old French

and the word Carol, spelled with an E.

A Carol was a festive song that was usually accompanied by a dance.

It was originally not necessarily a religious song, but rather something which was simply joyous.

Eventually Carol's became more religious in nature and were usually sung in Latin.

The person credited with popularizing Christmas songs was St. Francis of Assisi.

He adopted many of these Carols for use in Christmas celebrations.

After the Protestant Reformation, there was a movement to take songs in Latin and bring them to the

common tongue of the people.

Many of these songs became quite popular and would be sung outside of church when there were

seasonable festivities. The first English language Christmas carols were

documented in 1426 in a book by the English minister John Aldlay. Christmas carols were eventually used by groups known as

Waslers who would go wasling, which was going door-to-door singing, often in

exchange for a drink, usually mulled wine from something known as a Wausl Bowl.

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