Ruth Crawford Seeger included the song in her "American Folk Songs For Christmas". Seeger's book does not contain a lot of backgound information to the songs but she does cite a reference for Rise Up Shepherd. The reference cited is "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, A Sung on the Plantations" edited by Thomas P. Fenner, 1909, Hampton Normal And Agricultural Institute, Hampton, VA. Perhaps someone has access to a library that might contain this reference to see if there is any information beyond a lyric text.

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