On The Feast Of Stephen

           


This is the Rev'd John Mason Neale, photographed with his family at Sackville College, an almshouse in East Grinstead of which he was, for a time, the warden.

Neale was a priest, scholar, medievalist and religious reformer, best remembered today as a writer of hymns. Anyone brought up in the Anglican church is likely to have sung some of his compositions.

Neale's practice as a hymnwriter was to dig out mediaeval tunes and either translate their texts into English or furnish them with new words. His best loved hymn is the one about the king who looked out "on the feast of Stephen" and saw a poor man, "gathering winter fuel." The tune can be found in various sources, including the Carmina Burana, but the words and sentiments are entirely Neale's own. They have been deplored as doggerel, but there's something about them that sticks in the mind- maybe it's just that they tell such a good story.....

And when is the Feast of Stephen?

Why today, Dec 26th, Boxing Day.