• Little Lamb for SSA or SAB Choir & Piano is available freely at Choirworks

I remember being taught this song by my mother as a child. I think it is a darling, tender and lovely little addition to the Christmas children’s song tradition. I can’t bear the thought of it winking out of existence and being entirely forgotten, though my research into the authorship if the piece has yielded no results so far (see below).

Here I have arranged it for SSA or SAB choir and piano, having performed it many times with my Christmas caroling groups with strummed or fingerpicked accompaniment (chords included). I’m releasing this version freely in the hope that it will not be lost and that others might discover (what I think is) an absolute gem.

The surviving copy in my possession identifies the author only as “R.M.” and gives no publication information, date, publisher, or copyright notice. I have made an extensive search for the authorship and provenance of the song, including searches of the distinctive lyrics, historical children’s music catalogs, copyright-related records, and collections of children’s and Christmas music. The exact text does not appear to be readily indexed elsewhere, and I have not found a reliable source identifying “R.M.” with a particular composer or lyricist.

The song does bear several characteristics of mid-20th-century children’s/Primary repertoire: it is a very short, simple song for young singers, marked “Tenderly,” with a question-and-answer structure that can be divided between two children. Because of this, I have specifically considered the possibility that it originated in the Latter-day Saint Primary music tradition. Historical LDS children’s publications—including the Church’s Sing with Me (1969) and other Primary song collections—were investigated. I have not found this particular song in the principal Sing with Me collection, however, so an LDS origin remains only a possibility. It may instead have appeared in The Children’s Friend, another supplementary Primary publication, a locally produced collection, or an unrelated children’s music publication.

The song is not the familiar “Little Lamb” text by William Blake, nor is its melody the melody of Do You Hear What I Hear?, despite some thematic similarities. The surviving score appears to contain an original melody and text, credited simply to “R.M.”

At present, therefore, the most accurate attribution is:

“Little Lamb” — words and music by R.M. (unidentified)
Publication date and original source: unknown
Copyright status: undetermined

I have deliberately not assumed that the work is in the public domain merely because the surviving copy contains no copyright notice. If the original publication can be located, its date, publication history, and any copyright or renewal information would need to be established before its legal status could be determined with confidence.

I am making this copy freely available because it is a charming little song that deserves to survive, while acknowledging that its authorship and copyright history remain unresolved. If you have any information about the author of the melody and words, the original publication, or the identity of “R.M.” beyond what is documented here, please contact ryan@choirworks.com.