Any idea what the significance of Judas being a redheaded man is?
I don't know, actually. I suspect it's because Jews were often portrayed with red hair (although I can't explain that one either: it's regionally all wrong), but I've always liked to think it was because of red-haired Set. And here the color seems to associate him with burning, which always works for me.
Being a left-handed redhead, I'd have been doubly in trouble
Maybe you're Loki.
The whole thing sounds very pagan, though the verse about 3 bonfires sounds like it might have been added to commemorate a real burning, possibly of Catholics in Henry VIII's time?
I would love to know what the third verse refers to. My first thought was Guy Fawkes, but that doesn't explain the other two fires. I wish I knew more about the carol's origins; the liner notes aren't much help.
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I don't know, actually. I suspect it's because Jews were often portrayed with red hair (although I can't explain that one either: it's regionally all wrong), but I've always liked to think it was because of red-haired Set. And here the color seems to associate him with burning, which always works for me.
Being a left-handed redhead, I'd have been doubly in trouble
Maybe you're Loki.
The whole thing sounds very pagan, though the verse about 3 bonfires sounds like it might have been added to commemorate a real burning, possibly of Catholics in Henry VIII's time?
I would love to know what the third verse refers to. My first thought was Guy Fawkes, but that doesn't explain the other two fires. I wish I knew more about the carol's origins; the liner notes aren't much help.