While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Encyclopedia
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" is a Christmas carol
describing the Annunciation to the Shepherds
, with words attributed to Irish hymnist, lyricist
and England's Poet Laureate
, Nahum Tate
.
The exact date of Tate's composition is not known, but the words appeared in Tate and Nicholas Brady
's 1700 supplement to their New Version of the Psalms of David
of 1696. It was the only Christmas hymn authorized to be sung by the Anglican Church; before 1700 only the Psalms of David were permitted to be sung. It is written in common metre
and based on the Gospel of Luke
2:8-14, although the gospel's "peace on earth to men of good will" is modified to the more encompassing "goodwill henceforth from heaven to men".
It is the only one of the sixteen works in the 1700 supplement to still be sung today. It was published by Davies Gilbert
(London, 1822), and William B. Sandys
(London, 1833). The carol is most commonly sung to two different tunes: Winchester Old in the United Kingdom and a variation on a Handel aria arranged by Lowell Mason in the United States.
and Commonwealth countries, the standard hymn tune of "While Shepherds Watched" is "Winchester Old" (initially simply "Winchester"), originally found in Este
's psalter The Whole Book of Psalmes from 1592. This tune was, in turn, probably arranged from Cambridgeshire composer Christopher Tye
's setting of the Acts of the Apostles in 1553. George Kirbye
, an East Anglian madrigalist
about whom little is known, was employed by Este to arrange some of the 1592 tunes, and it is probably his arrangement of Tye's work that appears in the psalter.
The tune and hymn text were probably first published together in an arrangement by William Henry Monk
for Hymns Ancient and Modern
in 1861.
Professor Jeremy Dibble of Durham University
has noted that "While Shepherds Watched" was "the only Christmas hymn to be approved by the Church of England in the 18th century and this allowed it to be disseminated across the country with the Book of Common Prayer." This was because most carols, which had roots in folk music
were considered too secular and were not sung in church services until the end of the 18th century.
was arranged by Lowell Mason in 1821, and it is now this version which is most commonly used in the USA
.
It was set to music in 1812 in Harmonia Sacra. The hymn tune
Cranbrook was written in 1805 by Canterbury shoe-maker Thomas Clark
and named after the local village of Cranbrook
. It was originally set to the words 'Grace 'tis a charming sound' written by Philip Doddridge
but is now better known in the UK
as the tune of On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at.
It has been set to numerous other tunes, most commonly "Martyrdom", written by Hugh Wilson in 1800 but with an arrangement by Ralph E. Hudson from around 1885, and "Shackelford" by Frederick Henry Cheeswright from 1889. Parish organist at All Saints church, Oldham, Lancs., Robert Jackson, wrote a tune to "While Shepherds watched their flocks by night" in 1903 for the Westwood Moravian Church
there. Called "Jackson's Tune" it remains popular there. In Cornwall
, England
the carol is popularly sung to "Lyngham", a tune usually associated with "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing!". In the towns of villages in the Pennines of West Yorkshire
, such as Todmorden
"shol Lane" is used. "Sweet Chiming Bells" is an alternative folk version which uses the verses of the hymn but adds a new refrain.
The title in the supplement was "Song of the Angels at the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour", but it has since become known chiefly by its opening line. In Tate's original it appeared as Whilst Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (i.e 'whilst' not 'while'). Most modern hymn books use "while".
A nineteenth century version by Gottfried W. Fink was While humble shepherds watched their flocks and other rewritten passages (see illustration). The Hymnal 1982
published in the US also contained a number of other modernisations, including dropping "Hallelujah" as the final line.
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
describing the Annunciation to the Shepherds
Annunciation to the shepherds
The Annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus...
, with words attributed to Irish hymnist, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
and England's Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
, Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate was an Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist, who became England's poet laureate in 1692.-Life:Nahum Teate came from a family of Puritan clergymen...
.
The exact date of Tate's composition is not known, but the words appeared in Tate and Nicholas Brady
Nicholas Brady
Nicholas Brady , Anglican divine and poet, was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. He received his education at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford; he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin....
's 1700 supplement to their New Version of the Psalms of David
Tate and Brady
Tate and Brady refers to the collaboration of Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, which produced one famous work, New Version of the Psalms of David . This work was a metrical version of the Psalms, and largely ousted the old version of T. Sternhold and J. Hopkins...
of 1696. It was the only Christmas hymn authorized to be sung by the Anglican Church; before 1700 only the Psalms of David were permitted to be sung. It is written in common metre
Common metre
Common metre or Common measure, abbreviated C. M., is a poetic meter consisting of four lines which alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter Common metre or Common measure, abbreviated C. M., is a poetic meter consisting of four lines which alternate between iambic tetrameter (four...
and based on the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
2:8-14, although the gospel's "peace on earth to men of good will" is modified to the more encompassing "goodwill henceforth from heaven to men".
