This verse anthem based on Psalm 128, was composed by the grand master of Anglican church services in the Jacobean era, Orlando Gibbons. The occasion was the wedding of Sir Robert Carr and Lady Frances Howard. Carr (or Kerr) had been groomed to become Earl of Somerset by King James I of England and Scotland; and the grand ceremony took place on St. Stephen's Day (December 26), 1613 at the Chapel of Whitehall. The scandal that would lead to the downfall of the Earl and the Countess was still several years in the future. As was the preoccupation of aristocrats everywhere, marriage was the means to guarantee future heirs to family titles and estates. Note the lines: "Thy children like the olive-branches: round about thy table" and "Yea, that thou shalt see thy children's children." ++++++++++ Text: Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: and walk in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: O well is thee, and happy shalt thou be. Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine: upon the walls of thine house. Thy children like the olive-branches: round about thy table. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed: that feareth the Lord. The Lord from out of Sion shall so bless thee: that thou shalt see Jerusalem in prosperity all thy life long. Yea, that thou shalt see thy children's children: and peace upon Israel. ++++++++++ Illustrations: 1. Psalm 128 from the King James Bible, 1611 2. Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, John Hoskins, c1625 3. Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset 4. Robert Carr and Frances Howard, Renold Elstrack, c1615 5. Whitehall Palace before the fire, Hendrik Danckerts, c1670; probably representative of the building as it appeared in Carr's time. 6. Robert Carr 7. Frances Howard 8. King James Bible, cover page, 1616 9. Poem for the Wedding of Robert Carr and Frances Howard, Ben Jonson, 1613 10. King James I, patron and mentor to Robert Carr, who likely presided over the wedding ceremony.