Many of us have grown up singing carols at Christmastime. Often, it has been a very happy way for us to learn to sing. With all the excitement of each festive season, maybe we haven't had much time to think about why we do it or how the tradition started.  Catch up now…

In 13th century France, 'caroles' were sung as accompaniments to a circle or 'round' dances. The leader of the dance sang the verse whilst the others stood still – the 'stanza' - giving the dancers a chance to get their breath back!  The rest of the group then sang a 'burden' or refrain while they were dancing the next round, like many children's playground games today.

By the time the idea reached England in the 15th century, the form had become less physical but more complicated musically, more attention being given to the singing rather than the dancing.

The music had become 'polyphonic' with two or more independent parts, but still with stanzas and choruses or refrains (burdens). Harmony was still experimental - think of the Coventry Carol with its 'false relation' which leaves everybody feeling that somebody's sung a dud note somewhere.

Increasingly, the words were based on sacred texts and by the time of the Reformation in the 16th Century, carols had become almost exclusively Christmas songs. They reflect huge diversity of language and style - narrative (Good King Wenceslas), symbolic (The Holly and The Ivy) or expressive of deeply held beliefs (Veni Immanuel). Many of their origins are ancient - like Adeste Fideles, originating in a 15th century French Convent, or obscure - like the traditional Celtic carol Bunessan, the melody for which is said to have been gathered from 'a wandering highlander'.

Each century has added its own to the list – from Victorian hits like Sullivan's Noel (It came Upon The Midnight Clear) right through to modern favourites like John Rutter's Shepherd's Pipe Carol. Many famous composers have arranged and rearranged them. To this day, we still sing many secular 'carols', true to their original dance form, like Here We Come A-Wassailing  dating from the 13th century Norse –'ves heill' which means 'be in good health'. In these, the emphasis is definitely on fun, not piety.

Other Christmas songs, particularly American ones, like James Lord Pierpont's, One Horse Open Sleigh (aka Jingle Bells) and Irving Berlin's, White Christmas also deserve inclusion in our carol history. Along with Noddy Holder's very 'danceable', Merry Christmas Everybody (harking back to the original 'carole'), they will take their place with all the rest – secular and sacred - continuing to to revive our spirits through long, cold northern nights or helping us feel festive in warmer climes.