Part 10
The poem is by Joseph Grigg (b. 1720). Ananias Davisson of the Valley of Virginia named and claimed the tune in his _Kentucky Harmony_ (1815). Annabel Morris Buchanan has found a tune with the title 'Retirement' in a manuscript tune book which she judges to be from the eighteenth century. No text accompanies the tune, and no source is given. It follows:
[Music]
A comparison of the two tunes indicates rather plainly that Davisson wrote the tune down from oral tradition, and that his noting was indicative of the manner in which it was actually sung.
No. 98 PILGRIM, OSH 201
Hexatonic, mode 2 b (I -- 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
Come, all ye mourning pilgrims dear, Who're bound for Canaan's land, Take courage and fight valiantly, Stand fast with sword in hand. Our Captain's gone before us, Our Father's only Son; Then pilgrims dear, pray do not fear, But let us follow on.
We have a howling wilderness To Canaan's happy shore, A land of dearth and pits and snares, Where chilling winds do roar. But Jesus will be with us And guard us by the way, Though enemies examine us, He'll teach us what to say.
Come all you pilgrim travelers, Fresh courage take with me; Meantime I'll tell you how I came This happy land to see: Through faith, the glorious telescope, I view'd the worlds above, And God the Father reconciled, Which fills my heart with love.
The tune is found also CHI 54, MOH 147, KNH 57, HH 392, SOC 117, and WP 46. Among the many secular songs using this tune are 'Daniel Monroe', dating from around 1785, Rickaby, pp. 184 and 229; 'Lady and the Dragoon', Sharp, i., 337, recorded in North Carolina in 1918; 'Sheffield Apprentice', Sharp, ii., 66; 'Loving Reilly', Sharp, ii., 81 and 82; 'Rebel Soldier', or 'Poor Stranger' Sharp, ii., 215; 'Sons of Liberty', Sharp, ii., 225; 'John Barleycorn', noted by Sharp in England in 1909; 'Gallant Poachers' or 'Van Diemen's Land', also in England, see JFSS, vii., 42, for references; 'I Wish I Was in Dublin Town', or 'The Irish Girl', JFSS, viii., 263; and 'Barley and the Rye', JFSS, viii., 273; 'High Germany' and 'Erin's Lovely Home', _One Hundred English Folk-Songs_, pp. 124 and 127; 'King's Lynn', _Christian Science Hymnal_; and 'Rise Up Young William Reilly', Petrie, No. 510. Stephen Foster's tune 'Way Down in Ca-i-ro' shows influence from this tune formula. See _The Musical Quarterly_, vol. xxii., No. 2.
No. 99 MISSISSIPPI, SKH 34
Heptatonic aeolian, mode A + b (I II 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
When Gabriel's awful trump shall sound, And rend the rocks, convulse the ground And give to time her utmost bound, Ye dead arise to judgment. See lightnings flash and thunders roll; See earth wrapt up like parchment scroll, Comets blaze, sinners raise, Dread amaze, horrors seize The guilty sons of Adam's race, Unsav'd from sin by Jesus.
The Christian, fill'd with rapturous joy, Midst flaming worlds he mounts on high, To meet his Savior in the sky And see the face of Jesus. The soul and body reunite, And fill with glory infinite. Blessed day, Christians say, Will you pray that we may All join that happy company To praise the name of Jesus.
The compiler of the _Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony_ attributed the song to "Bradshaw". I find distinct ancestral traces of its tune in 'Princess Royal' given in a number of traditional forms as a morris dance tune in Sharp, _The Morris Dance Book_. Assuming these to be the oldest forms of the tune, the next younger form seems to have been what was called in Walsh's _Compleat Dancing Master_ (_ca._ 1730), "The Princess Royal, the new way". In 1796 Shield adapted the air to the words of 'The Saucy Arethusa' in the ballad opera _The Lock and Key_. It may be found entitled 'The Arethusa' in _The English Musical Repository_, p. 32. At about the same time--around the end of the eighteenth century--the tune was used also for 'Bold Nelson's Praise' a version of which was recently recorded by Sharp, _One Hundred English Folk-Songs_, No. 88. The as yet unidentified "Bradshaw" seems to have taken one of these late-eighteenth-century tunes--probably 'Arethusa'--as his model when he made the 'Mississippi' song as it appeared in the _Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony_ in 1820.
