Henry Ramsden Bramley (4 June 1833 – February 1917) was an English clergyman and hymnologist perhaps best known for his collaborations with the composer Sir

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

.Birth and death
hymntime.com, retrieved 15 November 2014 Along with earlier 19th-century composers such as William Sandys and John Mason Neale, Bramley and Stainer are credited with fuelling a Victorian revival of Christmas carols with their 1871 publication of ''Christmas Carols, New and Old'', which popularised carols such as "

The First Nowell "The First Nowell", also known as "The First Noel (or Noël)", is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" and " The Holly and the Ivy". Bramley and

published the ''Christmas Carols, New and Old'', with a total of 20 carols, sometime in the 1860s.Christmas Carols
ccel.org, retrieved 15 November 2014 By 1871, the second series of 22 carols came out bringing the total to 42. A third series – with 28 carols – was issued in 1878, expanding the collection to 70 carols, second only to R. R. Chope's Carols for Use In Church in the number of carols it contained.

Early life and education

Henry Ramsden Bramley was born on 4 June 1833 at

Addingham Addingham (formerly Haddincham , Odingehem 1086)Mills, A.D. (2003). ', Encyclopedia.com is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A65, south-east of Skipton, west of Ilkley, ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He studied at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

(1852), and was later made a fellow of

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, in 1857.

Ordination

Bramley was ordained in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1856, and priest in 1858. He served as Vicar of

Horspath Horspath is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about east of the centre of Oxford, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,378. Archaeology The parish's western boundary largely follows the course of a Roma ...

in Oxfordshire between 1861 and 1889, and was later Canon and Precentor of

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Construc ...

between 1895-1905.Biography
at the

Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts. Description CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a pro ...

, ''ccel.org'' Theologically, he is described in Professor Jeremy Dibble's biography of John Stainer as a "

High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

conservative".Jeremy Dibble, ''John Stainer: A Life in Music'' (Boydell Press, 2007), p. 118

Published works

Bramley became acquainted with

after the composer was appointed organist at Magdalen College in 1860. Indeed it was Bramley, as a fellow of the college, who presented Stainer with his doctoral robes.William Studwell, Dorothy E. Jones, ''Publishing Glad Tidings: Essays on Christmas music'', (Routledge, 1998)
p. 27-29
/ref> Bramley and

published th
first series of the ''Christmas Carols, New and Old''
with a total of 20

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

s, sometime in the 1860s. It was revised and expanded at regular intervals over the next few years.Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer, ''Christmas Carols New and Old'' (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., ca 1878) Bramley acted as the textual editor, contributing a number of new Latin translations and original verses to the publication, while Stainer dealt with the music, writing a number of new arrangements. By 1871, the second series of 22 carols came out bringing the total to 42. A third series – with 28 carols – was issued in 1878. Th
1878 edition of the ''Christmas Carols, New and Old''
contained 70 carols. Amongst these were a number of now-standard carols which the collection helped to popularise including "

Apple Wassail The Apple Wassail is a traditional form of wassailing practiced in the cider orchards of southern England during the winter. There are many well recorded instances of the Apple Wassail in the early modern period. The first recorded mention was ...

", " The Holly and the Ivy" and "

What Child Is This? "What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol with lyrics written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865 and set to the tune of " Greensleeves", a traditional English folk song, in 1871. Although written in Great Britain, the carol today is more popul ...

".Bramley and Stainer
at ''hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com'' William Studwell and Dorothy Jones note that the book, with an informative preface, an index with information on the origin of the carol texts and illustrations by the

Brothers Dalziel The Brothers Dalziel (pronounced ) was a prolific wood-engraving business in Victorian London, founded in 1839 by George Dalziel. The Dalziel family In 1840, George (1 December 1815 – 4 August 1902) was joined in the business by his brother E ...

caught the mood of the time, and was both "an artistic and commercial success". Percy Dearmer, writing in the preface to the '' Oxford Book of Carols'' of 1928, goes further, noting that the publication was largely responsible for the 19th-century Victorian revival of the Christmas carol:

"The influence of this book was enormous: it placed in the hands of the clergy...a really practicable tool, which came into general use, and is still in use after nearly sixty years. The great service done by this famous collection was that it brought thirteen traditional carols, with their proper music, into general use at once...It is…mainly to Bramley and Stainer that we owe the restoration of the carol."

Studwell and Jones note that despite his numerous appointments, ''Christmas Carols, New and Old'' was Bramley's only influential publication. His only other publication of any substance was his translation of ''The Psalter: or Psalms of David and Certain Canticles'' of 1884, itself based on a work by 13th-century Bible translator Richard Rolle. His other published works (with the exception of a few publications related to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

administration) include a hymn, "The Great God of Heaven is Come Down to Earth", included in the ''

English Hymnal ''The English Hymnal'' is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and wa ...

'' of 1906, and his new translation and expansion of the Latin carol " The Cradle Song of the Blessed Virgin", with music by

Joseph Barnby Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English composer and conductor. Life Barnby was born at York, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an organist. Joseph was a chorister at York Minster from the age of seven, was educat ...

. Bramley also wrote a poem, "O Thou the Central Orb" in 1873 at the request of

Frederick Ouseley Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, 2nd Baronet (12 August 18256 April 1889) was an English composer, organist, musicologist and priest. Biography Frederick Ouseley was born in London, the son of Sir Gore Ouseley, and manifested an extraordinary ...

as a text to fit a 1619 verse anthem by

Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons ( bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical fam ...

, "O all true faithful hearts". Gibbons' original anthem was composed in thanksgiving for the recovery of King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

from illness; Bramley's replacement text makes poetic reference to the divine radiance of God. A new choral setting of "O Thou the Central Orb" was subsequently composed by Charles Wood and published in 1933 in ''The Church Anthem Book''. While Wood's rousing setting has become a very popular work in the repertoire of

Anglican church music Anglican church music is music that is written for Christian worship in Anglican religious services, forming part of the liturgy. It mostly consists of pieces written to be sung by a church choir, which may sing ''a cappella'' or accompanied ...

, it has been suggested that Bramley's words ultimately "don't mean anything at all."

Personal life and death

Bramley never married. His sister Ann lived with him at Nettleham Hall for 17 years following the death of her husband, the Rev. James Stewart Gammell, previously Vicar of Outwood (Yorkshire) where Bramley's parents were interred. Henry Ramsden Bramley died on 28 January 1917 in Lincoln.

Works

''S. Gregorii Magni Regulae pastoralis liber: the Benedictine text, with an English translation''
(1874)
''Christmas Carols, New and Old''
with

(1878)
''Meditations and Prayers upon the seven words of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Cross''
(1880)
''The Psalter: or Psalms of David and certain canticles''
(1884)

References

External links

of ''Christmas Carols New and Old'' at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bramley, Henry Hymnologists 1833 births 1917 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Anglo-Catholic clergy Christian hymnwriters Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford English Anglo-Catholics