Away in a Manger

Not many are familiar with the history of Away in a Manger. Unlike many famous Christmas carols, Away in a Manger doesn’t have a definite author or year of creation.

The song was written in the 19th century, like many other staple Christmas songs and art pieces, and has since been surrounded by ambiguity both in historical and symbolic paradigms.

But Away in a Manger meaning is more important than its origin, presenting us eternal values of Christianity and giving hope for salvation.

Lyrics

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay.
 
The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle ’til morning is nigh.
 
Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.

Origins

Away in a Manger is an old Christmas carol written in the late 19th century by an unknown author. Until the 20th century, the song was called Luther’s Cradle Song, and everyone believed it was composed by Martin Luther.

However, historians have long debunked the myth because they didn’t find any mentions of the song in Luther’s writings. Furthermore, historians only discovered the first German translation of the song in 1934 – the carol was initially written in English.

The German text reads awkwardly and is obviously a translation from the English language. Moreover, the lyrics’ style is atypical of Luther’s works.

Most scholars nowadays agree that the carol has likely been composed in the U.S., found in Evangelical Lutheran Sunday School’s collection Little Children’s Book for Schools and Families of 1885.

However, the carol made its first appearances in print earlier – in 1882, in The Children’s Corner section of The Christian Cynosure, published in Chicago, and the following year in The Sailor’s Magazine.

Interestingly, The Sailor’s Magazine claimed that Martin Luther wrote the song for his children, which could be the origin of the myth. Newspaper The Myrtle embraced the theory, writing in 1884 that German mothers sing the hymn to their children.

Regardless of who wrote Away in a Manger, we can surely tell it’s an entirely American creation, unknown to the wider world until the early 20th century.

Initially, the carol only had two verses with many variations – sometimes, the changes were minor, such as “no crib for his bed” versus “no crib for a bed.” In other cases, the changes were more significant.

For example, line four in the second verse was changed from the original “And stay by my crib watching my lullaby” to “And watch by me always, and ever be nigh” and later to “And watch o’er my bed while in slumber I lie.”

The third verse was only added to the carol in 1892, published in Gabriel’s Vineyard Songs issue. In the magazine, the words also acquired a melody composed by Charles H. Gabriel, a writer of gospel songs from Iowa.

Like The Sailor’s Magazine and the Myrtle, Charles H. Gabriel attributed the song’s words to Martin Luther. However, decades later, Robert Guy McCutchan published a story in Out hymnody: a manual of the Methodist hymnal, attributing the third verse to John T. McFarland.

According to a bishop William Anderson from Boston, John T. McFarland was a neighbor of Charles H. Gabriel, who asked him to write the third verse, which McFarland completed in an hour.

Throughout the 1880s, Away in a Manger has been gaining local popularity, performed in churches in Tennessee and surrounding states.

Away in a Manger has several musical settings, with the most popular in the U.S. being Mueller, first published in Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses. In the U.K., the Blighty version is more common, composed by Jonathan Spillman and adapted by William Kirkpatrick.

The Mueller version of Away in a Manger was composed by James R. Murray, who made a tactical mistake when he wrote that Martin Luther composed the entire song rather than the lyrics.

As a result, Murray didn’t get credit for his work in subsequent publications. In 1914, Primary School Carols published the carol under Carl Mueller’s name, and although no one knows who Carl Mueller was, the version is still widely known as Mueller.

The Cradle Song, also called Blighty, was initially published in Around the World with the Christmas collection of 1895. This musical arrangement first appeared outside of the U.S. and has stuck with Europeans, while Americans preferred the earlier Mueller version.

Over the time, the carol acquired over 200 musical settings, 41 of which appeared in the Music Library Association Notes 1945 article “Not so far away in a Manger, forty-one settings of an American carol.”

Before the Mueller musical setting was composed, The Sailor’s Magazine, The Myrtle, and other sources mentioned an old composition, Home, Sweet Home, from the opera Clari, or the Maid of Milan, as an appropriate melody for the song.

To conclude, Away in a Manger’s origin is equally obscure as the details of the nativity story, which is somewhat symbolic. We only have snippets of information, pieces of a puzzle scholars have yet to connect.

However, we know that the carol’s origin is American and European immigrants brought the song abroad in the late 19th century, where it continued to spread until it became one of the most famous Christmas carols globally.

Meaning

Away in a Manger lyrics are based on the nativity story from Luke 2:2-2:4, narrating Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem following the government-ordered census, their struggles to find an inn and the moment of Jesus’ birth.

The song begins with “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,” referring to the wooden manger Mary laid Jesus in after he was born. Instead of lying in a comfortable crib meant for children, Jesus slept in a farm animal feeder.

The fourth line also refers to the stable where Mary gave birth to Jesus – “The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay.”

In Luke, Mary and Joseph can’t find an inn in Bethlehem as the town is crowded because of the census, and they have to seek shelter in a stable.

Some scholars suggest that the lyrics have a deeper theological meaning, suggesting they refer to unbelievers who have no room for the Savior in their hearts. Still, most agree that the reference is straightforward and has no underlying symbolism.

In other words, the first verse briefly describes the moment of Jesus’ birth. In the second verse, the cattle are lowing, awaking Jesus, but he doesn’t cry.

We can interpret the lines differently. The most widely accepted theory is that the verse refers to Jesus’ patience, humility, and the strong presence of the Holy Spirit.

Some theologists consider the verse controversial, suggesting that not crying when woken up isn’t a human baby behavior, calling it heresy and Docetism. However, Jesus’ quietness makes perfect sense in the light of his later history.

Although Jesus had no proper place to rest his head, he did not complain and accepted his fate. Perhaps, Away in a Manger describes a bit romanticized picture of the nativity scene, the one we’re used to seeing on our Christmas tables.

The title and the first verse emphasize that Jesus was born away from comfort and laid in a manger with hay that was perhaps itchy and hard. He couldn’t get a quiet sleep, which would make any human baby cry aloud.

However, the lyrics only narrate how the stars admired Jesus’ birth and how he made no sound, sleeping peacefully in his improvised crib.

In the third verse, the author takes a different point of view, shifting from the scene of Jesus’ birth to the first person. The author declares his love for Christ and asks him for guidance.

In the final verse, the author asks Jesus to stay close to him forever and love him. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” No matter how much time passes, he remains with every Christian.

The author then goes on to ask Jesus to bless all the dear children – “all” is an important word here because it refers to everyone, even those not believing in God or different from us.

“Children” in this verse should not be interpreted literally – the author refers to all humans as children of God rather than infants. Away in a Manger ends with the words, “and fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.”

These lines refer to Christ’s sacrifice – he died for our sins. Even though all men are born sinful, we now have a chance for eternal life. In the story of Adam and Eve, Dog declared that all who sin would die both physically and spiritually.

However, he also said that there’s no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, and Jesus provided all people redemption with his sacrifice. The primary thing essential for our salvation is faith, and for this reason, we pray to God.

The last verse of Away in a Manger is written as a prayer to emphasize this need for communication with God and faith in his power. In its essence, the meaning of Away in a Manger is to provide hope for eternal life to all people.

Sources