We wish you a Merry Xmas & Figgy Pudding??

[Spiderman]

@WotNot

It might help if you know that carolling used to be more like trick-or-treating: gangs of people roaming from house to house, singing outside the door until they were bribed (with food, drink or money) to go and bother someone else. Since the drinks offered were usually alcoholic, things sometimes got pretty rowdy.

My running club does a caroling run every year, we go to six or seven bars-bar/restaurants. They’re [del]happy[/del] WTF to see us come & happy to see us go. We sing off key & stay long enough to buy & consume a drink at most of the places.

[foolsguinea]

@Guinastasia

Yep, I’ve always heard this version. (American)

I think I’ve generally heard just the first of the figgy pudding verses without the more aggressive wassailing verses. Central USA.

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

Oh, man, Aggressive Wassailing would be a great name for a door-to-door carolling group. Tis the season!

[TruCelt]

Nearly 50, from Virginia, and yes we had the figgy pudding verses. I always hated them, as it sounded so rude to demand payment after knocking on someone’s door uninvited.

It makes perfect sense to me that Canadians would be too polite to use those verses.

[DSYoungEsq]

57 from California, and I’ve rarely heard it in full without the figgy pudding lines. I never heard it with a reference to Santa. Sometimes, especially more recently, the singers will interpose the lines about “Good tidings we bring to you and your friends …” and not talk about the figgy pudding.

[Skywatcher]

@WotNot

I’m actually having a hard time imagining the song without the figgy pudding – it’s the whole point of the thing.

It might help if you know that carolling used to be more like trick-or-treating: gangs of people roaming from house to house, singing outside the door until they were bribed (with food, drink or money) to go and bother someone else. Since the drinks offered were usually alcoholic, things sometimes got pretty rowdy.

We have come Christmas caroling and we hope you’ll prove kind/And we hope you prove kind with your cakes and strong beer/And we’ll come no more nigh you until the next year.

[TBG]

@Asympotically_fat

It’s “Bring us some figgy pudding”, “Bring us a figgy pudding” doesn’t scan well in British English.

Or American, for that matter.

[pulykamell]

@Guinastasia

Yep, I’ve always heard this version. (American)

Ditto. Never heard the version with Santa in it. 42, Chicago.