Good King Wenceslas

This carol tells the story of a kind king who braves a snowstorm to bring food and firewood to a poor man on a cold winter night. The words were written in 1853 by John Mason Neale, but he set them to a much older tune — a springtime song from the 1200s. The “good king” himself was a real person, a duke from Bohemia who was so beloved for his kindness that he was made a saint after he died.