While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
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"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" (also known as "While Shepherds Watched" or "The Vision of the Shepherds") is a Christmas carol with words attributed to Irish hymnist, lyricist and 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 psalter, New Version of the Psalms of David of 1696. It was the only Christmas hymn authorised 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.
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. It is also known as "Whilst Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" or "Whilst Shepherds Watched" with "Whilst" appearing for "While" and this is how Tate's original appeared. Most modern hymn books have substituted "While" for "Whilst". The Hymnal 1982 published in the US updated "Whilst" to "While" together with a number of other modernisations, including dropping "Hallelujah" as the final line.
The tune Cranbrook was written for the words in 1805 by Canterbury shoe-maker Thomas Clark. It is now better known in the UK as the tune of On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at.
It was set to music in 1812 in Harmonia Sacra. David Weyman's adaptation of "Christmas", taken from an aria in the 1728 opera Siroe by George Frideric Handel was arranged by Lowell Mason in 1821, and it is now this version which is most commonly used in the USA. In the United Kingdom and Canada the standard is the alternative arrangement using the music "Old Winchester", originally from Este's psalter, the Whole Book of Psalmes, from 1592 but arranged by William Henry Monk sometime before 1874. 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.
[edit] Cover versions
- 2006 - Maddy Prior - An Evening of Carols and Capers
- 1998 - David Hill and The Choir of Winchester Cathedral - O Come Let Us Adore Him: Christmas Carols from Winchester Cathedral
- 1974 - George Guest and The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge - Christmas at St. John's
- 1972 - Burl Ives - Christmas at the White House
- 1959, 1969, 1994, 1999 - The Choir of King's College, Cambridge
- 1997 - The Choir of New College, Oxford - Nativitas: A Celebration of Peace
[edit] References
- While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks. The Hymns and Carols of Christmas. Retrieved on 20 December 2006.
- While Shepherds Watched. carols.org.uk. Retrieved on 20 December 2006.
- Nahum Tate (1652-1715). Poem of the Week. Retrieved on 20 December 2006.
- While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks. The Cyber Hymnal (2006-09-30). Retrieved on 20 December 2006.
- Steve Benner (2003). While shepherds watched their flocks by night. Retrieved on 20 December 2006.
- Helen Yeomans (2005). While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks. Christmas Carols and Carol Singing. Retrieved on 20 December 2006.
