Rise Up, Shepherd

DESCRIPTION: "There's a star in the east on Christmas morn, Rise up, Shepherd, and follow." The shepherd is advised to "Leave your sheep and leave your lambs" and follow the star to where Jesus is
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious shepherd Christmas
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute, pp. 79-79, App.IV, "Rise Up, Shepherd, an' Foller" (2 texts, 2 tunes; p. 173 in the 1909 edition)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 253, "Rise Up, Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fireside-Book-of-Folk-Songs, p. 266, "Rise Up, Shepherd, an' Foller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 373, "Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #85, "There's a Star in the East" (1 text)
Roud #15289
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow" (on PeteSeeger37, PeteSeeger42)
NOTES [115 words]: Although everything mentioned here comes from the Gospels, there is no evidence that the shepherds behaved as described. The star is mentioned only in Matthew (2:2, 9-10), and it seems to have been visible only to the Magi ("Wise Men") -- at least, Herod and his advisors couldn't tell which star it was.
The shepherds who see Jesus, on the other hand, are found only in Luke (2:8-20). They are not guided by the star, but given explicit directions by an angel.
It seems to generally be assumed that the star was bright and highly visible, but given that only the Magi saw it, I suspect the star -- if indeed there was a star -- was faint, something that needed expertise to identify. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: LoF253

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