"Past Three O'Clock" (or "Past Three a Clock") is an English Christmas carol, loosely based on the call of the traditional London waits, musicians and watchmen who patrolled during the night, using a musical instrument to show they were on duty and to mark the hours.
[1] The refrain dates from at least the early modern period, appearing in print in a 1665 supplement to John Playford's The Dancing Master.
Woodward added lines to the traditional refrain in a style characteristic of his delight in archaic poetry.
[3] The wording of the call used in the carol is attested in Samuel Pepys’ diary, the entry for 16 January 1660 contains: I staid up till the bell-man came by with his bell just under my window as I was writing of this very line, and cried, “Past one of the clock, and a cold, frosty, windy morning.” I then went to bed, and left my wife and the maid a-washing still.Numerous variations of the carol include an arrangement by William Llewellyn as a "quodlibet" for choir: London Waits (Past Three O'clock).
[4] Recordings of the carol include those by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge,[5] the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, the Monteverdi Choir.,[6] the Renaissance Singers, James Galway and the National Philharmonic Orchestra[7] and The Chieftains on the album The Bells of Dublin (1991).