Greatheart Press

Christmas Carols and Their Stories

Puzzle 19 · Carols of the Nativity Story · Page 35 in print

Christians Awake

John Byrom went from Trinity College, Cambridge, to study medicine at Montpellier, then earned his living in London teaching shorthand. His collected poems were published after his death, in 1773.

Jump to a word

The words

  1. Caleb Ashworth

    The compiler whose collection first printed Wainwright’s tune.

    Hymnary.org: Christians, Awake (opens a new tab)

  2. Dolly

    Byrom’s daughter Dorothy, for whom he wrote the verses.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab) · Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary (opens a new tab)

  3. Dorothy

    The full name of Dolly, Byrom’s daughter (1730–1797).

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  4. John Byrom

    The Manchester poet who wrote the carol.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  5. Manchester

    Byrom’s home town, where Wainwright’s singers sang the carol at his house at Christmas 1750.

    Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary (opens a new tab)

  6. Montpellier

    The French city where Byrom studied medicine.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  7. Mottram

    Another name for Wainwright’s tune.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  8. Orion Adams

    The Manchester printer of an early broadside of the carol.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  9. Shorthand

    The system of fast writing that Byrom taught for a living.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab) · Hymnary.org: Christians, Awake (opens a new tab)

  10. Singing Men

    The church singers who came with Wainwright to sing the carol to Byrom.

    Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary (opens a new tab)

  11. Smithy Door

    The Manchester street where Orion Adams printed the broadside.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  12. Stockport

    The town whose parish church first sang Wainwright’s tune, Christmas Day 1750.

    Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary (opens a new tab)

  13. Wainwright

    John Wainwright, who wrote the tune and brought singers to Byrom’s house.

    Moffatt, Handbook to the Church Hymnary (opens a new tab)

  14. Woodcut

    The printed picture on the early broadside of the carol.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

  15. Yorkshire

    One of the names of Wainwright’s tune for the carol.

    Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (opens a new tab)

Sources

  1. Christians, AwakeHymnary.org text record (quoting Hutchins, Annotations of the Hymnal, 1872, and the Psalter Hymnal Handbook)
  2. John Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology, revised edition with New Supplement (London: John Murray, 1907), vol. 2, full text via Internet ArchiveInternet Archive
  3. James Moffatt (ed.), Handbook to the Church Hymnary (London: Oxford University Press, 1927), full text via Internet ArchiveInternet Archive
  4. John Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology, revised edition (London: John Murray, 1907), vol. 1, full text via Internet ArchiveInternet Archive

How we choose sources and photographs