So, we’ve seen the farm
girls hurrying to the stable; let’s have some of the other observers of the
Nativity. Namely: we need sheep. And shepherds.
First the sheep. Which
we’ll round up from Messiah. Yes,
they’re not real baa-baas. It’s a simile for sinners who have strayed from
righteousness. “We have turned every one to his own way.” See a lot of that
these days, don’t we? So, let’s listen to the Bratislava City Choir knock it
out.
(Fun fact: I've listened to "All We Like Sheep" for...decades. It wasn't until I started singing it, from an actual score, that I realized it wasn't "Oh, We Like Sheep". Which is a whole other thing.)
But the shepherds were out watching over their flocks, probably huddling close to the fire and taking a well-deserved snooze. The dogs are out making sure the sheep don’t get into trouble—why not drop off for the night?
But the shepherds were out watching over their flocks, probably huddling close to the fire and taking a well-deserved snooze. The dogs are out making sure the sheep don’t get into trouble—why not drop off for the night?
So, picture this: they’re
drifting off (possibly after a few slurps of wine), and all of a sudden, boom!
Some angel appears and yells at them,
telling them to hot-foot it to…a stable!
In Bethlehem! How will they ever explain this one to the guys?
Well, this carol, from
Besançon, in eastern France, is all about the angel-shepherd experience. The
melody is probably from the 17th Century; the carol was first
published in 1842.
Here’s the choir of New
College, Oxford, singing “Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep”:
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