When we sing our Christmas carols, it’s helpful to know something about their origin in regard to both words and music. Sometimes the stories attached to them are quite surprising. And here in the case of “What Child Is This?” the surprise includes a possible musical connection to the infamous 16th century British monarch, Henry VIII, and a love ballad to “my lady Greensleeves.”
But of first importance is the origin and meaning of the text. The words come from the pen of an insurance agent by the name of William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898), an Anglican layman, the son of a surgeon in Bristol, England. He spent most of his life as a businessman, working as a manager for the Maritime Insurance Company in Glasgow, Scotland. We know of his church affiliation only through his hymns.