Ring Out, Ring Solstice Bells!

Now is the solstice of the year,

Winter is the glad song that you hear.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Have the lads up ready in a line.
Ring out these bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.

Join together beneath the mistletoe.
By the holy oak whereon it grows.
Seven druids dance in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.
Ring out these bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.

Praise be to the distant sister sun,
Joyful as the silver planets run.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.
Ring out those bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.
Ring on, ring out.
Ring on, ring out.

These four churches have been brought together into one parish - Kingsdown, Ringwould, Ripple and Sutton.

Apart from the Victorian Kingsdown, they seem to have grown organically from the ground, as the buiders used local materials - flints, marl and possibly their roofs may have originally been thatched.
From simple beginnings, each has benefited from different additions - Ringwould's tower and cupola, Ripple's spire and Sutton's hemispherical chancel.
They may well have been built on sites of pagan worship, and of course many of the Christian rituals have been adapted from the earlier local customs.

The burning of the Yule log, the decorating of trees, the hanging of boughs, holly and mistletoe are all practices associated with the pagan Yuletide celebrations.

In these dark days of winter, it is easy to understand why many diverse civilisations have developed cheery traditions to brighten the spirits.

In the churchyards, as in the countryside, there is little natural colour at this time of the year, but a clump of Feverfew was flowering above the fallen leaves in Kingsdown, and a hawkweed decorated a wall in Ringwould.