Nowell Sing We Clear is a four member musical group that performs an annual yuletide concert series. They have also released a series of related albums.

The concerts consist of yuletide stories and music, and often include a Mummers Play

Mummers Play

Mummers Plays are seasonal folk plays performed by troupes of actors known as mummers or guisers , originally from England , but later in other parts of the world...

.

Members

The group consists of John Roberts

John Roberts (musician)

John Roberts is an English musician residing in Schenectady, New York.He is best known for his musical collaborations with Tony Barrand. As Roberts and Barrand, they perform a cappella and accompanied performances of traditional English folk music. They also perform and record fare such as sea...

, Tony Barrand

Tony Barrand

Dr. Anthony Grant Barrand is an academic and musician residing in Brattleboro, Vermont. He is Professor of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, where his courses include "Stalking the Wild Mind: The Psychology and Folklore of Extra-Sensory Perception and Psychic...

, Fred Breunig, and Andy Davis (who replaced original member Steve Woodruff after Woodruff moved to California).

Credits from first album:

• John Roberts – vocals, English concertina, Anglo concertina
• Tony Barrand – vocals, tambourine
  Tambourine
  The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
  
  
• Fred Breunig – fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  , harmony vocals
• Steve Woodruff – button accordion
  Button accordion
  A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons rather than piano-style keys. There exists a wide variation in keyboard systems, tuning, action and construction of these instruments...
  
  , Anglo concertina, penny whistle
  Tin whistle
  The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
  
  , harmony vocals

Breunig and Woodruff, also appeared as guest artists on the 1977 Roberts and Barrand album Dark Ships in the Forest.

Nowell Sing We Clear (1977)

All songs in the public domain except for the one written by Bob Pegg.
Side One

1. "The Truth from Above"/"Masters in This Hall
   Masters in This Hall
   "Masters in This Hall" , , is a Christmas carol with words written around 1860 by William Morris to an old French dance tune...
   
   " – 5:21
2. "The Holly and the Ivy
   The Holly and the Ivy
   "The Holly and the Ivy" is an English traditional Christmas carol. The carol contains intermingled Christian and Pagan imagery, with holly and ivy representing Pagan fertility symbols. Holly and ivy have been the mainstay of Christmas decoration for church use since at least the fifteenth and...
   
   " – 2:58
3. "Joys Seven" – 2:30
4. "King Pharim" – 4:06
5. "Coventry Carol
   Coventry Carol
   The "Coventry Carol" is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew...
   
   " – 1:53
6. "Familiar Carol Medley" – 2:48
7. "The Cherry Tree Carol
   The Cherry-Tree Carol
   "The Cherry-Tree Carol" is a ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads . The song itself is very old, reportedly being sung, in some form, at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century...
   
   " – 3:30
8. "Sussex Carol
   Sussex Carol
   The Sussex Carol is a Christmas carol popular in Britain, sometimes referred to by its first line On Christmas night all Christians sing. Its words were first published by Luke Wadding, a 17th-century Irish bishop, in a work called Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs...
   
   " – 1:44

Side Two

1. "Somerset
   Somerset
   The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
   
    Wassail
   Wassail
   The word Wassail refers to several related traditions; first and foremost wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition that is performed with the intention of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest...
   
   " – 3:21
2. "The Boar's Head Carol
   Boar's Head Carol
   The Boar's Head Carol is a macaronic 15th century English Christmas carol that describes the ancient tradition of sacrificing a boar and presenting its head at a Yuletide feast...
   
   " – 1:58
3. "Divers and Lazarus" – 2:45
4. "The Bitter Withy
   The Bitter Withy
   The Bitter Withy is an English folk song reflecting an unusual and apocryphal vernacular idea of Jesus Christ. The withy of the title is the Willow and song gives an explanation as to why the willow tree rots from the centre out, rather than the outside in...
   
   " – 2:31
5. "An Orkney New Year's Carol" – 2:16
6. "Sword Dance Tunes from the Village of Sleights" – 3:22
7. "Rise Up, Jock!" (Bob Pegg) – 5:17

To Welcome In The Spring (1980)

This album consists of New Years and spring themed recordings.

