a hymn sung by the people at Christmas. "The Christmas carol may be traced to the primitive Church. Tertullian (advers. Gentil. 39) states that at their feasts it was customary for the Christians to place in the middle such as were able to sing, and call upon them to praise God in a hymn, either out of the Scriptures or of their own invention. Durand also informs us (Rel. 6:86, 9) that it was usual for the bishops on Christmas day to make sport, and even to sing with their clergy; and this custom was an imitation of the Gloria in excelsis of the angels, as we learn from Jeremy Taylor — "These blessed choristers had sung their Christmas carol, and taught the Church a hymn to put into her offices forever, on the anniversary of this festivity." For the popular carols of England, see Brand, Popular Antiquities, 1:262 sq.; Chambers, Book of Days, 2:747 sq. — Eadie, Ecclesiastes Dictionary, s.v.; Sandys, Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern (Lond. 1833, 8vo). SEE MYSTERIES.