We Three Kings of Orient Are ....

… Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
This lovely carol is associated with Twelfth Night. In most countries it is celebrated as the day the Three Wise Men from the East arrived at the manger in Bethlehem having followed a bright star in the sky. John Hopkins wrote the words and music in the year 1857. In it each of the kings describes the gift he has brought for the Christ Child. It is doubtful now if they were kings as in a later story they are referred to as wise men named Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar.

Finished size 23cm x 18cm (9” x 7”). 
Fabric 14 count ecru aida

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

The inspiration for the famous hymn writer, organist and harpsichordist Charles Wesley (1757-1834) to write the words of this beautiful carol came as he walked to church one Christmas morning in 1830. Later, an organist from Waltham Abbey set it to music by Mendlessohn and it was eventually published in 1856,

Finished size in 14 count is 23cm x 18cm (9” x 7”)
Fabric 14 count ecru aida  

This is one of the few carols composed by an American. 
A lovely hymn, Phillips Brooks wrote it in 1868 whilst rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia. The organist, Lewis Redner, is said to have heard the melody in a dream on Christmas Eve and completed the arrangement in time for the following day.

Finished size in 14 count is 23cm x 18cm (9” x 7”)
Fabric 14 count ecru aida

I Saw Three Ships

This early British carol, very popular in the 19^th Century was a great favourite with carol singers of that time.  Winds being so vital to sailors, this nautical sampler includes the names of several that blow around the Mediterranean and North Africa. One, the Harmattan blows from the Sahara creating a red dust which mariners call “the sea of dust”

Finished size in 14 count is 23cm x 18cm (9” x 7”)
Fabric 14 count ecru aida