No, no, no! Not "Hark the Harold Angels Sing!" you silly critters! It's "Herald Angels"! The kind that bring messages- not Harold dressed up as an angel!
Hark the HERALD Angels Sing originally began with the line "Hark how all the welkin ring". The hymn was written by Charles Wesley who also envisioned his lyrics set to a solemn and thoughtful tune, unlike the version we know today- which is actually an adaptation of a song written by Felix Mendelssohn. Wesley wrote this carol in 1739 for one of his hymnbooks. George Whitfield, one of Wesley's co-workers edited the lyrics in 1840, changing the words of the first line and adding them as a chorus at the end of each stanza. The carol was published in its new format in 1854 with Mendelssohn's music and has remained that way to this day.
Thank you Katy, Dawn, Babs, Jackie, Henri, Rob and Ferry! Glad you enjoyed my "punny" carol!