Arrangements illustrate the progression from traditional melody to holiday classic.

By Fiona Potts

The melody of “Deck the Halls” comes from the traditional Welsh air “Nos Galan.” In Welsh, “nos” means night and “galan” means “first day.” Together they translate to “New Year’s Eve,” which is how the melody came to be associated with the winter holidays. The tune, however, has not always been associated with Christmas. While its exact origins remain unknown, read on for a glimpse into history and see how “Deck the Halls” became the holiday song it is today. 

Terminology & notation

To avoid confusion, please note the terminology used in this article: 

“Nos Galan” typically consists of four phrases, each four measures long. Phrases 1, 2, and 4 are typically identical, or very nearly identical, and are referred to as “A.” If there are substantial differences between them in a particular arrangement, they are distinguished as A and A’ (A prime). Phrase 3 always differs from the others and is referred to as “B.”

The first two measures of each phrase are reserved for the lyrics of the verse, and the last two measures go to the “fa la la” chorus, also called the burden or symphony. Numbers reference the measure, e.g. A’3 refers to the third measure of the A prime phrase.

The notation was created by transcribing just the melody from the various sources using a text-based notation system called ABC. Then the transcriptions were all transposed into the key of G, converted into standard notation, and, for the print edition, exported as PDFs using Michael Eskin’s free online “ABC Transcription Tools.” For the online edition the arrangements are included on the webpage using an ABC transcription plugin developed by Paul Rosen.

The numbers underneath the standard notation indicate the fret numbers needed to play the tune on the melody string of a mountain dulcimer tuned DGD. 

Early evidence

The earliest written evidence of a “Nos Galan” melody is in John Thomas’ manuscript, the “Fiddler’s Tune-book,” dated to around 1752. In her article “Fiddle tunes in eighteenth-century Wales,” traditional Welsh fiddle expert and renowned crwth player Cass Meurig explains, “He wrote down 526 tunes, most of which are in modern notation. A small proportion are in an idiosyncratic form of violin notation probably invented by himself, consisting of a kind of musical shorthand… and only the bare bones of the melody are recorded; it seems to have worked as an aide-mémoire to remind him of tunes he already knew by heart.”

“Nos Galan” is listed twice in the manuscript (folios 70r and 83v), but it was only notated once, in his shorthand notation (folio 78r). If it is the same melody as those published later, this is clear evidence that the tune was well-known and widespread at that time – he played it often enough that he only needed a rough indication of the tune to remember it.

As the image shows, however, this notation looks nothing like “Deck the Halls.” Is it really the same tune?

Laying out the tune, unmetered, replicating the contour on standard notation, assuming the pitches were relatively spaced (a fair assumption based on comparison of tunes he notated both using standard notation and his shorthand notation), revealed strains of the melody that sounded familiar, but not quite right. In the first two phrases the “fa la la” choruses were missing, and the melody ended with the B phrase.

Arrangement no. 1 was produced by laying the tune out using the same assumptions but applying a rhythm common to later versions, leaving space for the missing choruses. The melody becomes clearly recognizable, if incomplete.

Print arrangements

In his book “A Tour of Wales,” circa 1778, Thomas Pennant writes, “The chief [harpist] of our days, is that uncommon genius, the blind Mr. John Parry of Rhiwabon, who has had the kingdom for his Clych clera, or musical circuit, and remains unrivaled.” 

In the mid-to-late 1700s, Parry compiled and published some of the first printed books of Welsh music. His “Antient British Music,” “A Collection of Welsh, English & Scotch Airs,” and “British Harmony” have been digitized by the National Library of Wales and can be found at bit.ly/dpn-nlw.

“Nos Galan” appears in “A Collection of Welsh, English & Scotch Airs” (1761) as the unnamed “Air 7th” on p. 64. The basic melody is followed by 3 variations, which are exercises in complexity, not different versions of the tune. This version is notable in that A1 starts with 4 ascending eighth notes rather than the typical descending dotted quarter and eighth notes. “Nôs Calan” appears in Parry’s “British Harmony” (1781) with the usual A1 pattern.

Edward Jones was another early publisher of Welsh tunes, and he was the first to include lyrics with “Nos Galan,” which appeared on p. 64 of his 1784 book “Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards,” arrangement no. 2.

These words were not the only, or even the typical, words used for the tune, as Jones explains in the essay preceding the arrangements: “Of the Welsh Pennillion, or Epigrammatic Stanzas, and Pastorals.” 

He writes, “These have been transmitted to us by oral tradition from time immemorial, and still are the domestic and colloquial Poetry of the natives of Wales, a people uncommonly awake to all the impressions of sorrow, love, and joy… The word Pennill is derived from Pen, a Head: because these stanzas flowed extempore from, and were treasured in, the Head, without being committed to paper… There are several kinds of Pennill metres, that may be adapted and sung, to most of the following tunes; and some part of a tune occasionally converted into a symphony. One set of words is not, like an English song, confined to one tune, but commonly sung to several.” He adds that talented singers might know hundreds or thousands of penillion verses.

