James R. Murray

MURRAY, James Ramsey.  b. Andover, Massachusetts, 7 March 1841; d. Cincinnati, Ohio, 10 March 1905.  Murray is best known as the composer of MUELLER, one of the two most popular tunes for the Christmas carol, ‘Away in a manger’*. Murray’s parents immigrated to the United States from Roxburgh, Scotland, in 1840.  It seems likely that his earliest publication was a Scottish ballad, published in New York in 1860, entitled ‘Bonnie, Bonnie Bell’, with lyrics by Thomas F. Winthrop (1842-1905).  Although in 2/4 time, the piece is almost certainly based on a border melody in 3/4 time called ‘The Smiling Spring’, with subtitle ‘Bonnie Bell’, as found in Jerome H. Remick’s Songs of Scotland (New...