What are the lyrics to ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’, and what’s the story?
10 December 2024, 09:48
The Christmas carol describing the Annunciation to the Shepherds is a favourite for many. But how well do you know it?
The nativity hymn, ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’, was first published in A Supplement to the New Version of Psalms in 1700, the lyrics a collaborative effort from Irish poets Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady.
It claims to be the first Christmas hymn authorised to be sung by the Anglican Church – before then, only the Psalms of David were permitted – and today, it’s one of only 16 works in the 1700 supplement to still be sung.
As for the melody, the popular carol is sung to a variety of tunes, but two seem to have stuck.
For festive singers in the UK, the the hymn is generally sung to the tune of ‘Winchester Old’. But across the pond, carollers opt for a variation on an aria by Handel, taken from his opera Siroe, arranged by Lowell Mason.
Read more: The 30 greatest Christmas carols of all time
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night with Lyrics | Christmas Carol & Song
What is the meaning behind ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’?
The traditional Christmas carol tells of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus.
There have been a number of witty varieties of the Christmas carol, including the famous children’s parody that goes:
‘When shepherds washed their socks by night
All seated round the tub...’
What are the real lyrics to ‘While Shepherds Watched’?
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
all seated on the ground,
the angel of the Lord came down
and glory shone around.
“Fear not,” said he – for mighty dread
had seized their troubled mind –
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring
to you and all mankind:
“To you in David’s town this day
is born of David’s line
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be the sign:
“The heavenly babe you there shall find
to human view displayed,
all meanly wrapped in swathing bands
and in a manger laid.”
Thus spoke the seraph, and forthwith
appeared a shining throng
of angels praising God, who thus
addressed their joyful song:
“All glory be to God on high,
and to the earth be peace;
goodwill henceforth from highest heaven
begin and never cease!”
