[Ads-l] God rest on merry, Gentlemen

[Jonathan Lighter]

The OED, moreover, dates the carol to a single sheet of "1700-01."

But I'm unable to find it in EEBO or ECCO.

Perhaps it's Harding B 11(1341) in the Bodleian, but that's undated:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/05000/02233.gif .

I'm skeptical of the assigned date in any case, because it seems unlikely
to me that a 1700-1701 broadside of a Christmas carol would not be
reprinted before the last decades of the century. (Unless the
undated Johnson Ballads 2456 is earlier:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/05000/02233.gif .)

JL



On Thu, Dec 9, 2021 at 8:33 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> OED has "God rest you merry,' 'May God grant you peace and happiness,'
> from 1534.
>
> So case closed.
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Dec 9, 2021 at 6:42 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
>> Where Is The Comma In "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" Supposed To Go?
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxfxy-3dGz0
>>
>> (hat tip, Peter M. Head)
>> [https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.StT8JzHYPD1i7X0KKrLF8w&pid=Api]<
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxfxy-3dGz0>
>> Where Is The Comma In "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" Supposed To Go?<
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxfxy-3dGz0>
>> This a capella arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" examines how
>> commas can change meanings… often with unintended results. For more
>> pedantic nonsense, you can follow me elsewhere: Reddit:
>> https://reddit.com/u/RamsesThePigeon Twitter:
>> https://twitter.com/RamsesThePigeon TikTok:
>> https://tiktok.com/@RamsesThePigeon If you want to, you ...
>> www.youtube.com
>> (Nevermind, Oxford comma.)
>>
>> The Monthly Review 1764 p.395 has "God rest you, merry Gentlemen."
>>
>> And the earliest known printing--if 1760, as some claim--in a broadside,
>> "Three New Christmas Carols" has
>> "God rest on merry, Gentlemen."
>>
>> Stephen Goranson
>> https://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


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