Words: Anon­y­mous Corn­ish trans­la­tion from the French Les Anges dans Nos Cam­pagnes; adapt­ed by in his Car­ols, 1875.

Music: Grand Is­land, in Car­ols Old and Car­ols New, by Charles L. Hutch­ins (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: Par­ish Choir, 1916), number 7.


Bright angel hosts are heard on high
All sweetly singing o’er the plains;
While mountains echo in reply
The burden of their joyous strains.

Say, shepherds, why this jubilee,
What doth your rapturous mirth prolong?
Say, say what may the tidings be
Which still inspire that heav’nly song?

Come, come to Bethlehem, come and see
The Child whose birth the angels sing;
Come, come, adore on bended knee
The Infant Christ, the newborn King!

See, there within a manger laid
Jesus, the Lord of Heav’n and earth!
See, saints and angels lend their aid
To celebrate the Savior’s birth!