Christmas Song Story: Ding Dong! Merrily on High   

“Ding Dong! Merrily on High” first appeared as a secular dance tune written by a French cleric, Thoinot Arbeau under the pen name Jehan Tabourot (1519-1593). The song was published under the title “Brandle de l’Official.”

George Ratcliffe Woodward (184801934) added the words and first published the Christmas carol in 1924.

Woodward wrote several carol books and had an interest in church bells, which inspired his writing of this song.