This is a transcription from Rev. Richard R. Chope, Carols For Use In Church (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1894).

For a scan of the original, including a detailed dynamics scheme, visit www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com

Once in Royal David's City is a Christmas carol originally written as poem by Cecil Frances Alexander. The carol was first published in 1848 in Miss Cecil Humphreys' hymnbook Hymns for little Children. A year later, the English organist Henry John Gauntlett discovered the poem and set it to music. Cecil Alexander, meanwhile, married the Anglican clergyman William Alexander in 1848 and upon her husband's consecration became a bishop's wife in 1867. She is also remembered for her hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful.
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