{"id":7670,"date":"2021-12-03T12:49:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T11:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=116897"},"modified":"2021-12-08T14:19:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T13:19:11","slug":"what-are-the-lyrics-to-once-in-royal-davids-city","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/what-are-the-lyrics-to-once-in-royal-davids-city\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the lyrics to \u2018Once in Royal David\u2019s City\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By BBC Music Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 03 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Who wrote the Christmas carol \u2018Once in Royal David\u2019s City\u2019?<\/h2>\n

The Christmas carol \u2018Once in Royal David\u2019s City\u2019 was written in 1848 as a poem by poet and hymn writer Cecil Frances Alexander, who also wrote the famous hymn \u2018All Things Bright and Beautiful\u2019<\/a><\/strong>. It was published in a hymnbook for children called Hymns for Little Children<\/i>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Who composed the music to \u2018Once in Royal David\u2019s City\u2019?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Organist and composer Henry John Gauntlett discovered the poem about a year after it was first published and set it to music<\/p>\n

What are the lyrics to the Christmas carol Once in Royal David\u2019s City?<\/em><\/h2>\n
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Once in royal David\u2019s city,\nStood a lowly cattle shed,\nWhere a mother laid her baby\nIn a manger for His bed:\nMary was that mother mild,\nJesus Christ her little child.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
He came down to earth from heaven,\nWho is God and Lord of all,\nAnd His shelter was a stable,\nAnd His cradle was a stall;\nWith the poor and meek and lowly,\nLived on earth our Saviour holy.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
And through all\nHis wondrous childhood,\nHe would honour and obey,\nLove and watch the lowly mother,\nIn whose gentle arms He lay.\nChristian children all should be,\nMild, obedient, good as He.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
For He is our child-hood\u2019s pattern,\nDay by day like us He grew,\nHe was little, weak, and helpless,\nTears and smiles like us He knew,\nAnd He feeleth for our sadness,\nAnd He shareth in our gladness.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
And our eyes at last shall see Him,\nThrough His own redeeming love;\nFor that child so dear and gentle,\nIs our Lord in heaven above,\nAnd He leads His children on,\nTo the place where He is gone.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Not in that poor lowly stable,\nWith the oxen standing by,\nWe shall see Him, but in heaven,\nSet at God\u2019s right hand on high;\nWhen like stars\nHis children crowned,\nAll in white shall be around.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Once in Royal David\u2019s City\u2019 at King\u2019s College, Cambridge<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 150 years after it was written and composed, \u2018Once in Royal David\u2019s City\u2019 is a much loved carol and a highlight of King\u2019s College Christmas Eve service.<\/p>\n

Every year, one King\u2019s College, Cambridge chorister is chosen to open the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols<\/a><\/strong> with the exposed solo verse of \u2018Once in Royal\u2019 in front of a packed chapel\u2026 and several million radio listeners.<\/p>\n

However, to save the poor\/lucky lad from having his run-up to Christmas completely savaged by nerves, the chosen treble is never told of his big moment until just before the service is about to begin. The treble solo is just one highlight of this perennial favourite \u2013 that moment when congregation and organ stirs to life for the second verse and the glorious descant are just as much a part of the annual King\u2019s Christmas experience.<\/p>\n

Find more\u00a0lyrics to your favourite Christmas carols here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n