This is a selection of 33 Cornish Christmas Carols collected and published by Robert H. Heath in Redruth in 1889. Heath was a local teacher of music and organist at the Redruth Parish church. These carols are in the Cornish style and were handed down from father to son and sung not only in church or chapels but also deep underground in the mines, on street corners and in the local inns. Because they are very simple with a basic four part harmony a precise knowledge of music was not required to perform them. Consequently, the Cornish carried their "tunes" with them wherever they went and Robert H. Heath took them to South Africa where he became the organist at Johannesburg Cathedral.
Today you can hear them performed from Grass Valley, California, to Moonta, Australia as well as many places in between wherever the Cornish settled.
