"The powerful, utterly distinctive harmonies of Coope Boyes and Simpson with the additional vocal tones of the Fraser Sisters and Georgina Boyes produce a dense, resonant sonority ... Here are songs from Albion's past to be enjoyed at any season but since it's that time of year ... light the candles, sit close by the fire and wallow in the aural gorgeousness of Coope, Boyes, Simpson, Fraser, Freya and Boyes." BBC Radio 2 website


"As soon as the Morning of the Nativity appears, it is customary among the common people to sing a Christmas-Carol". Henry Bourne, The Antiquities of the Common People. (1725)

The carols on this album reflect the whole - sometimes controversial – history of carol singing in England . Latin carols chased out of church after the Reformation, English story-carols, with their tales of village miracles that authorities proposed weren't even suitable to be sung at home but which continued to be sung at doors  ‘for pence and spicy ale’.   There are also elaborate, fugued carols created within a vivid local tradition of Christmas hymn writing and singing.  Words - and more often - music for these pieces were the work of local craftsmen. Shoemakers and tailors, blacksmiths and signboard writers, as well as conductors of small chapel choirs, all set sweeping, emotional texts to complex three, four and five-part arrangements. Chased out of church services by earnest proponents of music of  'truly devotional character', singers took these older carols to streets, houses and pubs, where they have since gained new popularity.

The Common People loved carols and kept singing them through centuries of changing fashions and prohibition. So even today, legends told in medieval Mystery Plays live on in carols in Gloucestershire and 'deplorable' fugued melodies first heard in the 1700’s are still sung with full hearted, open-throated enthusiasm in pubs in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, sustained over centuries by the sheer joy of singing them.

  Barry Coope , Jim Boyes, Lester Simpson , Fi Fraser, Jo Freya and Georgina Boyes learned almost all these carols from home and pub performances in Yorkshire , Derbyshire and the Cotswolds. “Fire and Sleet and Candlelight” brings these vibrant local pieces and older Christmas street songs together for the group’s first album.  

“…The elements of a traditional English Christmas are all present, a dash of apocryphal religion, plus concerted efforts to relieve others of their money and drink.  They tried to extend the season in those days too; Clementsing is a song used by blacksmiths to solicit cash on their pat ron saint’s day, 23 November.  The rousing Gloucestershire Wassail is about apples rather than anvils, but the object is the same.  The last track is Down in Yon Forest and downright eerie thanks to the repetitive underlying chant of “Sing May, Queen May”, which continues for about two minutes after the verses have ended (shades of Hey Jude).  If they ever decide to recut The Wicker Man with good music, this ought to be in it.

Sadly you’re more likely to hear Slade and Wizzard (the true cause of Seasonal Affective Disorder) in every damn retail space you enter over the next six weeks than you are this, a pity really because, unlike 70’s garbage, listening to these songs from these singers actually makes you feel good about this time of year.  An excellent CD and a pleasure to play repeatedly.”
Nick Beale, Folk Roots

“Over the last ten years, Coope Boyes and Simpson have built up an impressive reputation for powerful (gripping, indeed) unaccompanied singing with its roots firmly in English tradition and an innovative use of harmony which moves beyond it. Though they have a highly-regarded contemporary repertoire—largely their own songs—this reviewer must confess to a preference for their work with traditional material. It’s particularly good, then, to hear this new release, which mixes favourite carols from our local tradition with seasonal material from other periods and parts of the country.
The Fraser Sisters bring with them songs from the Cotswolds such as the Gloucestershire Wassail and a nice set of the Cherry Tree Carol learned (probably) from the Brazil family, while from closer to home we have Hark Hark What News (Dungworth), Peace O’er The World (Castleton), Hail Smiling Morn and Diadem; plus, of course, Sweet Chiming Bells (in this case based largely on the Thorpe Hesley form) without which no such collection would be complete. These last are not necessarily as you would hear them in the pubs, but the arrangements keep faith with the feel and spirit of the tradition, combining the familiar fugueing with additional rich harmony.
From the “literary” side of the tradition there's Drive The Cold Winter Away (here in a condensed form of the arrangement printed by Chappell, 1855-9), Personent Hodie and the magnificent Shepherds Rejoice; from the “oral” side, the set of King Pharim that Lucy Broadwood got from the Goby family (and of which the Watersons made a memorable recording back in 1975), I Saw Three Ships (set to a new, but tradition-based tune in the ‘70s) and a Derbyshire St Clement’s Day song.
The set ends with a lone piece from abroad: Jo hn Jacob Niles’ dramatic version of Down In Yon Forest, here given a brooding, quasi-mediaeval feel as it fades into the distance. The song was first recorded in the 14th century, though the earliest known tune for it is from 20th century Castleton.
The addition to the familiar trio of the Frasers and Georgina Boyes , who appeared on a couple of tracks on CB&S’ earlier Garland Of Carols (1998), provides an added dimension in the higher registers and more flexibility in the fugues; it’s a winning combination. The harmonies, complex and resonant, are generally more conventional—though no less well executed—than we’ve heard in some of their contemporary work, and that’s entirely appropriate to the material.
The CD comes with informative and interesting notes on the songs. A thoroughly enjoyable record and warmly recommended; not just for Christmas, but for any time of the year.”
Malcolm Douglas, Stirrings

 "This is an absolutely splendid CD of traditional carols, nearly all learned from home and pub performance in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds. Apart from the content, the performance of the songs is really forceful. The opening, Hark, Hark What News is great also Hail Smiling Morn, Cherry Tree Carol and I like Personenet Hodie, sung originally by your choir boys and the Gloucester Wassail. A great CD any time, not just for Christmas.... There is no comparison to the Christmas music churned out in supermarkets and stores. This is the real stuff."
Folk London

“This album reflects the whole history of carol music in English from the Yorkshire and Derbyshire traditions to the Mystery Plays and the Gloucestershire carols.  The singing is quite superb, as you would expect, and the CD gives us particularly fine versions of ‘Personent Hodie’, ‘Hail Smiling Morn’, ‘Shepherds Rejoice’ and the Derbyshire carol ‘Peace o’er the World’.  The combination of different voices gives these carols great strength and emotional power.  Barry Coope , Jim Boyes, Lester Simpson, Fi Fraser, Jo Freya and Georgina Boyes learned almost all these carols from home and pub performances in Yorkshire , Derbyshire and the Cotswolds.  ‘Fire and Sleet and Candlelight’ brings these vibrant local pieces and older Christmas street songs together for the group’s first album.’ 
Chris Mills, Shire Folk

"…if you want to hear that English close harmony style in a pure setting, them check out Fire and Sleet and Candlelight.  This special seasonal project brought together some of the finest singers in England 's folk scene: Barry Coope , Jim Boyes, Lester Simpson, Fi Fraser, Jo Freya and Georgina Boyes to record a set of Christmas carols.  This crew has the precise close harmony singing style down perfectly.  And the album was recorded almost completely a cappella (save from a muted drum beat here and there) so listeners will get a solid taste of this style of singing.  Many Sing Out! readers are already familiar with The Watersons and the Copper family;  if you enjoy recordings by those groups, you'll love this one.  The main difference is that the singers here have smoother, more polished voices."
Sing Out! (Winter 2005)