And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
- Luke 2:8-18 -
In his early twenties James settled in Sheffield, England and found employment with the local newspaper, The Sheffield Register. As it turned out, Montgomery had a real talent for writing and immensely enjoyed working for the Register which was a very political paper... so political in fact that its owner had to eventually flee the country to avoid imprisonment. James seized the opportunity and bought the paper, renaming it the Sheffield Iris. His fiery editorials also scandalized and angered the local authorities and James was, on two separate occasions, thrown into jail. James was undaunted by this and, in fact, became something of a celebrity in Sheffield for his willingness to go to prison for his principles. When he was released from jail, he used his newfound popularity to promote causes dear to his heart, which included the abolition of the slave trade and the plight of young boys forced to work as chimney sweeps.
James was also a vocal proponent of foreign missions and the British Bible Society, despite his parents' unfortunate demise. He might not have been cut out for the ministry, but Montgomery was a staunch Christian, and gradually became one of the most respected men in Sheffield, his writings on all topics widely read. In addition to his political editorials, James kept up his poetry writing (he produced a booklet of poems while in jail called Prison Amusements) and also wrote a large number of hymns. Early on the morning of Christmas Eve in 1816, Montgomery was reading Luke 2 and felt moved to compose a poem inspired by the passage, writing it so quickly that he had it printed in that days edition of the Iris.
The poem was set to music a few years later and Angels From The Realms Of Glory was sung for the first time on Christmas Day, 1821, in a Moravian church in England. The hymn has been set to a number of tunes over the years; the best known one is the tune used in the video below, entitled Regent Square. But it is also frequently sung to the tune Iris, which is the same tune which Angels We Have Heard On High is sung to.