"Angels from the Realms of Glory" was first printed in the Sheffield Iris on Christmas Eve 1816, though it only began to be sung in churches after its 1825 reprinting in the Montgomery collection The Christian Psalmist and in the Religious Tract Society's The Christmas Box or New Year's Gift.
Before 1928, the hymn was sung to a variety of tunes, including "Regent Square" by Henry Smart, "Lewes" by John Randall, "Wildersmouth" by Edward Hopkins, and "Feniton Court" also by Edward Hopkins. In the United States, the hymn is today most commonly sung to the tune of "Regent Square"; in the United Kingdom, however, the hymn came to be sung to the French traditional carol tune "Iris" after this setting was published in the Oxford Book of Carols.
