Published Date:
21 December 2009
Popular Christmas carol While Shepherds Watched their Flocks used to be sung to a different tune, according to research by Durham University.
The hymn used in church services today is one of many variations played over its 300-year history.
Professor Jeremy Dibble, a hymnologist at Durham University, said his research had shown the carol was sung to at least 10 different tunes.
He said: "While it was the first carol to cross over from secular traditions to the church, it was the only Christmas hymn to be approved by the Church of England in the 18th century and this allowed it to be disseminated across the country with the Book of Common Prayer.
"Only at the end of the 18th century was it joined by other well-known texts such as Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
"The most surprising and rather forgotten version of While Shepherds Watched their Flocks is sung to the famous Ilkley Moor tune by Thomas Clark."
The original version is still sung today at traditional carol sessions in parts of Yorkshire.
-
Last Updated:
21 December 2009 1:18 PM
-
Source:
n/a
-
Location:
Sunderland
