110. Go Tell It on de Mountain

Chorus-
Go tell it on de mountain
obuh de hils an' eberywhere
Go tell it on de mountain
dat Jedus Chris' is a-born.

1
When I wuz a seeker,
I sought both night an' day
I ask' de Lord to help me,
An' He show me de way.
2
He choose me for a watchman,
And placed me on de wall,
An' if I am a christian,
I am de least ob all.
3
In de time of David,
Some call' Him a King,
And if a chil' is true born,
Maussuh Jedus will hear him sing.

An arranged version is in R. N. Dett, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, as sung at Hampton Institute (added after the death of T. P. Fenner by R. N. Dett, App. III). It lacks the verse 3 used on Saint Helena.

John Wesley Work (1872-1925) composed and published Go Tell It on the Mountain as a solo piece in 1907 (From online "Hymns and Carols of Christmas" and Hymnuts website)
. Perhaps only the two verses and chorus appeared in his sheet music.
See thread 3744 for discussions.
Work said the hymn was from an old Negro Spiritual, When I Was a Seeker
Different verses may have been composed for his Folksongs of the American Negro, 1907 (1st ed. a stapled softcover, hardcover 1915; both rare). See Cyberhymnal.org and the later American Negro Songs and Spirituals, where in a footnote it states that John Work Sr. supplied the shepherds and manger verses "in place of the original ones which could not be found."
http://hymnuts.luthersem.edu/hcompany/texts/hymn070.htm
John W. Work, edit., 1940, American Negro Songs and Spirituals, a Comprehensive Collection....