It is the only one of the sixteen works in the 1700 supplement to still be sung today. It was published by Davies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
(London, 1822), and William B. Sandys
William B. Sandys
William B. Sandys , was an English solicitor, member of the Percy Society, fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and remembered for his publication Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern , a collection of seasonal carols that Sandys had gathered and also apparently improvised...
(London, 1833). The carol is most commonly sung to two different tunes: Winchester Old in the United Kingdom and a variation on a Handel aria arranged by Lowell Mason in the United States.
Winchester Old
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Commonwealth countries, the standard hymn tune of "While Shepherds Watched" is "Winchester Old" (initially simply "Winchester"), originally found in Este
Este
The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph...
's psalter The Whole Book of Psalmes from 1592. This tune was, in turn, probably arranged from Cambridgeshire composer Christopher Tye
Christopher Tye
Christopher Tye was an English composer and organist, who studied at Cambridge University and in 1545 became a Doctor of Music both there and at Oxford.He was choirmaster of Ely Cathedral from about 1543 and also organist there from 1559...
's setting of the Acts of the Apostles in 1553. George Kirbye
George Kirbye
George Kirbye was an English composer of the late Tudor period and early Jacobean era. He was one of the members of the English Madrigal School, but also composed sacred music....
, an East Anglian madrigalist
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
about whom little is known, was employed by Este to arrange some of the 1592 tunes, and it is probably his arrangement of Tye's work that appears in the psalter.
The tune and hymn text were probably first published together in an arrangement by William Henry Monk
William Henry Monk
Probably better known in his day as an organist, church musician, and music editor, William Henry Monk composed a fair number of popular hymn tunes, including one of the most famous from nineteenth century England, "Eventide", used for the hymn Abide with Me...
for Hymns Ancient and Modern
Hymns Ancient and Modern
Hymns Ancient and Modern was a hymnal in common use within the Church of England. Over the years it has grown into a large family of hymnals....
in 1861.
Professor Jeremy Dibble of Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
has noted that "While Shepherds Watched" was "the only Christmas hymn to be approved by the Church of England in the 18th century and this allowed it to be disseminated across the country with the Book of Common Prayer." This was because most carols, which had roots in folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
were considered too secular and were not sung in church services until the end of the 18th century.
Other versions
David Weyman's adaptation of "Christmas", taken from an aria in the 1728 opera Siroe by George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
was arranged by Lowell Mason in 1821, and it is now this version which is most commonly used in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
It was set to music in 1812 in Harmonia Sacra. The hymn tune
Hymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm , and no refrain or chorus....
Cranbrook was written in 1805 by Canterbury shoe-maker Thomas Clark
Thomas Clark (of Canterbury)
Thomas Clark was a Canterbury shoemaker and a prolific composer of West Gallery music, especially for the non-conformist churches of the South East of England...
and named after the local village of Cranbrook
Cranbrook, Kent
Cranbrook is a small town in Kent in South East England which was granted a charter in 1290 by Archbishop Peckham, allowing it to hold a market in the High Street. Located on the Maidstone to Hastings road, it is five miles north of Hawkhurst. The smaller settlements of Swattenden, Colliers...
. It was originally set to the words 'Grace 'tis a charming sound' written by Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge DD was an English Nonconformist leader, educator, and hymnwriter.-Early life:...
but is now better known in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as the tune of On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at.
It has been set to numerous other tunes, most commonly "Martyrdom", written by Hugh Wilson in 1800 but with an arrangement by Ralph E. Hudson from around 1885, and "Shackelford" by Frederick Henry Cheeswright from 1889. Parish organist at All Saints church, Oldham, Lancs., Robert Jackson, wrote a tune to "While Shepherds watched their flocks by night" in 1903 for the Westwood Moravian Church
Westwood Moravian Church
Westwood Moravian Church was founded in 1865 in the Westwood area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. By 1868 the church building was too small for its congregation, and a new structure was opened in 1869. This church was used for Moravian services until 2005 when the congregation sold it...
there. Called "Jackson's Tune" it remains popular there. In Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
the carol is popularly sung to "Lyngham", a tune usually associated with "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing!". In the towns of villages in the Pennines of West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, such as Todmorden
Todmorden
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....
"shol Lane" is used. "Sweet Chiming Bells" is an alternative folk version which uses the verses of the hymn but adds a new refrain.
Textual variants
A nineteenth century version by Gottfried W. Fink was While humble shepherds watched their flocks and other rewritten passages (see illustration). The Hymnal 1982
The Hymnal 1982
The Hymnal 1982 is the hymnal of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is one in a series of 7 official hymnals of the Episcopal Church, including The Hymnal 1940...
published in the US also contained a number of other modernisations, including dropping "Hallelujah" as the final line.