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Huron Carol ('Twas in the Moon of Wintertime) Huron_Carol_Twas_in_the_Moon_of_Wintertime_Piano_Solo_by_Justin_K_Reeve
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With "Huron Carol" used as a motif, plus a sprinkling of "Carol of the Bells," this Christmas sheet music is designed to be played with the accompaniment track available at https://music.justinreeve.com/huron-carol-twas-in-the-moon-of-wintertime/
Generally considered the first Canadian Christmas carol, "'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime" was written in 1640 by a Jesuit priest, Jean de Brébeuf. He set the song to a French folk tune, "Une Jeune Pucelle." Brébeuf was ministering to the Huron natives in Ontario, and created a song in their language that used symbols which could be understood by the tribe. For example, Jesus is born in a "lodge of broken bark" and wrapped in a "robe of rabbit skin." Three "chiefs from afar" brought him fox and beaver pelts instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, while hunters surrounded the baby rather than shepherds.
It was sung by the Hurons until 1649, when the Iroquois destroyed the Jesuit mission, killed Brébeuf, and drove the Hurons out. Many of the surviving Hurons escaped to Quebec, where the carol later re-emerged and was translated into English and French. It is beloved throughout Canada today, even celebrated with an appearance on a set of Canadian postage stamps in 1977.