That carol is still much-loved today, a legacy of the Christmas truce, and a reminder to us all that even in the unlikeliest of places hope can still be found.
But at his departure the little maiden took an Elder-blossom from her bosom, and gave it him to keep; and it was placed between the leaves of his Prayer-Book.
More prayers and hymns will follow before the whole shindig is capped off with a rousing singalong of God Save The King followed by some good old-fashioned balcony waving.
And through writing chants down, the church could ensure, literally, that monks singing at the furthest outpost of the empire of Christendom, literally sang from the same hymn sheet.
And as I was in the shower the words of an old hymn came to me, you may not know it. It's By and By... When the morning comes. And I started thinking about when the morning might come.
Of course, there had been some other things in the environment in my childhood before high school, like nursery rhymes, hymns, my mother's playing piano and guitar, poems my father might come out with.
Pitty scrambled into her bedroom like a rabbit panting for its burrow. Wade and Uncle Peter retired to the carriage house and Cookie kept to her kitchen and forebore to raise her voice to praise the Lord in song.
All were silently crossing themselves, and the reading of the church service, the subdued chanting of deep bass voices, and in the intervals sighs and the shuffling of feet were the only sounds that could be heard.