One night in his sleep Caedmon heard a voice telling him to sing. 'What shall I sing?' he asked. 'Sing about the Creation,' was the reply.

'But I'm only a cowherd,' he said.

Yet the voice insisted. So Caedmon began and he found lovely words and music coming out of his mouth.

The following morning he was taken before the Abbess Hilda. She asked to hear him, and Caedmon found he was able to repeat the beautiful hymn. He himself was amazed.

'God has given you a wonderful gift which you can use to tell other people about God making the world and everything in it,' said Hilda.

However little we think of ourselves and our skills, God can use any of us, just as Caedmon, a lowly cowherd was used to sing a special song, in a story that has lasted for centuries and come down to us today.