1. "Candlemas Eve"
2. "Mothering Sunday"
3. "Gabriel's Message"
4. "All In The Morning"
5. "The Merchant's Carol"
6. "The Leaves of Life (or The Seven Virgins)"
7. "The Lamb of God"
8. "My Dancing Day"
9. "The Sound Of The Drum/Ninety-Five"
10. "The Month Of May"
11. "Country Dance Medley: Trip to Paris/Knole Park"
12. "The Moon Shines Bright (or The Bellman's Song)"
13. "The Football Match"
14. "The Whitsun Song"
15. "Come Lasses And Lads/Packington's Pound"
16. "Northhill May Song"

The Second Nowell (1981)

1. "The Cutty Wren"
2. "Six Jolly Miners"
3. "Medley of Long Sword Tunes from the Village of Grenoside and Ampleforth"
4. "Milford"
5. "A Child This Day Is Born"
6. "While Shepherds Watched"
7. "Lord of the Dance
   Lord of the Dance
   Lord of the Dance may refer to:Personalities* Nataraja, Shiva in his dancing posture* Lord of the Dance, a title given to Jesus Christ in some musical adaptationsLiterature* Lord of the Dance , a 1984 novel by Father Andrew GreeleyMusic...
   
   "
8. "The Praise of Christmas"
9. "Green Grow the Rushes, O
   Green Grow the Rushes, O
   Green Grow The Rushes, Ho , is a folk song popular across the English-speaking world. It is sometimes sung as a Christmas carol...
   
   "
10. "Gloucestershire Wassail"
11. "Sherburne"
12. "Apple Tree Wassail
    Apple Wassail
    The Apple Wassail is a traditional form of wassailing practiced in the cider orchards of South West England during the winter. There are many well recorded instances of the Apple Wassail in the early modern period. The first recorded mention was at Fordwich, Kent, in 1585, by which time groups of...
    
    "/"The Derby Ram"
13. "The Wren (The King)"

Nowell Sing We Clear, Vol. 3 (1985)

1. "Masters in this Hall
   Masters in This Hall
   "Masters in This Hall" , , is a Christmas carol with words written around 1860 by William Morris to an old French dance tune...
   
   "
2. "Star in the East"
3. "The Carnal and the Crane
   The Carnal and the Crane
   "The Carnal and the Crane" is Child ballad 55 and a Christmas carol. It depicts a conversation between two birds—apparently, although the species of the "carnal" has never been identified with any certainty, though crow is generally assumed.-Synopsis:...
   
   "/"King Herod and the Cock"/"The Miraculous Harvest"
4. "O Little Town of Bethlehem
   O Little Town of Bethlehem
   "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a popular Christmas carol. The text was written by Phillips Brooks , an Episcopal priest, Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his...
   
   "
5. "Leaping and Dancing"
6. "Sherbourne (original version)"
7. "Gower Wassail
   Gower Wassail
   The Gower Wassail is a wassail song from Gower in Wales, UK. It is printed in A.L. Lloyd's book Folk Song in England , having been heard from Phil Tanner...
   
   "
8. "Kris Kringle
   Kris Kringle
   Kris Kringle is a name used in the United States and may refer to:* Christkind or Christkindl, the Austrian and Bavarian Christmas gift-bringer, the Christ Child....
   
   "
9. "Winter/Spring"
10. "Flower Carol"
11. "Green Grow'th the Holly"
12. "Morris and Sword Tune Medley"
13. "Carol for New Year's Day"

Nowell Sing We Four (1988)

Also known as Nowell Sing We Clear, Vol. 4

1. "The Boys' Carol"
2. "The Cherry Tree Carol"
3. "Carol (While Shepherds Watched)
   While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
   "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" is a Christmas carol describing the Annunciation to the Shepherds, with words attributed to Irish hymnist, lyricist and England's Poet Laureate, Nahum Tate....
   
   "
4. "Come and I Will Sing You"
5. "Hunting the Wren/The Wren Boys' Song"
6. "Over the Hill and Over the Dale"
7. "Old Christmas/Shooting Recitation"
8. "The Ram Song"
9. "Welladay (Christmas Lamentation)"
10. "Boar's Head Carol
    Boar's Head Carol
    The Boar's Head Carol is a macaronic 15th century English Christmas carol that describes the ancient tradition of sacrificing a boar and presenting its head at a Yuletide feast...
    
