Christmas carols have to be my favorite form of holiday cheer. My husband and I both sang in choir during college as well as in an adult classical chorus a few years ago. My children love to sing too, and one of our friends from church jokingly calls us the family Von Trapp.

As soon as the Thanksgiving dishes have been cleared away, we immediately grab the Christmas CDs and switch out the music in the car as well as in the home stereo. The kids love jamming out to the Phineas & Ferb Christmas album while my husband prefers Straight No Chaser. I love them all. But there is a special place in my heart for the classic carols that echo sounds of ages past.

One of my favorites is I Wonder as I Wander.Written in a minor key, this hauntingly beautiful song evokes strong emotion with it’s simple music and lyrics.

John Jacob Niles

I Wonder as I Wander originated as a folksong from deep within Appalachia. As is true of most folk songs, it was handed down through an oral tradition, the original author unknown. However, in 1933, a collector of folk music, John Jacob Niles traveled to Murphy, North Carolina and came across a revivalist family camped out in the town square. The mother was cooking and hanging her wash on the Confederate monument. The family had been deemed a public nuisance and was on the verge of being ejected by the police. They needed to hold one more tent meeting in order to earn enough gas money to take them out of town.

This is where Niles encountered the young daughter of the family, Annie Morgan. Unwashed but exceptionally pretty, she sang three lines of a song that captured Niles’s attention. He paid her a quarter to repeat the tune. And another, and another. He paide her eight times in all, giving him the chance to transcribe her music and put her lyrics on paper. She sang the same three lines each time, but it was enough to inspire Niles to expand the song and eventually publish it.

Today, this classic carol lives on, it’s haunting melody and spiritual lyrics touching untold hearts. And it all started with a young girl’s song.

I Wonder as I Wander

I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die
For poor on’ry people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky

When Mary birthed Jesus ’twas in a cow’s stall
With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all
But high from God’s heaven, a star’s light did fall
And the promise of ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing
A star in the sky or a bird on the wing
Or all of God’s Angels in heaven to sing
He surely could have it, ’cause he was the King

I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die
For poor on’ry people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky

         In case you’re not familiar with the beautiful melody, I’ve included a recording for you to enjoy. Just click on the song title below. Merry Christmas! 

10 I Wonder as I Wander

FINALS!

Congratulations to all our daily WHEN YOU NEED A HERO winners.  We hope you’ve had as much fun this week as all the Fillies have!

After four days of pouring over heroes–tough duty, I know–here are your four favorites:

#1 – Monday’s Hero – We call him “hunk with rope and horse”

From Karen: he must also be warm, tender, and a man who laughs.

#2 – Tuesday’s Hero – Chris Young

Charlene says this about Hero #6: “I fashioned my hero in The Cowboy’s Pride coming in December from Harlequin Desire (who is an ex-country western star) after Chris Young. I truly love his music and his look. All this inspiration!”

#3 – Wednesday’s Hero – Eric

From Linda: My hero must have a broad chest and love animals. *sigh* I also like my hero to be gentle yet strong.

#4 – Thursday’s Hero

Tanya’s  picks:  I got to spend some righteous time with a whole corral-full of real-life cowboys on our wagon train trip around the Tetons a summer ago. Meeting Garrett Snow, I was so enthralled with his hero/book cover potential that hubby advised me to tell him WHY I was taking his picture so often, to assure him I wasn’t a stalker. He was downright flattered. Indeedy, I can see him some day starring in a book of mine entitled Snow in Summer…sigh.

All right, readers. Time to vote again–and often.  Our GRAND PRIZE:  $25 Amazon Gift Card, compliments of Mary Connealy, and a Studs & Spurs 2012 Cowboy Calendar for some serious cowboy eye candy.

Voting will close at 10pm on Friday and Miss Felicia will choose one winner. Good luck!

Tanya’s  picks:  I got to spend some righteous time with a whole corral-full of real-life cowboys on our wagon train trip around the Tetons a summer ago. Meeting Garrett Snow, I was so enthralled with his hero/book cover potential that hubby advised me to tell him WHY I was taking his picture so often, to assure him I wasn’t a stalker. He was downright flattered. Indeedy, I can see him some day starring in a book of mine entitled Snow in Summer…sigh.

As for Sam Elliott, he’s the quintessential cowboy of every Western woman’s dreams. Y’all out there will have to agree. That voice of Rocky-Mountain gravel, that sly,  shy and sexy all at once smile peeking forth from the depths of that glorious mustache. ..Sigh.

Hero #13

Hero #14

Mary’s picks:   When I need a hero tall, dark and handsome are so easy that I have to fight it. I usually lose.

Here’s one where I let a blonde rule the day. I see this guy as Tom Linscott. My hero from Sharpshooter in Petticoats and one of my favorite heroes ever.

And the other hero is Lee Horseley. Remember him from Guns of Paradise? I loved that show. I remember Lee being quoted as saying he’d sworn to never do another TV show. And then they offered him a cowboy and he couldn’t say no.

He’s the perfect tall, dark and handsome cowboy.

Hero No. 15

Hero No. 16

When You Need a Hero . . . just look around you. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and aren’t limited to skin color. A hero is as close as your own backyard or as far as your imagination takes you.

From Linda—–

My hero must have a broad chest and love animals. *sigh* I also like my hero to be gentle yet strong.

Hero # 9

Hero #10

From Phyliss————

When you need a real man . . . look no farther than #11. His name is Nathan and he was the cover model for two of our anthologies. Number 12 is a bit different and much, much harder. I had to look VERY carefully at each of them for a full day to decide which one I liked best. Well, that didn’t work, because there was no way to tell which was the hunkiest, so you get four for the price of one. Enjoy!

Hero # 12

Hero # 11

Here are today’s prize giveaways. Leave a comment and vote to get your name in the hat. Remember, you can vote more than once.

Ladies, I hope you’re ready to saddle up for some more fun!

Charlene’s Entries

Charlene Sands discovered Timothy Olyphant (Hero #5) from the hit FX series Justified, where he plays US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens. Some of you might also recognize him from his role in Deadwood. As far as “Hero with an Edge” goes, Timothy’s got it all and he’s a source of inspiration for Charlene’s upcoming Harlequin western!

Charlene says this about Hero #6: “I fashioned my hero in The Cowboy’s Pride coming in December from Harlequin Desire (who is an ex-country western star) after Chris Young. I truly love his music and his look. All this inspiration!”

Hero No. 5

Hero No. 6

Cheryl’s Entries

Cheryl St. John used a different criteria while selecting her heroes.

Cheryl writes, “I didn’t choose my heroes based on their pretty faces or sex appeal. When push comes to shove, I want a hero who would take a bullet for me, rescue me from outlaws or perhaps pay for a china tea set before he goes out to face certain death in the name of justice.”

“Robert Duvall plays one of of my favorite cowboy heroes in Lonesome Dove, Broken Trail and Open Range.

Kevin Costner would make a fine upstandin’ husband for any pretty spinster.”

Hero No. 7

Hero No. 8