Sans Day Carol

Sans Day Carol - also known as "St. Day Carol” or "The Holly Bears a Berry" is a traditional Cornish carol named after the Cornish village of St Day, where it was found around the turn of the twentieth century. Some sources give it as a Christmas carol, while other sources give it as a carol for the period between Passiontide and Easter. The song, which is listed as no. 35 in the Oxford Book of Carols, is very closely related to the more famous carol "The Holly and the Ivy". According to the Roud Folk Song Index, the "Sans Day Carol" and "The Holly and the Ivy" are variants of the same song (Roud 514).

Having spent much of my career working in English primary schools, and also being very much involved in promoting music in those same places, it perhaps won’t come as a big surprise to anyone that Christmas carols became an important part of the music calendar. This particular carol was one I would use in a variety of schools to showcase a solo voice. In selecting a soloist, it is always too easy to choose the “obvious child”, with confidence and ability. Quite often this is the same child who features on so many other occasions in the spotlight in school. It was always my intention wherever possible to try and encourage and select a child who might not ordinarily volunteer for a solo spot.

My version of the Sans Day Carol features the beautiful voice of Abby Strickland.