    "
11. "The Praise of Christmas"
12. "The Rag Dance Song (La GuignolŽe)/Pays D'Haut"
13. "Rolling Downward"

the best of Nowell Sing We Clear 1975–1986 (1989)

Also known as The Best of… Sing We Clear. Songs are taken from Nowell Sing We Clear, The Second Nowell, and Nowell Sing We Clear, Vol. 3; which are no longer available separately.

1. "A Child This Day Is Born"
2. "While Shepherds Watched"
3. "Leaping And Dancing"
4. "The Cherry Tree Carol"
5. "Sussex Carol"
6. "The Carnal And The Crane"/"King Herod And The Cock"/"The Miraculous Harvest"
7. "Coventry Carol"
8. "The Bitter Withy"
9. "The Holly And The Ivy"
10. "Green Grow'th The Holly"
11. "Winter/Spring"
12. "Rise Up Jock" (Bob Pegg)
13. "Gower Wassail"
14. "Gloucestershire Wassail"
15. "Apple Tree Wassail"/"The Derby Ram"
16. "Sherburne" ("Original" Version)
17. "Kris Kringle"
18. "The Cutty Wren"
19. "An Orkney New Year's Carol"
20. "Carol For New Year's Day"
21. "The Wren" (The King)
22. "Lord Of The Dance" (Sydney Carter)

Hail Smiling Morn! (1995)

1. "Sail Smiling Morn"
2. "Sweet Chiming Bells"
3. "Old Foster"
4. "The Holly and the Ivy
   The Holly and the Ivy
   "The Holly and the Ivy" is an English traditional Christmas carol. The carol contains intermingled Christian and Pagan imagery, with holly and ivy representing Pagan fertility symbols. Holly and ivy have been the mainstay of Christmas decoration for church use since at least the fifteenth and...
   
   "
5. "Shepherds Arise"
6. "Old Christmas Return'd"
7. "Jacob's Well
   Jacob's Well
   Jacob's Well is a deep well hewn of solid rock that has been associated in religious tradition with Jacob for roughly two millennia...
   
   "
8. "March of the Kings"
9. "I Saw Three Ships
   I Saw Three Ships
   "I Saw Three Ships " is a traditional and popular Christmas carol from England. A variant of its parent tune "Greensleeves", the earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William B. Sandys in 1833...
   
   "
10. "The Joys of Mary"
11. "The Bitter Withy
    The Bitter Withy
    The Bitter Withy is an English folk song reflecting an unusual and apocryphal vernacular idea of Jesus Christ. The withy of the title is the Willow and song gives an explanation as to why the willow tree rots from the centre out, rather than the outside in...
    
    "
12. "Carol of the Creatures"
13. "Hail Happy Morn"
14. "The Cutty Wren"
15. "Here We Come A-Wassailing
    Here We Come A-Wassailing
    Here We Come A-wassailing is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Years song, apparently composed c. 1850...
    
    /We Wish You a Merry Christmas
    We Wish You a Merry Christmas
    "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular sixteenth-century English carol from the West Country of England. The origin of this Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy...
    
    "
16. "Carol for the New Year"

Just Say Nowell (2000)

1. "The Truth From Above"
2. "Babe of Bethlehem"
3. "The First Nowell"
4. "The Cherry Tree Carol"
5. "London"
6. "The Blessings of Mary"
7. "I Saw a Maiden"
8. "Chariots"
9. "The Holly and the Ivy"
10. "Joy to the World"
11. "Christemas Hath Made an End"
12. "Ditchling Carol"
13. "Time to Remember the Poor"
14. "Stevens Family Waysail"
15. "Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy"
16. "New Year's Carol"

Nowell Nowell Nowell! (2008)

1. "Carol for Christmas Eve"
2. "From Far Away"
3. "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
4. "Six Jolly Miners"
5. "Sherburne/Milford"
6. "I Heard From Heaven Today"
7. "The Shepherds Amazèd"
8. "Derwent Wassail"
9. "Joys Seven"
10. "Somerset Wassail"
11. "The Derby Ram"
12. "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem"
13. "Homeless Wassail"
14. "Bring the New Year In"
15. "Green Grow the Rushes-O"
16. "Song for the New Year"

As performers in an anthology

1. A Christmas Celtic Sojourn – Rounder Records (2001)
2. Comfort & Joy: A Christmas Celtic Sojourn – (2003)

External links

• Nowell Sing We Clear (official homepage)
• Golden Hind Music (record label)