Highly rhythmic, jaunty calypso music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early 1800s, and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles, has a message of moral import at Yuletide. Such is the conclusion to be drawn from entertaining calypso melodies and those in allied styles that comment upon both delights and woes at the end of the year.
Starting in the 1920s, Bertie Moore, a Trinidadian who would later emigrate to London, performed under the stage name of Lord Beginner. He had a hit with an anthem warning against festive overindulgence: “Christmas Morning the Rum Had Me Yawning” (1939).
