For the first eight decades of the 18th century, 'While Shepherds Watched' was the only Christmas hymn authorised for use within the Church of England. Because of this, hundreds of different tunes became attached to the words of this iconic carol.

With the support of live musical examples, the importance to Christmas Past and Present of our festive favourites will be examined.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-cause-for-carolling

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
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