Merry Christmas Eve!
This OCD Jukebox begins with a trip down a rabbit hole, as so many episodes do…
A video showed up in the recommends as I was on YouTube yesterday morning; it was for a song I’d never heard of, much less heard: “The Huron Carol” (“Jesous Ahatonhia”). The recommended video was from a version by Loreena McKennitt, which I’ll link to later on. As I was listening to various versions, a story about how the song came to be began to emerge, which sent me in still another direction.
The song, which is also known in English by the title “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime,” is thought to be the first Christmas carol written in North America (or, at least, Canada) back in 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary to the Huron Indians (Wendat). Rather than insisting the native people he lived among learn French, Brébeuf, instead, learned the Wendat language and culture, so he could teach them about his faith. This carol was originally written in Wendat. Sometime soon thereafter, it was translated into French; it was finally translated into English in 1926.
I found this documentary about Jean de Brébeuf and his work with the Huron. It’s long but worth a view:
The tune for this carol is from a French traditional song called “Une jeune fillette,” (also called Uwhich you can listen to here:
For the sake of limiting the number of videos I post here, I’m including additional videos you can watch in each category below.
It took some digging, but there are a few versions of the song solely in Wendat. (Most versions only have one or two verses in Wendat, and the rest in English and/or French.) The artist is listed as Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien:
Instrumental rendition with Native American Flute from FluteTastic:
This version from Farya Faraji is in a Native chant style, both in French and English (The video’s info box includes both the French and English lyrics, along with additional information):
Prairie Rose Rangers performed this in 2012, in a country-western/Native American style:
For more videos in Wendat or in the Native American style, you can find them here: Bruce Cockburn (in Wendat), Ensemble Renouveau (in Wendat), Heather Dale (in Wendat, French, English, and American Sign Language), The Canadian Tenors (in English)
One thing you’ll notice is how Jean de Brébeuf put the story into terms the Wendat could understand; the wise men were three chiefs bearing pelts of beaver and fox, rather than gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Cover by Sultans of String featuring Crystal Shawanda:
Chris Richter, with a classical guitar instrumental version:
A harp offering from the O’Neill Brothers Group:
Piano version from Dan Forrest:
Other instrumental versions: David Bouchard (cello), ClarinetColours (clarinet), Terry Everson (flugelhorn and piano), Christmas Celtic Sojourn (string quartet), Brass Band Aid Celebrity Band (brass ensemble), Gravity Music (orchestral version).
Tom Jackson:
Loreena McKennitt:
Sarah McLachlan:
The Choirs of Pembroke College:
Happy Christmas Eve, see you tomorrow for the noir film at noon, “Christmas Holiday,” starring Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin.