Hark, shepherds, how the angels sing,
For joy when Christ was born, for joy when Christ was born;
A spotless virgin did him bring, a spotless virgin did him bring
Into the world this morn, into the world this morn, into the world this morn.

Our Saviour's born, long since foretold,
Born of a virgin maid, born of a virgin maid.
Foretold by prophecy of old, foretold by prophecy of old;
And in a manger laid, and in a manger laid, and in a manger laid.

Wise men from far led by a star
Which was a faithful guide, which was a faithful guide;
Until they came were Jesus was, until they came where Jesus was,
And Him they gorified, and Him they glorified, and him they glorified.

abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Take Six Archives at Cecil Sharp House, UK. Gardiner, H56

Notes:
In December 2011 I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop in the New Forest, Hampshire, run by 'The Madding Crowd', focussed on carols collected in the New Forest area by George Gardiner. These carols have been arranged by the Madding Crowd in four-part harmony and are simply glorious, so if you get a chance to hear them, do so. They produced a small booklet for the workshop and I am sure they can be persuaded to send you a copy of that, or some of their other booklets, for a small fee. Try their website.

For the version posted here, I have gone back to the notes prepared by George Gardiner at the EFDSS website in the 'Take Six' archives, reference GG/1/2/56. This was collected from John Carter in 1905 at Twyford, Hampshire.  A hand-written note on the score says:

The rhythm of the first part of this carol is obscure but I have wrtten it down exactly as it was sung by John Carter and by Godwin 


The tune was noted by H. Balfour Gardiner.

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