Scripture Verse

On earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14

Introduction

Words: R. Wa­tham, in Ca­rols Old and Ca­rols New, by Charles L. Hut­chins (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Par­ish Choir, 1916), num­ber 341.

Music: Bu­da­pest Ver­non B. Crow­ther-Bey­non (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Wa­tham’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him of Crow­ther-Bey­non (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Yule re­turns; come, Chris­tian peo­ple,
Singing songs of old­en time,
While the bells from tow­er and stee­ple
Gaily ring their Christ­mas chime.
Dear to Chris­tian hearts the sto­ry
Of the bless­èd Sav­ior’s birth,
Telling that the Lord of glo­ry,
Came to dwell with us on earth.

How our God Him­self re­veal­ing,
As the pro­phets long fore­told,
Eastern sag­es ­ kneel­ing
Myrrh and frank­in­cense and gold.
And the shepherds on the moun­tains
Heard the sounds of ho­ly glee;
Love di­vine un­locked the foun­tains
Of ce­les­ti­al me­lo­dy.

So (as years roll by) de­light­ing
In the mys­te­ry of Thy love,
Mortals hymn Thy praise, unit­ing,
With an­gel­ic choirs above.
This the an­them that re­sound­ed
O’er Ju­de­an hill and glen,
Love eter­nal, love un­bound­ed,
Peace on earth, good­will to men.

illustration
Steeple Gidding, Cambridgeshire