Child in the Manger

1 Child in the manger,
infant of Mary;
outcast and stranger,
Lord of all;
Child who inherits
all our transgressions,
all our demerits
on Him fall.

2 Once the most holy
Child of salvation
gently and lowly
lived below;
now as our glorious
mighty Redeemer,
see Him victorious
o’er each foe.

3 Prophets foretold Him,
infant of wonder;
angels behold Him
on His throne;
worthy our Savior
of all our praises;
happy forever
are His own.

Mary MacDougal MacDonald United Kingdom 1789-1872. Born at Ardtun, daughter of a farmer and Baptist cleric, Duncan MacDougal, northeast of Bunessan on the Ross of Mull, she was a Gaelic poet who lived at Cancan, Bunessan on Mull, Scotland. She never spoke English. She married Neil MacDonald and settled into a life as a crofter’s wife. While at her spinning wheel she passed time by singing hymns and poems, some of her own composition. She was a devout Baptist. Some of her hymns reached beyond her locality. The tune of her best known hymn (same tune as hymn: “Morning has broken”) was an old Scottish melody she attached to her lyrics that helped popularize the hymn, translated from the Gaelic in 1888 by Lachlan McBean of Scotland

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you are His own!