Nancy's Notes

Several weeks ago, a little book titled “Stories behind the Best Loved Songs of Christmas” caught my eye. Many of us love the music of Christmas, and we are always looking forward to the Advent and Christmas season so we can sing or hear these songs again. Christmas carols are timeless traditions in many households; but did you ever wonder where they began?

Throughout December, I’m going to tell you the story of some of the most popular carols: who is credited with writing the words and music, and what was the setting of that time period.

This first week, I have chosen “Away in a Manger,” which, along with “Jesus Loves Me,” is one of the first songs that Christians teach children in Sunday school or church. With only three short verses and a very simple tune, it is no small wonder that little ones learn it long before they can read. The beautiful and serene picture painted in the carol’s lyrics defines “peace on Earth” better than most books or sermons. So who gave us this precious song?

In 1887, American hymn writer James R. Murray entitled the tune to “Away in a Manger” as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn.” Murray further stated in his popular songbook, Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses, that Martin Luther had not only written “Away in a Manger,” but had sung it to his children each night before bed. As the song spread across a growing America and people began to sing it at home, in churches, and at schools, they often envisioned German mothers rocking their babies to sleep each night with the little lullaby, “Away in a Manger.”

Ironically, not only did German mothers of this era not sing “Away in a Manger,” they had never heard it until the song arrived in Europe from its country of origin, the United States. Where Murray got his misinformation on Luther remains a mystery, but because of his outstanding reputation as a writer and publisher, the story stuck. When it was first published in the mid-1800s, no one knew the identity of the composer.

Fast forward to 1892, when a man named Charles Hutchinson Gabriel became the music director of Chicago’s Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. Gabriel wrote a legion of hymns—eventually more than seven hundred—and is credited with discovering an unknown version that contained a third verse. Throughout the next two decades the popularity of “Away in a Manger” grew, as did the myth surrounding Luther’s authorship of the piece. As the real author never came forward to dispute the growing legend, the facts of the carol’s origination became more and more diluted.

During World War I, while Germany battled the United States, many groups began to sing the words of “Away in a Manger” to an old Scottish tune, “Flow Gently Sweet Afton.” This rendition might well have been a protest against any and all things German. Yet soon after the war, a new songbook, Words and Song, gave a man named Carl Mueller credit as the musical composer of the song. No one knew where the Boston publisher came up with Mueller’s name, and some believe, in fact, that he didn’t even exist.

In 1945, as Americans again battled Germany in a world war, American songwriter Richard S. Hill sorted through the now seventy-year-old mystery concerning the carol’s origin. He determined that James R. Murray probably wrote the music long coupled with “Away in a Manger.” However, Murray himself deflected the credit to Martin Luther.

Whoever he or she is, the unknown songwriter probably didn’t live to see the song reach children the world over with its poignant message. Yet while the mystery of origination remains, the song’s message, depicting the precious moment when a Savior came to Earth bringing peace, joy, and hope, is so strong and profound that it leaped from a single night, from a single household, to become one of the world’s most beautiful Christmas messages in song.

Excerpts from “Stories behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas,” by Ace Collins, 2001