Far Far Away, On Judea's Plains

Christmas Carols Explained, #10

TabCats will get this arrangement again, because you’ve really got to let the lyrics hit for the full impact. That, and, well…read on.

While the original composer John Macfarlane was Scottish, he was Scottish-AMERICAN and that’s what counts. He wrote this in 1869. What was a Scottish-American doing composing hardcore Biblical Christmas carols in 1869? Why, he was being a Pioneer of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, WOOOOO LET’S GOOOOOOOOO.

This glorious piece comes straight from the chilled desert skies of southern Utah, where the city of Saint George evokes the Bethlehem of yestermillenium, give or take a few mountains. It’s a song of praise for Christ’s birth and I’m pretty sure this one has been in every LDS hymnbook since Macfarlane put it to paper.

I’ve got a special place in my heart for this song, we sang it a few times in the mission, including for a family that was super broke and didn’t have a good Christmas for their kids. Four of us put together some Euros and also got some donations for our families so we could buy some good groceries and treats for the holiday. They had come to Spain from Argentina and finding work was hard in 2004, especially if you were foreign.

I won’t post pics of the family here, but I do have a snap of us all dressed as Santa before we delivered the goods. (I’m on the right.)

Merry Christmas, peeps.