Come, ye lofty! Come, ye lowly!

Come, ye lofty! Come, ye lowly! Archer Thompson Gurney* (1820-1887). This Christmas hymn is dated 1860 by Philip Schaff* in Christ in Song (New York, 1869). It was almost certainly in Gurney’s A Book of Praise (1862), but this has not been verified. It had five stanzas, beginning with Gurney’s characteristic exclamation marks (cf. ’Christ is risen! Christ is risen!’*). It had five stanzas: Come, ye lofty! Come, ye lowly!  Let your songs of gladness ring! In a stable lies the Holy,  In a manger rests the King: See, in Mary’s arms reposing,  Christ by highest heaven adored: Come! Your circle round Him closing,  Pious hearts that love the Lord. Come, ye poor! no pomp of station  Robes the...