Scripture Verse

Shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:8

Introduction

Words: Les­lie Bain­bridge, in The Non­con­for­mist Mu­sic­al Jour­nal (Lon­don: Pa­ter­nos­ter Row), Vol­ume 15, Jan­ua­ry-De­cem­ber 1902, page 253.

Music: Cham­per­ret Er­nest H. Smith (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Whilst Beth­le­hem’s shep­herds kept their flocks
All thro’ the star­lit night,
An an­gel from the heav’ns drew near,
And sud­den was their fright;
Fear not, he cried, be not afraid;
Good news I come to bring:
To you and all man­kind is born
A Sav­ior, and a king.

A throng of an­gels then began
Their voic­es sweet to raise,
Whilst on the ground the shep­herds lay
To hear their songs of praise;
All glo­ry be to God on high
Th’en­rap­tured se­raphs sing,
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
All hail, the new­born King!

To Beth­le­hem quick the shep­herds ran
To seek the won­drous Child,
And found Him in a low­ly shed,
With Mary, mo­ther mild;
Their voic­es then they turned on high
To glo­ri­fy their God,
And told how they had seen that day
Their Sav­ior, Christ the Lord.

illustration
Shepherds Abiding in the Fields
Carl H. Bloch (1834–1890)