"Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" first appeared in writing in which 1833 carol book?

“Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” first appeared in writing in William Sandys’s 1833 carol book Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern.

Sandys was an English solicitor, antiquarian and collector of traditional songs. His book, published in London by Richard Beckley, gathered older English and Cornish material alongside carols that Sandys had collected or adapted. It helped fuel the Victorian revival of Christmas carol singing.

The carol’s text is much older in style than its first known printed appearance. Jesus narrates his life as a dance, moving from the Nativity and baptism through the Crucifixion, Resurrection and final “general dance.” Because the imagery and language feel medieval, the song is sometimes casually described as a sixteenth-century carol, but 1833 is the key date for its first known written record.

The later choral settings are separate musical arrangements. Gustav Holst made a famous setting in 1916, and John Gardner, David Willcocks and John Rutter also produced versions. Those composers did not create the original text.