The Sussex Carol does not appear to have its origins in Sussex. Its words were first published by the Rev Luke Wadding, a seventeenth century Irish bishop, in a work called Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs (1684). Its later association with Sussex appears to be through Ralph Vaughan Williams, who heard it being sung by a Harriet Verrall of Monk’s Gate, near Horsham, Sussex (hence 'Sussex Carol'). The tune to which it is generally sung today is the one Vaughan Williams took down from Mrs. Verrall and then published in 1919. The arrangement by Sir David Wilcocks heard here is especially fine.

from notes by Brendan Carroll © 2014