Steuart Wilson wrote these words especially for the music of the French carol “Quelle est cette odeur agreable?” or “What is This Lovely Fragrance?” Printed in the Oxford Book of Carols, 1928, it has not found its way into very many hymnbooks.

Christmas is usually thought of as the season for carols. Actually, there are carols for every season of the year and for many special occasions. This one seems to have been written with spring in mind, when nature is responding again to God’s call to new life and bloom and growth. The hymn is also eminently suited for a congregation to sing at the marriage service.

J. Stewart Wilson was born on July 22, 1889, in Clifton, Bristol, England, and was educated at Winchester College and King’s College, Cambridge. After active service in World War I, he became well known as a concert singer, appearing in large festivals in Britain, Australia, and America. He edited and published English translations of several collections of the songs of Schubert, Schuman, and Brahms. He died at Petersfield, Hampshire, on December 18, 1966.

FRAGRANCE (also called CAROL OF BEAUTY) has been well known in England since it was borrowed from the French carol above and used as the setting of a church in Gay’s Begar’s Opera, 1728. The natural flowing beauty of this melody will richly reward those who take the time to learn it.

The arrangement in SDAH is from the Oxford Book of Carols, arranged by Martin Show (1876-1958; see Biographies), whom Erik Routley calls “that remarkable apostle of English excellence.”