“The World Is Turned Upside Down” performed by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band on the album “Hang Up Sorrow and Care” (Park Records, 1995, posted with permission).
In the 17th century, Cromwell and the Puritans seized power in England. Offended by singing and dancing and drinking, they banned the celebration of Christmas for years in Britain and its colonies. Something of a folk music scholar, Maddy Prior unearthed this historic song to share with us.
It is intriguing to read Puritan literature referring to Christmas as “humbug” and then to see Scrooge, two centuries later, observing conventional Puritan prudery toward Christmas while neglecting all its charity.
Related reading:
The Carnival Band (folk group) on Wikipedia
The World Is Turned Upside Down on Wikipedia
