Ding Dong Merrily on High

Ding Dong Merrily on High is among the most exuberant and instantly recognisable of English Christmas carols, celebrated for its cascading “Gloria” refrain and its evocation of pealing church bells. Despite its air of antiquity, however, the carol as it is now sung is not the product of an unbroken medieval tradition. Instead, it is a modern reconstruction, drawing selectively on much older material and reshaped to suit twentieth-century carolling practice.

The melody associated with Ding Dong Merrily on High can be traced back to the sixteenth century, appearing in a French dance tune known as Branle de l’Official. This tune was published by the cleric and music theorist Jehan Tabourot under the pseudonym Thoinot Arbeau in his treatise Orchésographie (1589). The branle was a lively circle dance, characterised by repeated figures and rhythmic momentum — qualities that remain evident in the tune’s later carol form. Importantly, there is no evidence that the melody was associated with Christmas or sacred text at this stage; it belonged firmly to the world of secular social dance.

For more than three centuries, the tune appears to have had no sustained connection with Christmas singing. The transformation that produced Ding Dong Merrily on High occurred only in the early twentieth century, when interest in early music, folk song and historical dance encouraged musicians and editors to re-explore Renaissance sources. In this context, the tune was rediscovered and repurposed, acquiring a new identity as a Christmas carol.

The English text most commonly sung today was written in 1924 by George Ratcliffe Woodward, an Anglican priest and scholar with a deep interest in early music and liturgy. Woodward was associated with the revival of medieval and Renaissance musical forms, and his work often involved pairing newly written English texts with old melodies. His lyrics for Ding Dong Merrily on High were published in The Cambridge Carol Book, a collection that played an important role in shaping modern English carolling.

Woodward’s text is deliberately archaic in flavour, employing inverted syntax and elevated diction to give an impression of age and solemnity. The repeated “Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis” echoes the Latin of the Christmas liturgy, reinforcing the sense of continuity with older traditions even though the text itself is modern. This stylistic choice has been so effective that many singers assume the words are medieval in origin, illustrating how convincingly the carol presents itself as ancient.

Musically, the pairing of text and tune is unusually successful. The lively, dance-derived melody supports the repeated melismas of the “Gloria” with energy and momentum, creating a sound that feels both jubilant and ritualised. The carol’s bell imagery aligns neatly with the rhythmic patterns of the tune, allowing singers to imagine peals ringing out across a winter landscape. This vivid sonic imagery has helped the carol secure a firm place in both church services and secular performances.

Unlike many older carols that emerged from folk tradition or communal improvisation, Ding Dong Merrily on High is the product of deliberate editorial craftsmanship. It reflects early twentieth-century ideas about what a carol ought to sound like: energetic, modal, communal, and rooted (or at least appearing to be rooted) in historical practice. In this sense, it tells us as much about modern attitudes to Christmas and tradition as it does about the Renaissance sources from which it borrows.

The carol’s popularity grew steadily throughout the twentieth century, aided by its inclusion in influential hymnals and carol collections. Its exuberant refrain makes it particularly attractive for congregational singing, while its rhythmic vitality lends itself to choral arrangement. Today it is often sung as a moment of release and joy within carol services, providing contrast to more reflective or contemplative pieces.

Ding Dong Merrily on High thus stands as a reminder that the Christmas repertoire is not simply inherited but actively made. Though its melody is genuinely old, its identity as a carol is comparatively recent — a carefully constructed bridge between past and present. Its success demonstrates how historical material can be reimagined to create something that feels timeless, even when its journey into tradition is, in reality, surprisingly short.

Lyrics