Once in Royal David's City
"Once in Royal David's City" was written by Cecil Frances Alexander, famous writer of Hymns for Little Children (1848). Alexander's approach was to present the basic tenets of the Anglican Church—the Three Promises, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer—all for a child’s edification and simpler poetic approach. However, she does not highlight it as a Christmas hymn but, rather, a verse explanation of the creedal line, “Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary.” Here, Jesus’ birth is initially given enigmatically and to heighten His lowly origin:
Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed.
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child… (v. 1)
Suspense is built and then in lines 5-6 reveal the “mother” and “Baby” are revealed to be the most important “Mother” and “Baby” in Christiandom. Alexander honors both the Incarnation and the humanity of Jesus:
He came down to earth from Heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all… (v. 2)
Beyond these verses, however, the focus of His birth quickly changes to His human childhood and the attention He gave to His human mother as model to all human children (since “He is our childhood’s Pattern”):
And through all His wondrous childhood,
He would honour and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden
In whose gentle arms He lay.
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He. (v. 3)
Especially important to Alexander is to highlight the innate connection between the Christ Child and the children who will sing the hymn: “He was little, weak, and helpless,/ Tears and smiles like us He knew.” (v. 4). Her simple rhetoric and engaging ababcc rhyme scheme keep it within their grasp. Yet she gradually reminds the child-singer of His divinity in the final couplet:
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone. (v. 5)
Christ “so dear and gentle” is now “Lord in Heaven.” Her focus, then, is less to venerate Christmastime than the Christ who avails Himself to all children. In short, many Victorian hymn-writers, whether following in Watts’ footsteps or not, wrote with children in mind, but not necessarily for the growing Cult of Christmas.
Its reputation was greatly enhanced by the haunting tune Irby written for it by H. J. Gauntlett (1849). It is very often sung in a graduate build-up, with a solo voice singing the first verse and then additional voices slowly added to each subsequent verse, an approach I used with our singers for our concerts and recording here.