to insist that it is 'I love THEE' in Away in a Manger

[Balfe]

I have turned into one of those ancient teachers grouching in a corner but really, they're singing 'I love you Lord Jesus'.... It's got to be proper!

No, I’m with you. Our pre school is singing “good tidings we bring, to you and your king” It’s KIN!

good tidings we bring, to you and your king

Oh good lord

I taught my nursery children to do the action of a crown for 'king' in merry christmas until by TA pointed out it was kin.... woops!

And 'thy bedside' too, natch.

I’m with you all the way. Dumbing down.

Ooooohhh I'm 32 and have been singing you and your king all these year

We recently attended a carol service with the words on screens and they were all 'modern' whereas I was automatically singing 'thy' etc. Felt a bit stupid - doesn't really seem necessary to change.

Do the children know what "tidings" are, btw?

I didn't as a child. I thought it was "tidy-ings" and had a mental image of a someone handing someone else a dustpan.

There's a bit of a debate about 'thy bedside' is there not- I would have always sang 'and stay by my side'....

I think most of the children are unsure of who exactly the Baby Jesus is anyway

...and I'm trying to teach my class that the Three Kings liked to 'traverse afar', not 'travel so far'! Oh and that it was Good King Wenceslas who looked out, not King Wenslas who 'last looked out'. All taught by previous teachers who roll their eyes at me. And kin and king. And incense holds a bloody, buggering deity nigh not 'night'. And the plural of reindeer is reindeer - no 's'.

It's "stay by my bedside 'til morning is nigh" isn't it?

I can go it alone from about 5.45am, thanks Jesus!

Going against the majority here. I don't like thees and thous, in church. I understand that if that is what you grew up with then it seems strange to you when the language is changed, but some people believe this stuff, and they should not be constrained to use language from 150 years ago, to explore or express ideas which for them are part of their everyday 21st century lives

It is 'Thee' - the nice thing about carols is that they have archaic language and sound sound like they've been badly translated (We Three Kings of Orient Are )
You get to say words like 'Yonder' and 'Behold' and 'Afar' - what's not to love about that ?

Yadnbu

YANBU. I’m a totally hypocritical atheist at Christmas - I was raised Catholic and I love a carol!

but some people believe this stuff, and they should not be constrained to use language from 150 years ago, to explore or express ideas which for them are part of their everyday 21st century lives

I still disagree with you but that's a lovely way to put it.

I think the tradition is really important. I love that these little ones are singing the same carols as their grandparents.

At least you're all singing real carols. My children barely know them as they've never sung them at school. They just have Christmassy songs but not the actual carols, and their schools are classed as CofE schools!

Totally agree with thee, op!!

We were singing king when I was at primary in the 1960s

This reminds me of the time someone tried to use a slightly modernised version of the words to "O Come All Ye Faithful" in a carol service at our church.
Suffice to say, everyone ignored them and the organiser was not happy.
Modern songs are fine, but don't mess with the classics.

I'm a stickler for the words but also the melody. Can't stand the slurring in O Come All Ye Faithful for example.

I'm 28 and learned the 'proper' Lords Prayer by rote at school. My local church has adopted the modern version and it's always me and a couple of old ladies who stumble over '"For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours..." etc. Give me thees and thys any day!

I prefer the old words but to be honest I can't get all steamed up about it. What I do get hot and bothered about is when the DCs come home from school and tell me that they learnt a Xmas hymn so I ask them to sing it and it turns out to be Dominic the Italian Xmas donkey

Is there any proof that the donkey that carried Mary was called Dominic? How do they know he was Italian?

Ooh that too ferrier. And people who don't know to start quiet and get louder...

That said I still sometimes forget myself and inadvertently start trying to sing the descant, so there's probably someone moaning about me on here