This study shows the importance of carolling in the celebrations and festivities of medieval Britain and demonstrates its longevity from the eleventh century to the sixteenth.

Frances Eustace holds a recent doctorate in Medieval Studies from the University of Bristol. She is a professional musician and a qualified Dance Movement Therapist. She has been part of the HIP (Historically Informed Performance) movement in Britain since the 1980s and plays bassoons, viols, and bagpipes, among other instruments.

Preface Introduction Chapter One: Carolling and Dance-Song in the Context of a Primarily Oral Culture Chapter Two: Courtly Carolling: Contexts and Practices Chapter Three: The Church, Carolling and the Emergence of the English Franciscan Carole Writers of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries Chapter Four: Carole Texts in Context: The Manuscripts Chapter Five: Carole Texts as Witnesses to Carolling Practice Chapter Six: Survivances of Carolling in Folk Culture