What Child Is This?

What Child Is This?
The Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honthorst
GenreHymn
Written1865
TextWilliam Chatterton Dix
Based onIsaiah 9:6-7
Meter8.7.8.7 with refrain
Melody"Greensleeves"
Published1871
What Child is this? (1870), set to the tune of "Greensleeves

"What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol with lyrics written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865 and set to the tune of "Greensleeves", a traditional English folk song, in 1871. Although written in Great Britain, the carol today is more popular in the United States than its country of origin.[1]

  1. ^ Stories of the Great Christmas Carols. Alfred Music Publishing. pp. 47–48. ISBN 9781457419348.