Henry Ramsden Bramley

Henry Ramsden Bramley (4 June 1833 – February 1917) was an English clergyman and hymnologist perhaps best known for his collaborations with the composer Sir John Stainer.

[7] Amongst these were a number of now-standard carols which the collection helped to popularise including "The First Nowell", "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen", "The Seven Joys of Mary", "See, Amid the Winter's Snow", "Once In Royal David's City", "The Apple Wassail", "The Holly and the Ivy" and "What Child Is This?".

[6] Bramley also wrote a poem, "O Thou the Central Orb" in 1873 at the request of Frederick Ouseley as a text to fit a 1619 verse anthem by Orlando Gibbons, "O all true faithful hearts".

Gibbons' original anthem was composed in thanksgiving for the recovery of King James VI and I from illness; Bramley's replacement text makes poetic reference to the divine radiance of God.

A new choral setting of "O Thou the Central Orb" was subsequently composed by Charles Wood and published in 1933 in The Church Anthem Book.

While Wood's rousing setting has become a very popular work in the repertoire of Anglican church music, it has been suggested that Bramley's words ultimately "don't mean anything at all.