The festive phrase "Merry Christmas" was first used by the Bishop of Hereford in the 16th century before becoming a greeting card used around the world, the Daily Mail reports.

Historians have discovered that Bishop Charles Booth of Hereford Cathedral wrote a letter to fellow clergyman William Burghill in 1520 saying he hoped he "may be merry this Christmas". 

Until now, the famous phrase was thought to have been first used in Britain 14 years later, when in 1534, in a letter to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry the Eighth, the Bishop of Rochester, John Fisher, wrote: "And this our Lord God sends you a Merry Christmas."

Bishop Charles Booth's letter was discovered on Monday when the library and archive team at Hereford Cathedral researched the festive facts. 

The letter begins: "I pray to God that you are all in good spirits and merry this Christmas." 

Elizabeth II has left a secret letter in Australia that may not be opened until 2085.

Elizabeth Semper O'Keefe, an archivist at the cathedral, said: "Maybe we've set a fad? It seems that the letter written by Archbishop Booth a decade earlier has remained an unknown fact until now." 

The cathedral notes that the letter discusses a variety of issues, including a priest who was incontinent (in the sense of a lack of self-control over a woman, not a lack of bladder control).

The letter also discusses a man named Middleton who is forbidden to accompany his aunt except to church or market, for which reason the bishop does not explain.

a letter

Merry Christmas