Away in a manger
Away in a Manger (NOBC 100) This is an unusual carol, being entirely a creation of the late 19th century in America with many variations of both text and tunes but without any sense of a ‘folk process’, all variations being conducted through print. It first appeared (first verse only) in a newspaper called The Protestant Churchman in 1868 with limited circulation beyond New York. No author was attributed to the text. It resurfaced in several publications in 1883, which happened to be the 400th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther, and this led to a misunderstanding that Luther had composed the carol himself. There is no evidence among all Luther’s papers of his authorship. By 1883 the carol had acquired its second verse ‘The cattle are lowing…’ and a tune called ‘St Kilda’ by J.E. Clark was attached, but this tune did not last. A tune in 3/4 time by James R. Murray in 18871 was more successful and is often sung in America today.
A third verse (Be near me, Lord Jesus…) was added in 1892 to James R Murray’s tune, but finally a new tune called ‘’Cradle Song’, also in 3/4 time, was composed in 1895 by William J Kirkpatrick2. Although his tune (carol) never made it into The English Hymnal in 1906, nor into the first Oxford Book of Carols in 1928,3 Kirkpatrick’s tune is the ‘standard’ tune we sing today in England.
1 James Ramsey Murray (b1841) was a hymn writer. He called the carol ‘Luther’s Cradle Hymn’ and his new tune ‘Mueller’.
2 William J Kirkpatrick was born in Ireland in 1838 but went at an early age to America with his parents. His father was a musician and William was for years director of music at a church in Philadelphia. He wrote hymns and compiled hymnals.
3 The carol was, however, in the Carols for Choirs vol 1 book (OUP, 1961) and in revised editions of The English Hymnal and in the New Oxford Book of Carols. Discussion at https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/away-in-a-manger