The backstory…

In 2023 I pitched an idea to OUTSIDE Arts for the brand new 24Doors event where I would write a brand new Christmas carol especially for the Staffordshire Moorlands, which could be performed as part of a big community carol singing event.

‘On Christmas Night’ is now sung in Leek every Christmas eve as the community gathers to enjoy carols together.

About the song

I wanted to write something that was really rooted in the local area, so I asked the people of Leek what their favourite things were about living in the Moorlands, and had great fun discovering lots of new things about it! One of the things people mentioned a lot was the history of the area, so I thought it would be nice to reflect this in the melody, and find an old Staffordshire song to take inspiration from.

In the archives of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library I found a snippet of a song simply titled ‘Christmas Song of the South Stafford Colliers’ which was recorded in the Lucy Broadwood Manuscript Collection in 1904. The tune and lyrics would have been sung around Staffordshire in the 1800s, and were sent to Lucy Broadwood by Dr James Culwick, who wrote:

“I have certainly not heard this for the past forty years. I have written it from memory of my mother’s singing. She said when she learned it the recital lasted nearly an hour. There were about ninety verses sung slowly by a man with a strong, rough and deep bass voice.”

You can view the original manuscript in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House in London, on online: https://www.vwml.org/record/LEB/5/127

I tweaked the melody slightly, and added a refrain, harmonies, and additional verses and there was my song! The carol was performed for the first time on Christmas Eve, nearly 120 years after it was first written down. 

The carol is freely available on my website for local choirs to download and sing – and for anyone who wants to join in our annual community carols in Leek on Christmas Eve!