By Gill Hicks
Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come
Little baby
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum pum
On my drum
Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
The Little Drummer Boy was originally called the ‘Carol of the Drum’ and was based on a Czech carol. It was adapted in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis although the popular version today is based on the recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale.
In the first verse ‘Come they told me’ refers to the Wise men or Kings. I’m not going to write a lot about these as they have been covered already. For more legal information about wise men and kings see ‘We three kings’ and ‘Good King Wenceslas’ both earlier blogs. But there is an interesting historic Scottish Act that mentions the need for ‘wise men’
College of Justice Act 1532 asp 2 (Historical Scottish Act)
[1532cc. 36–41]
Concerning the ordour of Justice and the institutioun of ane college of cunning and wise men for the administracioun of Justice (westlaw)
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA it is against the law to play a flute or drums on the street to attract attention.
I’m not going to go into noise abatement which drummer boys will certainly attract as this has been covered in ‘Silent Night’ in this blog.
One last historical fact that although drummer boys were used in the army as an important means of communication as the 19th century progressed the drummer boy was in decline and the bugle was used more often.
In America on the plantations drums were allowed for the slaves to make music. This led the slave owners to become anxious that the drums would not prevent an uprising but may well prevoke it as they led to uniting the community. In 1739 in South Carolina drums were used to signal the start of a violent slave rebellion and led to the prohibiton of drums by law and for them to be classified as weapons. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/transcripts/episode86/
