Why was the Partridge in the Pear Tree? (12 page)

Though an Infant now we view Him,

He shall fill His Father’s throne,

Gather all the nations to Him;

Every knee shall then bow down:

This carol was the most famous composition by poet and hymn writer James Montgomery. Montgomery was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 4 November 1771, where his Irish father John was a minister in the Moravian Church, a denomination founded in fifteenth-century Bohemia, which is now largely the Czech Republic.

Members of the Moravian Church to this day place a high value on mission, unity, piety and music. In 1722 there was a ‘revival’ in the Church when a small group of Moravians, who had been living illegally in Bohemia were allowed to settle in what is now modern-day Germany. The town grew quickly and was seen as the centre for the mission of the Church. Hundreds of small ‘renewal groups’ were formed throughout Europe, they kept in regular contact and encouraged each other to maintain the growth in the Church.

Within thirty years the Moravian Church had sent out hundreds of missionaries throughout the world, to the Caribbean, North and South America, Africa, the Arctic and the East. The missionaries cared deeply about those who were oppressed in the Caribbean two Moravian missionaries even sold themselves into slavery to minister to the slaves.

When he was five years old, Montgomery’s parents moved to the Moravian settlement at Gracehill, near Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland. At seven years old he was sent off for training at Fulneck Seminary in Yorkshire where he made a profession of faith. Then in 1783, when he was only twelve years old, his parents were sent off to the West Indies as missionaries. Sadly, not long after they had arrived, both his parents died; his father is buried in Barbados and his mother in Tobago.

At the seminary, secular fiction and poetry were not allowed, but Montgomery found ways of borrowing and reading a large amount of poetry, including Burns and Milton. He wrote poetry of his own and planned to pen an epic poem when he was older. His school record was poor and in 1787 he was sent to work as an apprentice in a bakery in Mirfield, near Wakefield. The work didn’t suit him and he moved to Rotherham to look for an alternative way to earn a living.

He travelled to London, hoping to find a publisher for his poetry, but this ended in failure. He did his best to support himself by any means available, usually ‘precariously and dubiously‘ until 1792, when he became an assistant to Joseph Gale, auctioneer, bookseller and printer of the
Sheffield Register
.

The
Register
was a magazine that reported on local and national events and was set up by Gale in response to a request from Tom Paine, the famous English radical. The
Register
called for a free voice for all political dissenters, and campaigned against the excesses of the ruling classes. A year before Montgomery joined the
Register
, in 1791, Gale had given support to local artisans and small business holders who were opposed to the Enclosure Act, which meant that 6,000 acres of land was to be seized without compensation to the owners. With other campaigners, Gale continued to call for parliamentary reform. By 1794, William Pitt and his government feared that there would be violence from Sheffield because the Reformers had ceased to petition parliament, feeling that it was a fruitless exercise. Arrests and convictions started, with many being convicted of sedition and sentences of transportation for between seven and fourteen years were handed down. Gale criticised the arrests in the
Register
.

Knowing that he would be next, Gale fled to France to avoid prosecution and Montgomery took charge of the
Register
, changing its name to the
Sheffield Iris
. Even so, he was imprisoned for two months for an alleged libel Gale had made. When he was released, the authorities turned their attention to several articles on the French Revolution, commemorating the fall of the Bastille, and reports he had made of a riot, precipitated by soldiers, who fired on the demonstrators, killing two. The article and report were considered to be libellous and Montgomery was jailed once again, this time for six months.

To help the time pass, he wrote a small book entitled
Prison Amusements
, which he published on his release. When he was released, the success of the book led to such popularity that he became a leading citizen of Sheffield. More interestingly however, he had captured the imagination and hearts of the people.

At his own request, Montgomery was readmitted to the Moravian congregation at Fulneck in 1814, where he developed his faith and social conscience, allowing them to inform his work and the activities of the
Sheffield Iris
. He continued to campaign for parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, and was always ready to assist the downtrodden, poor and needy.

His most famous work, ‘Angels from the Realms of Glory’, was first printed in the
Sheffield Iris
on Christmas Eve, 1816.

In 1822, Montgomery’s hymns were published in three volumes called
Songs of Zion: Being Imitations of Psalms
. They were immediately celebrated as laying the foundations for modern hymn writing. His work was described as, ‘one central creative thought, shaping for itself melodious utterance, and with every detail subordinate to its harmonious presentation.’