No. 100 PLEADING SAVIOR, OSH 234
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
Now see the Savior stands pleading At the sinner's bolted heart. Now in heav'n he's interceding, Undertaking sinners' part. Sinners, can you hate this Savior? Will you thrust him from your arms? Once he died for your behavior, Now he calls you to his arms.
Sinners, hear your God and Savior, Hear his gracious voice today; Turn from all your vain behavior, Oh repent, return, and pray. Sinners, can you hate this Savior? Will you thrust him from your arms? Once he died for your behavior, Now he calls you to his arms.
The first line of the text above should probably read
Now the Savior stands a-pleading.
_The Methodist Hymn Book_ of England, London, 1933, has the above tune under the title 'Saltash', and its source is given as the _Plymouth Collection_, 1855.
No. 101 NETTLETON or SINNER'S CALL, PB 4
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Come, thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace! Streams of mercy never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above: Praise the mount! O fix me on it, Mount of God's unchanging love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by thy help I'm come; And I hope, by thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me, when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to save my soul from danger, Interposed his precious blood!
The words are the widely sung ones of Robinson. Metcalf (Frank J., _Stories of Hymn Tunes_, p. 141) thinks the tune belongs to John Wyeth (1770-1858). It is the tune that has been used for the Parody 'Tell Aunt Rhody.' And its close relative 'Sweet Affliction' or 'Greenville', in this collection, has been used for the 'Go Tell Aunt Rhody' parody.
No. 102 CHARIOT OF MERCY, HH 290
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
The chariot of mercy is speeding its way, Far, far through the shadowy gloom, Where the lands that in death's dark obscurity lay, Are bursting the bars of their tomb. _etc._
This familiar tune continues with the words:
I see where 'tis shedding its luminous ray, Dispersing the shadows of night; And wondering nations are hailing the day, And rejoice in its glorious light.
The _Hesperian Harp_ gives the tune as an "Irish Air". We recognize it as the melody to which 'Believe Me, If all Those Endearing Young Charms' is sung universally. Woolridge tells us it is the setting for the popular ballad 'My Lodging, It is on the Cold Ground' as printed "on all broadsides, with music, of the last century", meaning the eighteenth century. The ballad, in connection with a different tune, had been popular from around the middle of the seventeenth century in England. With the above tune its singing vogue seems not even yet to have abated. See Chappell's _Old English Popular Music_, ii., 137ff. An old Irish version of the tune is 'Oh Shrive me Father', Petrie, No. 632. Stephen Foster undoubtedly had this popular tune formula in mind when he composed 'Old Folks at Home'. See _Musical Quarterly_, vol. xxii., No. 2, pp. 158-160.
No. 103 STOCKWOOD or SISTER THOU WAST MILD, OSH 118
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Sister, thou wast mild and lovely, Gentle as the summer breeze, Pleasant as the air of evening When it flows among the trees. Peaceful be thy silent slumber, Peaceful in the grave so low; Thou no more wilt join our number, Thou no more our songs shalt know.
Dearest sister, thou hast left us, Here thy loss we deeply feel; But 'tis God that hast bereft us, He can all our sorrows heal. Yet again we hope to meet thee, When the day of life is fled, Then in heaven with joy to greet thee, Where no farewell tear is shed.
The words are attributed in the _Sacred Harp_ to Samuel Francis Smith, author of 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee'.
No. 104 ROSE, REV 332
Heptatonic aeolian or dorian minorized, cannot be classified (I II 3 IV V [VI] 6 [VII] 7)
[Music]
O tell me no more Of this world's vain store, The time for such trifles With me now is o'er. A country I've found Where true joys abound, To dwell I'm determined On that happy ground.
The souls that believe, in paradise live, And me in that number will Jesus receive; My soul, don't delay, he calls thee away; Rise, follow the Savior, and bless the glad day.
