#13 most-searched carol in the US · 1760
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen: the story behind the carol
Also known as God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
🏡 Great for caroling⛪ Church & choir
- Words
- English traditional (16th–18th century)
- Music
- English traditional
- From
- London, England
- Type
- Sacred carol
The story behind “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”
One of the oldest carols still widely sung, it was a street song in London long before it appeared in print in the late 1700s.
Charles Dickens used it in A Christmas Carol (1843): a boy starts singing it through Scrooge's keyhole, and Scrooge scares him away with a ruler.
More carols like this
- Silent Night1818 · Oberndorf, Austria
- Jingle Bells1857 · Boston, Massachusetts
- Joy to the World1719 · England; tune from Boston
- O Holy Night1847 · Roquemaure, France
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing1739 · England
- Deck the Halls1862 · Wales; English words from Scotland
History retold from the carol's Wikipedia article and its sources; checked 2026-09-30.