Father Dominic was very pleased.

He was a strict old-fashioned Irish priest who taught us Latin and, not surprisingly, seldom mentioned the UK singles chart. But when the Christmas chart of 1973 featured, not just Slade, T.Rex and Alvin Stardust, but a bunch of folkies singing an ancient medieval carol entirely in Latin, he told us that this was proof that that Latin was far from dead. I think he was right. You always hear people talking about how they love “sexy Latin rhythms”. Though I’m not sure that this is what they mean.