Four more stanzas of the text are given in the _Revivalist_. The tune was recorded "as sung by Rev. A. C. Rose" from whom it got its title. The oldest recording of the melody known to me is on page 38 of Ingalls' _Christian Harmony_, 1805. The Reverend Rose's song appears in this collection also as 'O Tell Me No More', in its standardized tune-book form, whereas the recorder of the above variant has caught much of the folk-singing manner. Both of the tunes in question are related to the 'Lord Randal' melodies which are found in Sharp, i., 43, G.
No. 105 SUPPLICATION, OSH 45
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
O thou who hear'st when sinners cry, Tho' all my crimes before thee lie, Behold them not with angry look, But blot their mem'ry from thy book.
Create my nature pure within, And form my soul averse to sin; Let thy good spirit ne'er depart, Nor hide thy presence from my heart.
I cannot live without thy light, Cast out and banished from thy sight; Thy holy joys, my God, restore, And guard me that I fall no more.
Words attributed to Watts; tune to Chapin. Found also, _Choral-Music_, p. 48, KYH 20, MOH 26, GCM 110, SOH 5, GOS 589, UH 14. See WS 190 for the tune's use with the 'Wicked Polly' ballad which is also to be found in this collection. It is a variant also of 'Lord Bateman', Sharp, _One Hundred English Folk-songs_, No. 6; and of 'Hind Horn', _British Ballads from Maine_, pp. 73 and 78. _The Singer's Companion_ (New York, 1854) has a strikingly similar tune under the title 'Hame, Hame, Hame', a Jacobite song whose words tell of a Scotch exile and his longing for home. The editor of that collection found it in the _Garland of Scotia_. The old Scotch tune is doubtless the source of 'Supplication'.
No. 106 PRAISE GOD, OSH 528
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Oh, for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free; A heart that's sprinkled with his blood, So freely shed for me, Oh, for a heart submissive, meek; Oh, for a heart submissive, meek, My great Redeemer's throne, Where only Christ is heard to speak, Where Jesus reigns alone.
Oh, for an humble, contrite heart, believing, true and clean, Which neither life nor death can part from him that dwells within. A heart in every thought renewed, and full of love divine; Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, a copy, Lord, of thine.
Seaborn M. Denson composed this tune as a setting to Charles Wesley's text and inserted it, in a fuguing-tune setting, in the _Original Sacred Harp_ of 1911. The tune is testimony to the fact that its composer was steeped in the traditional Anglo-American folk-melodism and in that particular direction which it took in the hands of the eighteenth century fuguing-song makers. Compare for melodic similarities 'Geordie', JFSS, iii., 191. _White Spirituals_ tells more about Mr. Denson who died in 1936.
No. 107 LEANDER, SOH 128
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
My soul forsakes her vain delight, And bids the world farewell, Base as the dirt beneath thy feet And mischievous as hell. No longer will I ask your love, Nor seek your friendship more; The happiness that I approve Is not within your pow'r.
There's nothing round this spacious earth That suits my soul's desire; To boundless joy and solid mirth My nobler thoughts aspire. O for the pinions of a dove To mount the heav'nly road; There shall I share my Savior's love, There shall I dwell with God.
The tune is ascribed to "Austin", and the words to Watts. Found also, UH 66, OSH 71, HOC 61, WP 52, TZ 100, MOH 129. The second part of the tune reminds of the second part of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home'. Variants of the melody are 'Jubilee', CHI 62 and REV 355; and 'This Is the Jubilee', OL 113.
No. 108 THERE IS A REST REMAINS, REV 135
Hexatonic, minorized, cannot be classified (I II 3 IV [IV'] V -- 7 [VII])
[Music]
Lord, I believe a rest remains To all thy people known; A rest where pure enjoyment reigns, And thou art loved alone.
There is a rest remains, There is a rest remains, There is a rest remains For all the people of God.
A rest where all our soul's desire Is fixed on things above; Where fear, and sin, and grief expire, Cast out by perfect love.
O that I now the rest might know, Believe and enter in; Now, Savior, now the power bestow, And let me cease from sin.
Remove this hardness from my heart, This unbelief remove; To me the rest of faith impart-- The Sabbath of thy love.
A remarkably close remake of this peculiar song by the negroes is given in Dett, p. 108, under the title 'Go Down, Moses', where we see the melodic setting of the above words "To all thy people known" and "For all the people of God" fitted note for note to "Let thy people go". The tunes of 'Rejected Lover', Sharp, ii., 96ff., show similarities.
