“Festive Hymn Settings, Set 2” contains an arrangement for congregational accompaniment on organ and tambourine that loosely follows Hopkins' suggestions. Only verses 1 and 5 are sung as a trio.” A brief instrumental interlude followed the refrain. The following instructions were given in a footnote: “Each of verses 2, 3, and 4, is sung as a solo to the music of Gaspard's part to the 1st and 5th verses, the accompaniment and chorus being the same throughout. They were given the names Gaspard (or Caspar, who sang the melody), Melchior, and Balthazar. The first published edition of this song was arranged for a trio of men, representing the three kings. This hymn is most appropriate for Epiphany, and may be one of the first songs to come to mind about the story of the magi in Matthew 2. In choosing a tempo and a mood, imagine the easy gait of a camel and the color of a Middle Eastern caravan. The tune can be sung in harmony on the first and last stanzas and every refrain, but in unison on the middle stanzas. Hopkins wrote the tune KINGS OF ORIENT for his text, with which it was first published. The only significant textual variation is the last line of the fifth stanza, which is given several renditions with the same basic meaning: the whole creation echoes the joy that Christ has come. The next three stanzas elaborate on the significance of each gift, and the final stanza summarizes the song. The first stanza describes the journey of the magi, following the star. It is a longstanding tradition, however, and the rest of the song focuses on the three gifts without mentioning their bearers.
Second, though Matthew 2:11 says there were three gifts, the Bible does not say that there were also three magi, one for each gift that is a matter of tradition. First, the visitors from the East were magi, not kings. The first line of the song contains two historical inaccuracies.
John Henry Hopkins wrote this Epiphany carol in 1857 and first published it in his own Carols, Hymns, and Songs in 1863.
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