Who wrote the poem that became "Once in Royal David's City"?

Cecil Frances Alexander wrote the poem that became “Once in Royal David’s City.”

Alexander first published the poem in 1848 in Hymns for Little Children, a collection designed to explain parts of the Apostles’ Creed to children. This carol illustrates the creed’s reference to Jesus being “born of the Virgin Mary,” presenting the Nativity through the image of a humble stable and manger.

The poem was set to music in 1849 by the English organist Henry Gauntlett, whose tune is known as “Irby.” Alexander was also the author of “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “There Is a Green Hill Far Away,” which appeared in the same collection or became closely associated with her hymn writing.

The carol has a particularly famous modern performance tradition. Since 1919, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, has traditionally begun with Arthur Henry Mann’s arrangement. Usually, a boy chorister sings the first verse alone before the choir and congregation join in later verses.