You help make Hymnary.org possible. More than 10 million people from 200+ countries found hymns, liturgical resources and encouragement on Hymnary.org in 2025, including you. Every visit affirms the global impact of this ministry.

If Hymnary has been meaningful to you this year, would you take a moment today to help sustain it? A gift of any size—paired with a note of encouragement if you wish—directly supports the server costs, research work and curation that keep this resource freely available to the world.

Give securely online today, or mail a check to:
Hymnary.org
Calvin University
3201 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Thank you for your partnership, and may the hope of Advent fill your heart.

Golden Bells

Welcome to the merry, merry Christmas time

Author: William H. Ruddiman
Tune: [Welcome to the merry, merry Christmas time]
Published in 6 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1. Welcome to the merry, merry Christmas time,
Gladsome with melodious flow;
Sending out the music of its hopes sublime,
Charming all the earth below.
Day of Heav’n’s imparted peace,
May we feel thy joys divine increase;
Catching still the beams of that clear morn
When our infant Lord was born.

Refrain
Golden bells, chime on, chime on,
Chime with tuneful ring!
Ring! ring! bring! bring!
Greetings to our Savior King!

2. Welcome to the merry, merry Christmas time,
Teeming with goodwill to man,
Sweet as with the odors of an Eden clime,
Chief in God’s redeeming plan.
Man’s salvation is thy cheer,
Thou hast banished sin’s enslaving fear,
Scattering the gloom beneath thy ray,
From the Savior’s natal day. [Refrain]

3. Happy be our greetings to the Christmas time,
Brighter than with Bethlehem’s star,
O’er the world rejoicing sounds its richest chime,
Now its splendors blaze afar;
See the dead come forth to life,
And the reign of love o’er-master strife;
Glory in the highest be the song
Unto God from every tongue. [Refrain]

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #1955

Author: William H. Ruddiman

(no biographical information available about William H. Ruddiman.) Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Welcome to the merry, merry Christmas time
Title: Golden Bells
Author: William H. Ruddiman
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Golden bells, chime on, chime on
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #1955
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #1955

Include 5 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
It looks like you are using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue helps keep us running. Please consider white-listing Hymnary.org or getting Hymnary Pro to eliminate ads entirely and help support Hymnary.org.