Jones published a new edition of “Musical Relicks” in 1794, see arrangement no. 3, in which he included a translation of the Welsh verse and made 3 changes to the arrangement: 

1. He altered the last phrase – in the third measure he raised the second eighth note from mi to la and in the fourth measure he lowered the second note from ti to so.
2. In the second measure of A and A’ the second note repeats the first instead of ascending from it.
3. He altered the B chorus rhythms and melody. 

Over the next decades “Nos Galan” appeared in many song collections, often paired with English words. Notably, Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, the “father of symphony,” included an arrangement titled “New Year’s Eve” in “A Select Collection of Original Welsh Airs, Volume II,” circa 1813. Anne Grant, eminent poet, wrote the words, beginning “Loud, how loud the north wind blowing…” 

J. Lloyd Williams, one of the founders of the Welsh Folk-Song Society, does not hold back his criticism of Haydn’s collection in his book “Welsh National Melodies and Folk-Songs” (1908). He writes,

“we have an enthusiastic Scotchman [the publisher] who mutilates many of the Welsh airs which he desires to glorify; we have a number of English and Scotch poets, most of whom fail to fit the airs with words that express either the rhythm or sentiment of them; and the foremost musicians of Europe write excellent arrangements, which yet lack the subtle something that breathes out the national feeling.” 

J. Lloyd Williams, 1908

“Deck the Hall” appears

(Image: John Thomas, Pencerdd Gwalia, renowned harpist and arranger of “Welsh Melodies, for the Voice, With Welsh and English Poetry” (1862). Image from the National Library of Wales.)

He aimed to do better and enrolled the help of two poets. John Jones, listed by his bardic name Talhaiarn, whom Thomas describes as “acknowledged by his countrymen as being to Wales what Beranger was to France, Moore to Ireland, or Burns to Scotland,” supplied the Welsh words. The well-known Scottish lyricist Thomas Oliphant supplied the English words. With the idea of “New Year’s Eve” to work with, Oliphant gave us the original “Deck the hall” lyrics, see arrangement no. 4.

Note the repeating second note in A2 and A’2, the two dotted quarter and eighth note pairs in A’1, and the difference in melody between A3 and A’3.

McCaskey’s mutilation

John Hullah published his compilation “The Song Book” in 1866. He must not have been a Welsh speaker, because with his arrangement, “Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly,” arrangement no. 5, he erroneously claims that Oliphant translated Talhaiarn. Hullah cites “Thomas’s Welsh Melodies,” and his arrangement is the same except for A2 and A’2. Both have the ascending rather than repeating second note, and A’2 has a dotted quarter and eighth note pattern instead of two quarter notes. 

“The Song Book” was published in London and Philadelphia, which may explain how “Deck the Halls” became known to John Piersol (J. P.) McCaskey, editor of the Pennsylvania School Journal. “Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly” appears in the December 1877 issue of the Journal (Vol. 26, No. 6), arrangement no. 6. This version has 3 main differences from Hullah. 

First, Oliphant’s lyrics have been bowdlerized – all references to drinking have been replaced. Second, the last two measures of B have been completely eliminated. Third, McCaskey changed A’, restoring the quarter note rhythm in A’2 and introducing a stuttering “fa la la” on the 6th note of the scale in A’3, a non-traditional pattern. 

McCaskey repurposed the Journal’s music pages in many of his other publications, including the “Franklin Square Song Collection.” This prolific publication may be why his version caught on.

The modern version

Forty years after the publication of McCaskey’s “Deck the Hall,” the song went through one final transformation, to the form familiar to us today, in “Father Finn’s Carol Book” (1917), arrangement no. 7. 

This version is most similar to McCaskey’s, retaining the final stuttering “fa la la” chorus, but Father Finn did make a few changes. Most notably, he restored the chorus in the B part. He also changed the chording and accompaniment. 

Finn changed some of McCaskey’s words as well. “Christmas” became “Yule-tide.” And despite the title of the song remaining the singular, “Deck the Hall,” the first line of the lyrics is plural, “Deck the halls.”

But wait, there’s more

These arrangements are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to uncovering the origins of “Nos Galan” and “Deck the Halls.” For even more history and dozens more variations, visit handyfinch.com/deck-the-halls. 

These books also include arrangements of “Deck the Halls”:

• “Come Let Us Adore Him” by Stephen Seifert,
• “Mountain Dulcimer in the Band Book 4” by Bing Futch,
• “No Frills Holiday Jam Collection” by Laurie Alsobrook,
• “Christmas Songs for the Dulcimer” by Judy House, and
• “Deck the Halls: Christmas Ensembles Arranged for Dulcimers” by Steve Eulberg.