No. 109 BOURBON, COH 67
Pentatonic, mode 2 (I -- 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
'Twas on that dark and doleful night, When pow'rs of earth and hell arose Against the Son of God's delight, And friends betray'd him to his foes.
Before the mournful scene began, He took the bread and blest and brake; What love through all his actions ran, What wondrous words of love he spake.
"This is my body, broke for sin, Receive and eat the living food;" Then took the cup and bless'd the wine-- "'Tis the new cov'nant in my blood."
"Do this," he cried, "till time shall end, In mem'ry of your dying Friend; Meet at my table and record The love of your departed Lord."
Jesus, thy feast we celebrate, We show thy death, we sing thy name. Till thou return, and we shall eat The marriage supper of the Lamb.
Words attributed sometimes to Watts. Tune attributed to Freeman Lewis. Found also, HH 8, GCM 159, SKY 61, MOH 60 and 143, UH 17, GOS 575. This is the same tune which is used for 'McFee's Confession', Cox, p. 525; 'Samuel Young', Sharp, ii., 271; 'Come, Father Build Me' (as sung in England), JFSS, viii., 212; and it is similar to 'Lord Bateman', _One Hundred English Folksongs_, No. 6. For further tune relationship see 'Kedron' in this collection.
No. 110 GLORIOUS PROSPECT, OL 363
Hexatonic, mode 3 b (I II III IV V VI --)
[Music]
My soul's full of glory, which inspires my tongue; Could I meet with angels, I'd sing them a song; I'd sing of my Jesus and tell of his charms; And beg them to bear me to his loving arms.
Methinks they're descending to hear while I sing; Well pleased to hear mortals sing praise to their King. O angels! O angels! my soul's in a flame! I sink in sweet raptures at Jesus' dear name.
O Jesus! O Jesus! thou balm of my soul! 'Twas thou, my dear Savior, that made my heart whole; Oh bring me to view thee, thou precious, sweet King, In oceans of glory thy praises to sing!
The author of the _Olive Leaf_ tells us: "This is the first tune I ever harmonized; about 1833. I had learned the air--which I suspect John Adam Granade originated, before I was born--when a boy, to these words." That the tune went earlier with some secular ballad, seems evident from the resemblances found, for example, in 'Pretty Nancy of Yarmouth', Sharp, i., 379; 'Lamkin', Sharp, i., 201ff.; 'The Silk Merchant's Daughter', Sharp, i., 383f.; and 'Green Grows the Laurel', Sharp ii., 211.
No. 111 O YE YOUNG AND GAY AND PROUD or ETERNITY
Pentachordal, cannot be classified (I II III IV V -- --)
[Music]
O ye young and gay and proud, You must die and wear the shroud, Time will rob you of your bloom, Death will drag you to the tomb. _Chorus_ Then you'll cry and want to be Happy in eternity. Eternity, eternity, Happy in eternity.
The white throne will soon appear, All the dead will then draw near. Then you'll go to heav'n or hell. There you must forever dwell. _Chorus_
Recorded by the author from the singing of Mrs. Elizabeth Showalter-Miller, Dayton, Virginia, Jan. 20, 1930. Further stanzas of the text and variant melodies may be found in Thomas, p. 118, and Richardson, p. 73.
No. 112 FRIENDS OF FREEDOM, CH 285
Heptatonic, mode 1 b (I II -- IV V VI 7)
[Music]
Friends of freedom, swell the song! Young and old, the strain prolong! Make the temp'rance army strong, And on to victory. Lift your banners, let them wave; Onward march, a world to save; Who would fill a drunkard's grave And bear his infamy?
Shrink not when the foe appears; Spurn the coward's guilty fears; Hear the shrieks, behold the tears Of ruined families! Raise the cry in every spot: "Touch not, taste not, handle not!" Who would be a drunken sot, The worst of miseries.
Give the aching bosom rest; Carry joy to every breast; Make the wretched drunkard blest, By living soberly. Raise the glorious watchword high: "Touch not, taste not till you die" Let the echo reach the sky, And earth keep jubilee.
