Good King Wenceslas Looked Out, on the Feast of Stephen.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Sun Dec 26, 2021, 10:22 AM - Edit history (1)

Sat Dec 26, 2020: Good King Wenceslas Looked Out, on the Feast of Stephen.

Seeing as how December 26 is the Feast of Stephen, it seems appropriate that we take some time to look at the background of this old Christmas carol.

Saint Stephen's Day

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Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, or Eimíle day is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox churches that adhere to the Julian calendar mark Saint Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Gregorian calendar used in secular contexts. In Latin Christian denominations, Saint Stephen's Day marks the second day of Christmastide.

It is an official public holiday in Alsace-Moselle, Austria, the Balearic Islands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland and Newfoundland. The date is also a public holiday in those countries that celebrate Boxing Day on the day in addition to or instead of Saint Stephen's Day, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

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History



A statue of Saint Stephen stands in a Catholic church in Italy dedicated to the martyr.

Saint Stephen's Day is the second day of Christmastide and is celebrated in honour of one of the first Christian martyrs, Saint Stephen, who was stoned to death in 36 AD.

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Good King Wenceslas


Good King Wenceslas, illustrated in Christmas Carols, New and Old

"Good King Wenceslas" is a Christmas carol that tells a story of a Bohemian king going on a journey and braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (December 26, the Second Day of Christmas). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. The legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia or Svatý Václav in Czech (907–935). The name Wenceslas is a Latinised version of the old Czech language "Venceslav".

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Mon Dec 26, 2016: Good King Wenceslas Looked Out, on the Feast of Stephen.

I checked the spelling of "Wenceslas" by looking at a cassette, "Favorite Carols for Christmas," by the Robert Wagner Chorale, SM Capitol 4XL-9002. It's copyrighted 1964, so that's obviously for the LP.

Good King Wenceslas York Minster 1995
405,900 views • Apr 17, 2007

notyobs
5.3K subscribers

Now here's a real treat for you. A very dramatic rendition of this carol which has everything. Thunderous organ, solos, soaring descant.... and the cameras stay with the singers!

It wouldn't be 2020 without the Zoom or Teams version of this, would it?

Good King Wenceslas - The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
13,575 views • Dec 24, 2020

UkuleleOrchestra
140K subscribers

Ukulele Christmas Lockdown 2020, Episode 1

Good King Wenceslas performed by George Hinchliffe's Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain while in isolation.

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Finally, there is this version:



Source: http://whirledofkelly.blogspot.com/2009/12/some-early-foot.html

For more on that:

December 2005: The Straight Dope: Pogo Christmas Carols

And this:

December 24, 2013: Walt Kelly’s Christmas

[Walleye]

1. Love it.Thanks for the choral rendition.And the very interesting history

Wasn’t it in the Peanuts comic strip that they called him good king what’s his name?