Bill D copied and posted lyrics from christmas-tree.com, and those lyrics ended up in the Digital Tradition, completed with spelling errors. If you do a Google search for "shepherds deared and trembled" "hailed our Savour's birth", you'll be amazed at how far those spelling errors have spread. I think perhaps we should submit a new version, with corrections.
What I'd really like to see is a original-source-documented text of the song that includes all these verses, but maybe no such text exists. For now, here is a corrected text from the Digital Tradition. This exact text also appears in Ronald Herder's 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics (Dover Publications, 1998). I really like Herder's book and I've found the lyrics there to be very accurate, but the book does not document its sources.


GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

While shepherds kept their watching
O'er silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens,
There shone a holy light.

CHORUS
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth,
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Saviour's birth.
CHORUS

Down in a lowly manger
The (or Our) humble Christ was born;
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn.
CHORUS

When I was a seeker,
I sought both night and day;
I sought the Lord to help me,
And He showed me the way.
CHORUS

He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall.
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.
CHORUS

This five-verse version may be found in Ronald Herder's 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics (Dover Publications, 1998). Herder does not document his sources. Only the first three verses (shepherds, shepherds, and manger) appear in American Negro Songs, by John J. Work (Crown Publishers, 1940). Work notes: "These verses were supplied by John Work Sr. in place of the original ones which could not be found.
The "seeker" and "watchman" verses can be found in a two-verse version in this source: Hampton Institute and Fenner, 1909 and 1924, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung by the Hampton Students,"


@seasonal @Xmas @carol
filename[ GOTELLMT
TUNE FILE: GOTELLMT
CLICK TO PLAY
BD

---

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Go Tell It on the Mountain (I -- Christmas)

DESCRIPTION: "Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born." The singer describes the revelation of Jesus's birth to the shepherds and notes how God "made me a watchman"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Fisk Jubilee Singers repertoire)
KEYWORDS: religious Christmas Jesus
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Dett, pp. 78, App.III, "Go Tell It on de Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes; p. 174 in the 1909 edition)
Warren-Spirit, pp. 43-44, "Go, Teill It on the Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 381, "Go Tell It On The Mountain" (1 text)
DT, GOTELLMT*
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #25, "Go, Tell It on the Mountain" (1 text)
Robert J. Morgan, _Then Sings My Soul, Book 2: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories_, Nelson, 2004, pp. 256-257, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Bivens, "Go Tell It On the Mountain" (on HandMeDown2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (II -- Freedom)"
cf. "Jesus Setta Me Free" (lyrics)
cf. "Go Mary and Toll the Bell" (lyrics, some versions)
File: FSWB381A

---

Go Tell It on the Mountain (II -- Freedom)

DESCRIPTION: "Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain To let my people go." The singer describes the people, clothed in various colors, coming out of bondage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (recorded by Fannie Lou Hamer)
KEYWORDS: religious freedom nonballad travel
FOUND IN: US West Indies(Jamaica)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, GOTELMT2
Roud #15220
RECORDINGS:
Fannie Lou Hamer, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (on Voices Civ)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (I -- Christmas)"
cf. "Jesus Setta Me Free" (lyrics)
NOTES: The "freedom" adaptation of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" came out of the civil rights movement of the early 1960s. I list "Jamaica" as a location in the "FOUND IN" field because this version was recorded by Bob Marley long before he became an internationally-known star, when reggae was still arguably an indigenous folk style. Does this qualify within the "folk tradition"? Eyes of the beholder, perhaps, but I wanted the fact noted. - PJS
Last updated in version 3.5
File: DTgotelm

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.