Advent Book Quiz Day 12

Day twelve of our festive quiz

Some carol singing today to get you in the festive spirit.

Identify the author and title and submit your answer as a comment below this post - comments will not be published until the winner and answers are revealed on 3rd January. Closing date for entries is 1st January, so don't forget to look back and submit your answers for any days you might have missed. 

Good Luck!

The week before Christmas, when snow seemed to lie thickest, was the moment for carol-singing; and when I think back to those nights it is to the crunch of snow and to the lights of the lanterns on it. Carol-singing in my village was a special tithe for the boys, the girls had little to do with it. Like hay-making, black-berrying, stone-clearing and wishing-people-a-happy-Easter, it was one of our seasonal perks.   

By instinct we knew just when to begin it; a day too soon and we should have been unwelcome, a day too late and we should have received lean looks from people whose bounty was already exhausted. When the true moment came, exactly balanced, we recognized it and were ready. 

So as soon as the wood had been stacked in the oven to dry for the morning fire, we put on our scarves and went out through the streets, calling loudly between our hands, till the various boys who knew the signal ran out from their houses to join us. 

One by one they came stumbling over the snow, swinging their lanterns around their heads, shouting and coughing horribly. 

"Coming carol-barking then?" 

We were the Church Choir, so no answer was necessary. For a year we had praised the Lord out of key, and as a reward for this service - on top of the Outing - we now had the right to visit all the big houses, to sing our carols and collect our tribute.