Who composed and wrote 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'?

Did you know the very popular Christmas song 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' originated in the West Country? We don't know who wrote it but it is thought to date back to the 16th or 17th centuries.

Advertisement

It's now very familiar tune is a bit more recent though, composed in a city the BBC Music magazine team know very well, Bristol, albeit almost a century before our time. Composer, conductor, organist and Bristolian Arthur Warrell arranged 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' to a new tune in 1935 for a December concert and it was published the same year as 'A Merry Christmas: West Country traditional song'.

'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' lyrics

We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year

Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring some out here

Find more lyrics to your favourite Christmas carols here

Advertisement

Want to have a go at making figgy pudding? Check out this whiskey figgy pudding recipe