I love to play Christmas music on the whistle, but have found that even our church hymn books have only a few carols. Where can I get a book with the “good old ones” like:
Gloustershire Wassail
What Child is This?
Caux Carol
…and the other good trad stuff?
The Oxford Book of Carols: the Vaughn-Williams edited original:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Book-Carols-Percy-Dearmer/dp/0193533154
And a new revision:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Oxford-Book-Carols/dp/0193533227
Dunno much about the latter, but the former is the bee’s Knees.
Online. Google is your friend…
http://www.goess.org/mason/xmas-abc/
Hey riverman … another nice book is The Celtic Tinwhistle Christmas, linked here to the MelBay site, but can be found at several spots. A great selection of carols like The Wexford Carol, The Sans Day Carol, Child in the Manger, Gloucestershire Wassail, and a really nice duet arrangement for Joy To The World, plus many more.
Go to http://www.tinwhistler.com and click on the tunes, then click on the type of tunes, then Christmas.
Sheesh! Your ear is your best friend. Those carols have been drilled into you since childhood. My advice is: the printed page is your last resort. Learn to read (well), and then do it only when all else fails.
Problem with that is - when I sit down and try to remember them all I only get 7 or 8 .. there must be at least 20 classic carols.
How about we compose a handy title list? Then my braincell will remember all the other ones!
I’ll start with my 7 - others?
- We 3 kings
- Silent night
- Deck the halls
- Jingle bells
- i saw 3 ships
- 12 days of Christmas
- … erm … Weazels ripped my flesh …
Damn - there’s gotta be more than that!!??
A Babe Is Born [Mathias, William]
A Child Is Born In Bethlehem [Scheidt, Samuel]
A Great And Mighty Wonder [Praetorius, Michael]
A Maiden Most Gentle [Carter, Andrew]
A Merry Christmas [Warrell, Arthur]
A New Year Carol [Britten, Benjamin]
A Spotless Rose [Howells, Herbert]
A Virgin Most Pure [Wood, Charles]
Adam Lay Ybounden [Warlock, Peter]
All My Heart This Night Rejoices [Ebeling, Johann Georg]
Alleluya A New Work Is Come On Hand [Wishart, Peter]
Angels, From The Realms Of Glory
Angelus Ad Virginem
As With Gladness Men Of Old
Ave Plena Gracia [Davies, Peter Maxwell]
Away In A Manger [Kirkpatrick, W.J.]
Birthday Carol [Willcocks, David]
Child In A Manger
Christmas Night
Coventry Carol
Coventry Carol [Shaw, Martin]
Cradle Song
Deck The Halls
Ding Dong! Merrily On High [Willcocks, David]
Ding Dong! Merrily On High [Wood, Charles]
Gabriel To Mary Came
Gabriel’s Message
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
Good King Wenceslas
Hail! Blessed Virgin Mary [Wood, Charles]
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing [Mendelssohn, Felix]
He Is Born The Divine Christ Child
Here We Come A-wassailing
Hush! My Dear, Lie Still And Slumber
I Saw A Maiden [Pettman, Edgar]
I Saw Three Ships [Rutter, John]
I Saw Three Ships [Willcocks, David]
I Wonder As I Wander
Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant
In Dulci Jubilo [Pearsall, Robert]
In The Bleak Midwinter [Darke, Harold]
In The Bleak Midwinter [Holst, Gustav]
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
Jesus Child [Rutter, John]
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
Jesus Christ The Apple Tree [Poston, Elizabeth]
Jingle Bells [Pierpont, James]
Joy To The World [Mason, Lowell]
Joys Seven [Cleobury, Stephen]
King Jesus Hath A Garden [Wood, Charles]
Kings Of Orient [Hopkins, John Henry]
Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending [Oliver, T.]
Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming [Praetorius, Michael]
Longfellow’s Carol [Percival, Allen]
Lord Of The Dance [Carter, Sydney]
Lute-book Lullaby [Ballet, William] [Shaw, Geoffrey]
Mary’s Lullaby [Rutter, John]
Myn Lyking [Terry, R.R.]
Nativity Carol [Rutter, John]
O Come, All Ye Faithful [Wade, John Francis]
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O Little One Sweet [Bach, Johann Sebastian]
O Little Town Of Bethlehem [Vaughan Williams, Ralph] [Armstrong, Thomas]
O Little Town Of Bethlehem [Walford Davies, Henry]
O Queen Of Heaven [Rogers, Timothy]
Of The Father’s Heart Begotten
Once As I Remember [Wood, Charles]
Once In Royal David’s City [Gauntlett, Henry John]
Out Of Your Sleep [Bennett, Richard Rodney]
Past Three A Clock [Wood, Charles]
Personent Hodie [Holst, Gustav]
Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agreable?
Quem Pastores Laudavere
Rise Up Shepherd [Rutter, John]
Sans Day Carol [Rutter, John]
See, Amid The Winter’s Snow [Goss, John]
Shepherds In The Field Abiding
Shepherds Left Their Flocks A-straying
Shepherd’s Pipe Carol [Rutter, John]
Silent Night [Gruber, Franz]
Sing Aloud On This Day! [Holst, Gustav]
Sir Christemas [Mathias, William]
Star Carol [Rutter, John]
Still, Still,Still [Ledger, Philip]
Stille Nacht [Gruber, Franz]
Sussex Carol
The Cherry Tree Carol
The Crown Of Roses [Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich]
The First Nowell
The Holly And The Ivy [Walford Davies, H.]
The Infant King
The Shepherds’ Farewell [Berlioz, Hector]
The Three Kings Op.8 No.3 [Cornelius, Peter]
The Truth From Above [Vaughan Williams, Ralph
The Twelve Days Of Christmas [Rutter, John}
There Is A Flower [Rutter, John]
There Is No Rose
This Christmas Night [Williamson, Malcolm]
This Joyful Eastertide [Wood, Charles]
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day [Willcocks, David}
Unto Us Is Born A Son
Up! Good Christen Folk And Listen
Wassail Song [Vaughan Williams, Ralph]
Wexford Carol [Rutter, John]
What Cheer? [Walton, Walton]
When Christ Was Born [Jacques, Reginald]
Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance Flowing?
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Ye Choirs Of New Jerusalem [Gauntlett, Henry John]
now that is alot of singing!!! 
fake!!! you cut and pasted the list dinya!
Crookedtune, I’ve already done a lot of that, but I’m one of those insecure people who will miss a note somewhere or fail to play a flat and everyone will turn and point at me and say, “Ah HA!!”
This vision haunts me.
Thanks, guys, for all your help! You guys are GREAT!
(I printed off the Celtic Tinwhistle Christmas info just in case my son hasn’t bought me a gift yet!!)