One of my favourite carols—it’s not one we sing in church, it’s more of a folk carol—is Hark, Hark What News the Angels Bring, it’s one of those carols from the north of England that they used to sing around the houses, in the pubs.
The old story is told that George Frederick Handel, was staying in Lancashire, didn’t have any money for a hotel for the night, and so composed this carol in order to pay for the bed and breakfast.
That might not be true, but—whoever wrote it—the words are wonderful:
Hark, hark what news the angels bring,
Glad tidings of a newborn king,
Born of a maid, a virgin pure,
Born without sin, from guilt secure.
Maddy Pryor has a lovely version which is rousing. It’s in the most recent version of the film Emma—you can listen to it there—that’s the more old-school recording.
And then Kate Rusby has done a lovely version, which is the most moving version, from 2017, where this refrain is emphasised: “Born without sin, born without sin, born without sin, from guilt secure.”
And these are not necessarily Christians who are singing; they’re merely perpetuating a tradition given to them over the generations. And yet they’re singing of the most deep and profound truths.
