Winter Traditions: Going Door to Door

Going Door to Door

While the tradition of "caroling" and going door to door to entertain the neighbors is only done during the Holiday Season in recent years. In times gone by, it was common to carol from door to door for many of the major festivals. It is thought that certain tunes proved particularly useful for this purpose.

The album "To Warm the Winters Night" celebrates this tradition. A dance entitled "The Horn Dance" was performed from All Souls to the Twelfth Night in hopes of bringing in the luck for the New Year! In many of the Celtic cultures, the tradition of going door to door and caroling or the idea of procession was common. All Souls Night or Samhain (sow- an) has come down to us as Halloween, when going door to door is still part of our culture.

"The Horn Dance" comes from Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire. Eight men danced through the village with antler horns on their heads in order to "bring in the luck" for the New Year. The tradition still continues in Abbots Bromley. This dance is thought to have its origins in Pre-Christian Fertility Rites.