Scripture Verse

They saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11

Introduction

portrait
Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: Orig­in un­known. Trans­lat­ed by Sa­bine Bar­ing-Gould in Ca­rols for Use in Church, by Ri­chard R. Chope (Lon­don: Will­iam Clowes & Sons, 1894), num­ber 120.

Music: From French Flan­ders (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know the orig­in­al lan­guage or ti­tle,

Lyrics

Gentle Sav­ior, day and night,
Ride three princ­es great in might,
Over moun­tain, ov­er plain,
Thee a-seek­ing, Thee a-seek­ing,
Over moun­tain, ov­er plain,
Thee a-seek­ing, gen­tle Child.

Gaspar, Mel­chi­or, Bál­thă­zár,
Those three princ­es from afar,
Gold and myrrh, and in­cense bear
For an of­fer­ing, for an of­fer­ing,
To the sweet and gen­tle Child,
To the sweet and gen­tle Child.

Gentle Sav­ior in the cold,
In the dark with gifts of gold,
Those three princ­es at the door
Stand a-knock­ing, stand a-knock­ing,
Thee to wor­ship, gen­tle Child,
Thee to wor­ship, gen­tle Child.

Enter princ­es, from the night!
Here, with­in, is warmth and light,
Jesus smiles, His hands out­spreads
For the of­fer­ings, for the of­fer­ings,
Praise to Him, the gen­tle Child,
Praise to Him, the gen­tle Child.

Joseph, sweep the sta­ble clean,
Strew the straw, though all is mean.
Here the tem­ple, here the throne,
Here the al­tar, here the al­tar,
Of our king, this gen­tle Child,
Of our king, this gen­tle Child.