Caroling is synonymous with Christmas. Yet the tradition actually began from the practice of singing songs during church processions in the Middle Ages. Singing and strolling house to house to greet your neighbors became more popular in Victorian-era England.
In this Sounds of the Season segment, Amanda Greene of Wilmington Faith and Values tells how one local festival is bringing caroling to Southport to celebrate Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday.
It’s their last dress rehearsal before The Merry Madrigalers stroll through Southport during the Charles Dickens Christmas Festival this weekend. The ladies dress in black ruffled bonnets tied under their chins and floor-length black dresses. The merry gentlemen of the a capella quartet wear black top hats and velvet vests.
Whether it’s the bubbly “Holly and the Ivy” or the more contemplative “In the Bleak Midwinter,” carolers Susan Desloge, Joanne Masino, Larry Bochiaro and Tom McCune agree singing while in motion takes crooning over street noises and trying not to bump into festival-goers as they walk.
Their goal: to bring good tidings of great joy.
Amanda Greene, WilmingtonFAVS.com