Scripture Verse

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:10–12

Introduction

Words: El­li­ot Stock, in A Se­lect­ion of One Hun­dred Tunes Com­posed by Jo­si­ah Booth (Lon­don: Simp­kin, Mar­shall, Ham­il­ton, Kent, 1909), num­ber 76.

Music: Bu­nes­san Gael­ic tune (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Stock (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Down from Heav’n wing­ing,
Angels come sing­ing,
Joyous news bring­ing
Of Christ our Lord.
All ye con­fid­ing
In love un­chid­ing,
Hail this good tid­ing
Of Christ our Lord.

Ye who in sad­ness,
Mourning sin’s mad­ness,
Dare not in glad­ness
Welcome your Lord;
Leave the world’s Ba­bel,
Seek this poor sta­ble—
Ah! ’tis no fa­ble—
Come, see your Lord.

Sinful and ho­ly,
Great ones and low­ly,
Yield your hearts whol­ly
Unto the Lord.
So life’s brief train­ing,
In love un­feign­ing,
Ends in Heav’n gain­ing
Through Christ our Lord.

Learn what rich bless­ing,
Past all our guess­ing,
Comes through con­fess­ing
Jesus our Lord;
And, ever prais­ing,
Love so amaz­ing,
Join now in rais­ing
Songs to our Lord.