John Francis Wade (1711-1786) was an English Catholic who lived and worked in France for a time as a music copyist who also sold music and taught music lessons. In the mid-1700s, he was known to have worked in the Lancashire area of England. The eight stanzas of "O Come All Ye Faithful" were written in Latin and first appeared in Wade's book, Cantus Diversi, published in 1751. Samuel Webbe, Sr. (1740-1816) was an English music copyist who grew up in poverty and later learned several languages and became a gifted organist and composer. Webbe's book, Essay on Church Plain Chant, published in London in 1782, contained the melody that would be associated with "O Come All Ye Faithful." Reverend Frederick Oakeley (1802-1880) did a rough translation of the Latin verses into English in 1841, but revisited the translation eleven years later to give us the words we recognize today. They appeared in print in London in 1852 in F. H. Murray's A Hymnal for Use in the English Church. Bob - hammered dulcimer.
