‘God rest ye merry Gentlemen’ is an ancient English carol. It was first published in 1833 but it can be traced as far back as the 15th century which makes it one of the oldest carols known. ‘God rest ye merry’ is a Middle English salutation. In this manner people wished one another greatness and might. In modern English the first line of this carol would read ‘May God keep you mighty gentlemen’. Andrew R. Mackereth has not kept to the original words in his up-tempo arrangement of the carol. It is still clearly recognizable but the arranger has taken a good many liberties. Sometimes a particular note is held longer at times motifs follow oneanother in various parts. If you listen carefully you may even be able to detect a motif from another well-known song.