In 1825, a rival took over the
Sheffield Iris
, leaving Montgomery time to devote to the completion of hymns. He produced over 400 hymns and skilfully adapted many more; around one hundred are still in use. There is no evidence that Montgomery wrote ‘Angels from the Realms of Glory’ in prison, however it is clear that he did write many hymns around that time. There have been suggestions that he may well have written his hymn ‘Lift up Ye Heads, Ye Gates of Brass’ there, although this almost certainly meant to be humourous rather than historically accurate. The title and some of the verses relate to Psalm 24:7 in the Bible:

Lift up your heads, O you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Montgomery also wrote secular poetry, lecturing at the Royal Institution. The lectures were subsequently published under the title
Lectures on Poetry and General Literature
in 1833. The poems denounced the practice of slavery and brought him notoriety far beyond his city of Sheffield. His epic poem, ‘The Wanderer of Switzerland’ tells, in six parts, the story of what Montgomery describes as:

A Wanderer of Switzerland and his family, consisting of his wife, their daughter and her young children, emigrating from their country in consequence of its’ subjugation to the French in 1798, arriving at the cottage of a shepherd, beyond the frontiers, where they are hospitably entertained.

The poem was heavily criticised by the
Edinburgh Review
, but favourably accepted by the poet Byron. With a degree of insight, when Montgomery was asked which of his poems would stand the test of time, he responded, ‘None, Sir, nothing except perhaps a few of my hymns’.

In the later years of his life, he was awarded an annual pension of £200 by the government for his ‘contribution to society’, presumably as some atonement for his imprisonment. He was also heavily involved with the promotion of religious and philanthropic movements and he kept his enthusiasm for speaking publically against injustice and intolerance. He never married, and died quietly in his sleep at home in Sheffield, on 30 April 1854 at the age of 83, the day after he had written what was to be his last hymn. He was buried in Sheffield following a public funeral in the city, and a statue was erected, a stained-glass window was installed in the parish church, and a public hall was named in his memory.

Following the tragic start to his life, James Montgomery battled against all odds to become a successful radical, civic figure and prolific hymn writer. He should be widely regarded as a hero for those who continue to struggle against injustice.

(Popular)

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing

Alleluia! Christ, the Saviour is born

Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night

Son of God, love’s pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth ‘

(Complete – Translated from the German

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht)

Silent night! Holy night!

All’s asleep, one sole light,

Just the faithful and holy pair,

Lovely boy-child with curly hair,

Sleep in heavenly peace!

Sleep in heavenly peace!

Silent night! Holy night!

God’s Son laughs, o how bright.

Love from your holy lips shines clear,

As the dawn of salvation draws near,

Jesus, Lord, with your birth!

Jesus, Lord, with your birth!

Silent night! Holy night!

Brought the world peace tonight,

From the heavens’ golden height

Shows the grace of His holy might

Jesus, as man on this earth!

Jesus, as man on this earth!

Silent night! holy night!

Where today all the might

Of His fatherly love us graced

And then Jesus, as brother embraced.

All the peoples on earth!

All the peoples on earth!

Silent night! Holy night!

Long we hoped that He might,

As our Lord, free us of wrath,

Since times of our fathers He hath

Promised to spare all mankind!

Promised to spare all mankind!

Silent night! Holy night!

Shepherds first see the sight.

Told by angelic Alleluia,

Sounding everywhere, both near and far:

‘Christ the Saviour is here!’

‘Christ the Saviour is here!’

Written by Joseph Mohr with a melody by Franz Xaver Gruber, ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ was first performed at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 1818 in Nikolaus-Kirche (St Nicholas’ Church) in Oberndorf, Austria. Since then, the carol has enjoyed worldwide popularity; it is said there are over 300 translations of it in existence, even a basic search of the Internet will turn up over 200 versions in at least 150 different languages.

It all started when Fr Joseph Mohr, Franz Xaver Gruber, the parish curate and the choir director sang the carol accompanied by a guitar. At the end of each of the six verses, the choir would repeat the last two lines in four-part harmony. It was rather unique that a guitar would be used in church at the time, but the simplicity of the tune was suitable for such accompaniment.

The German words for the original six verses were written two years earlier in 1816 by Mohr, when he was posted to a mission church in Mariapfarr, Austria. Eventually, he took them to Gruber, with the intention of performing the carol at midnight mass, asking that he might write a composition, suitable for the service. In his written account, Gruber gives no mention of any inspiration he might have had for creating the tune.

Joseph Mohr.

There are many myths surrounding the creation of this carol and its unusual original accompaniment. One suggests that mice had chewed through parts of the organ, so that it was unusable. This particular story appeared in 1965, although it was part of a common myth before that. There was even a dramatised television documentary called
Silent Mouse
that appeared on television in 1988, telling the story of the creation of the carol from the mouse’s point of view. Similarly, there is a story that suggests that the lyrics and the music were subsequently forgotten by Gruber and Mohr, only to be rediscovered later by an organ repairer. This myth is easily discounted, as there are various musical arrangements and changes to the lyrics, produced by Mohr and Gruber.