Sussex Carol

The Sussex Carol is a popular Christmas Carol in the United Kingdom.  The song is often known by its first line “On Christmas night all Christians sing“.

Luke Wadding, a 17th Century Irish Bishop, first published the song in the 1684 Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs.

It is unclear and unknown whether Wadding wrote the song or recorded it from earlier compositions.

The text and tune were discovered and written down by Cecil Sharp and later by Ralph Vaughan Williams, who heard it being sung by a Harriet Verrall.  Williams version was published in 1919 and the one generally sung today.