The Friendly Beasts

Representative Text

1 Jesus, our brother, strong and good,
was humbly born in a stable rude,
and the friendly beasts around Him stood,
Jesus, our brother, strong and good.

2 “I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown,
“I carried His mother uphill and down,
I carried His mother to Bethlehem town;
I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

3 “I,” said the cow, all white and red,
“I gave Him my manger for his bed,
I gave Him hay to pillow His head;
I,” said the cow, all white and red.

4 “I,” said the sheep with curly horn,
“I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm,
He wore my coat on Christmas morn;
I,” said the sheep with curly horn.

5 “I,” said the dove, from the rafters high,
“I cooed Him to sleep that he should not cry,
we cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I;
I,” said the dove, from the rafters high.

6 Thus all the beasts, by some good spell,
in the stable dark were glad to tell
of the gifts they gave Emmanuel,
the gifts they gave Emmanuel.

Source: Hymns for a Pilgrim People: a congregational hymnal #98

Translator: Robert Davis

(no biographical information available about Robert Davis.) Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Jesus our brother, strong and good
Title: The Friendly Beasts
Translator: Robert Davis
Meter: Irregular
Source: 12th cent. French carol
Language: English

Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #1614
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
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Instances

Instances (1 - 7 of 7)
TextPage Scan

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #98

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #1614

TextPage Scan

The New Century Hymnal #138

TextAudio

The United Methodist Hymnal #227

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #261

Voices United #56

Text

Worship in Song #78

Include 26 pre-1979 instances
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