“It’s one of my favorite carols…I find it haunting and very, very beautiful. Like Quebec itself. I listened to it over and over while thinking about How The Light Gets In” ~ Louise Penny
The Huron Carol plays a role in How The Light Gets In and the version we’ve embedded here is the version that Louise listened to while thinking about the book. Terry McDade sings this carol in the original Huron, French and English.
The Huron Carol is purely Canadian, written in the 1640’s by the Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf. He wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people, for the Huron people, and used imagery he felt they would relate to. The song’s original Huron title is “Jesous Ahatonhia” (“Jesus, he is born”).
The song’s melody is based on an old French folk song, “Une Jeune Pucelle” (“A Young Maid”). The English lyrics were written in 1926 and entered the public domain in 2011.
Truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Perfect for the holiday season.