The Nation's Favourite Christmas Carol

The nation has spoken and chosen its favourite Christmas Carol, and it is.....?

You'll just have to wait until Christmas Day when the results of Classic FM's poll will be announced in a special live programme - The Nation’s Favourite Carol - presented by Howard Goodall on from 12pm to 3pm .

The Ultimate Advent Calendar

Christmas is a time for giving, but it's also nice to receive every once in a while! That's why the people at Classic FM have teamed up with Grant's Whisky to create the ultimate Advent calendar.

They'll be counting down the days to Christmas by giving away all sorts of amazing prizes every day. From luxury mini-breaks in Scotland and fine dining on Orient Express, to this year's must-have gadgets such as Sony eBook Readers, iPod Touchs and Nintendo Wiis, there are great gifts for all the family to be won.

To use the calendar, simply follow this link and click on the relevant date to reveal the details of the daily prize and how to enter. Good luck!

What's your favourite Christmas Carol?

Whether it’s Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem or The First Noel, Classic FM and the Radio Times want to hear from you, because they've teamed up to search for the Nation’s Favourite Carol this Christmas.

Voting opened at 6am yesterday (Tuesday 1 December) and will close on Sunday 13 December, with the full results being announced in a special live programme - The Nation’s Favourite Carol - presented by Howard Goodall on Christmas Day from 12pm to 3pm .

To cast your vote for the Nation’s Favourite Carol, follow this link.

And if you'd like to find out more about the origins of your favourite Christmas songs, why not pick up a copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? here to gen-up on all your festive-related knowledge?

Have a Classic FM Christmas

It's nearly time to enjoy the festive treats Christmas day will bring to many, but why wait until then? Classic FM still have three days of fabulous prizes for you to win in their fabulous online Advent Calendar. Click here to find out more.

18 December - What's your favourite Christmas Carol?

Some weeks ago, we asked, on this blog, what your favourite Christmas number 1 is. Well now we're asking - or rather Classic FM is asking - what is your favourite Christmas carol?

To have your say, visit the Classic FM website where you will be able to choose from a huge number of carols.

Personally, I find it hard to choose only one carol but I've always enjoyed the rather nonsensical I Saw Three Ships. It has the galloping rhythm that a song associated with dancing (which is what a carol really is) should have.

I Saw Three Ships is a traditional Christmas carol from England, and some sources assert that this song is "an upbeat variant of Greensleeves", which has a similar meter. The earliest printed version is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire.

The whole idea of ships having anything to do with Christmas probably comes from a carol sung during the Christmas holidays about the middle of the 16th century:

All sons of Adam, rise up with me,

Go praise the Blessed Trinitie, &c.

Then spake the Archangel Gabriel, said, Ave, Marie mild,

The Lord of Lords is with thee, now shall you go with child.

Ecce ancilla domini.

Then said the virgin, as thou hast said, so mat it be,

Welcome be heavens King.

There comes a ship far sailing then,

Saint Michael was the stieres-man;

Saint John sate in the horn:Our Lord harped, our Lady sang,

And all the bells of heaven they rang,

On Christ's sonday at morn, &c.

This carol is sometimes known as Christmas Day in the Morning. Joshua Sylvestre, in his Christmas Carols - Ancient and Modern (circa 1861), said that, 'It has always been a great favorite with the illiterate, and from its quaintness will be found not displeasing to the more refined.' So that's me told!