An Australian Christmas Carol PTG 53

I am completely ignoring the many songs that the Praise to God hymnal got from the New Living Parish Hymn Book, because I will look at that collection soon enough, but a collection that was used surprisingly little by the editors, was the Australian published, Pius X Hymnal.

You can read about that collection here, where there is a link to download the pdf.

“An Australian Christmas Carol” is the only song listed from Pius X to be selected for PTG. Both the Pius X and PTG list this Australian Christmas song as being by an anonymous Presentation Sister. However I found this background information here:

This obscure Christmas Carol has been attributed to
Rev Mother Francis Tobin, IBVM, Australian Loreto
Sister. It is not known when it was written but it
appeared in the December 17, 1953 edition of The
Catholic Weekly with just the attribution of IBVM.
However, when it was published in the December 1968
edition of Progress – the staff magazine of the State
Savings Bank of Victoria – Mother Francis Tobin was
recorded as the author.
Rev Mother Francis Tobin was born Elizabeth “Lizzie”
Tobin in 1860 in Auburn Villa, Ararat, Victoria. In
October 1875, at the of age 15, she became the seventh
student to be enrolled in Mary’s Mount, Ballarat – the
first Loreto school in Australia. At 19 she became the
first Loreto student in Australia to become a postulant
in the Loreto order, taking her vows in 1881, and
professed in 1888. She passed away at Loreto, Kirribilli
on August 12, 1956.

There is more about Mother Francis Tobin at the Loreto site. The song has taken on a life of its own with many variations on the text, some of which are listed here.

The setting is noted to be Irish traditional arranged by the hymnal’s editor Percy Jones. If anyone knows what the tune is called, I’d love to know.

I made a backing nonethless:

I assume that Percy Jones, collected all of the verses and consolidated them in Pius X and PTG copied them, just removing the thees and thous:

O little Babe of Bethlehem!
The Southern Cross shines down,
As once a star shone glorious
above an Eastern town.

The hearts of Bethlehem are cold,
The streets are hushed with snow,
The doors are barred, there is no room,
Dear Lord, where will you go?

O come sweet Jesus come to us!
Australia’s sun is warm,
And here are loving hearts enough
to shield you from the storm.

Come! We will give you all we have:
Each bird and flower and tree,
The breeze that stirs the silver gums,
The music of the sea.

And sweet clematis starry-eyed
with delicate ferns we’ll bring;
Our wattle trees shall shower their gold
in tribute to our King.

We’ll watch, when evening sounds begin
And dreaming flowers nod,
Your mother fold you in her arms,
Dear little Lamb of God.

Bell-birds shall ring their silver peal
from gullies green and deep,
And mingle with the magpie’s note
to call you from your sleep.

O little Babe of Bethlehem!
Australia loves you well;
Come to our hearts this Christmastide
and there forever dwell.