We Three Kings of Orient Are is a Christmas carol (technically an Epiphany carol) written by Rev. John Henry Hopkins, Jr. who wrote both the lyrics and the music as part of a Christmas pageant for the General Theological Seminary in New York City. It was supposedly written as early as 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns and Song was published in 1863. In this arrangement the use of a dance-like idiom creates a lively atmosphere, which is tinged with a Spanish flavour in the central section!