#9 most-searched carol in the US · 1885
Away in a Manger: the story behind the carol
🧒 Easy for kids🏡 Great for caroling⛪ Church & choir
- Words
- Anonymous, first printed in Philadelphia (1885)
- Music
- US: James R. Murray, "Mueller" (1887) · UK: William J. Kirkpatrick, "Cradle Song" (1895)
- From
- Pennsylvania, USA
- Type
- Sacred carol
The story behind “Away in a Manger”
It was long called "Luther's Cradle Hymn", as if Martin Luther wrote it for his children — but that was a 19th-century invention. The first two verses were printed anonymously in a Lutheran Sunday-school book in Philadelphia in 1885.
Americans and Britons sing it to two different tunes: in the US, James R. Murray's "Mueller" (1887); in Britain, William J. Kirkpatrick's "Cradle Song" (1895).
It's usually the first carol children learn: short lines, a gentle tune and no high notes.
More carols like this
- Silent Night1818 · Oberndorf, Austria
- Jingle Bells1857 · Boston, Massachusetts
- Joy to the World1719 · England; tune from Boston
- O Holy Night1847 · Roquemaure, France
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing1739 · England
- Deck the Halls1862 · Wales; English words from Scotland
History retold from the carol's Wikipedia article and its sources; checked 2026-09-30.