God of mercy, hear us plead, For thy help we intercede; See how many bosoms bleed! And heal them speedily. Hasten, Lord, the happy day, When, beneath thy gentle ray, Temp'rance all the world shall sway, And reign triumphantly.
Evidently the time should be six-eight. It is found, measured thus, in the 1859 edition of the _Sacred Harp_, p. 152, under the title 'Bruce's Address, Spiritualized', and begins,
Soldiers of the cross, arise! Lo, your Captain from the skies, Holding forth the glitt'ring prize, Calls to victory. Fear not though the battle lower, Firmly stand the trying hour, Stand the tempter's utmost power, Spurn his slavery.
The earlier tune is given, in _Lyric Gems of Scotland_, p. 242, as that of 'Hey tutti tattie'. It is there associated with the text 'Scots wha ha'e wi' Wallace bled', the same as 'Bruce's Address', of which both the texts cited here are parodies.
No. 113 PILGRIM'S SONG, REV 369
Heptatonic mixolydian, mode 1 A + b (I II III IV V VI 7)
[Music]
Oh, brethren I have found a land that doth abound With fruit as sweet as honey; The more I eat, I find, the more I am inclined To shout and sing hosanna.
And as I pass along I'll sing the Christian's song, I'm going to live forever. My soul doth long to go where I may fully know The glories of my Savior;
Perhaps you think me wild, or simple as a child; I am a child of glory; I am born from above, my soul is filled with love; I love to tell the story.
My soul now sits and sings, and practices her wings, And contemplates the hour When the messenger shall say: "Come quit this house of clay, And with bright angels tower."
The tune is a variant of 'The Winter it is Past', Petrie, No. 439.
No. 114 HOLY MANNA, HOC 122
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
Brethren, we have met to worship And adore the Lord our God, Will you pray with all your power While we try to preach the word? All is vain unless the spirit Of the holy One comes down; Brethren, pray, and holy manna Will be showered all around.
Brethren, see poor sinners round you, Trembling on the brink of wo; Death is coming, hell is moving, Can you bear to let them go? See our fathers, see our mothers And our children sinking down; Brethren, pray, and holy manna Will be showered all around.
Is there here a trembling jailor Seeking grace and fill'd with fears? Is there here a weeping Mary, Pouring forth a flood of tears? Brethren, join your cries to help them; Sisters, let your prayers abound; Pray, O pray that holy manna May be scatter'd all around.
Two more stanzas are in SOH 103. This rousing song, still immensely popular, was claimed (probably first recorded) by William Moore, compiler of the _Columbian Harmony_, in 1825. Subsequent compilers have allowed his claim to stand. Found also, KNH 88, OSH 59, HH 244, SOC 191, HOC 107, WP 89, TZ 301, GOS 340, PB 291. The numerous imitations which flattered this tune are exemplified by GOS 243 and 633, and REV 148. For negro adoptions see WS 268.
No. 115 WAR DEPARTMENT, SOH 94
Chinese pentatonic, cannot be classified (I II -- IV V 6 --)
[Music]
No more shall the sound of the war-whoop be heard, The ambush and slaughter no longer be fear'd, The tomahawk buried shall rest in the ground, And peace and goodwill to the nations abound.
All spirit of war to the gospel shall bow, The bow lie unstrung at the foot of the plow; To prune the young orchard the spear shall be bent, And love greet the world with a smile of content.
The words were found by the _Southern Harmony_ compiler in _Mercer's Cluster_. The tune is found also HH 277, OSH 160, SOC 167. It is possibly related to Petrie, Nos. 1030 and 1285.
No. 116 DROOPING SOULS, OL 184
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Drooping souls, no longer grieve, Heaven is propitious; If on Jesus you believe, You will find him precious. Jesus now is passing by, Calling mourners to him; Drooping souls, you need not die; Now look up and view him.
For complete text see 'Lebanon'. The song is inscribed "Wm. Hauser, M. D., May 29th, and July 18th, 1874."
No. 117 BE GONE UNBELIEF, OL 187
Pentatonic, mode 2 (I -- 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Be gone unbelief, my Savior is near, And for my relief will surely appear; By prayer let me wrestle and He will perform; With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm.
Tho' dark be my way, since He is my guide, 'Tis mine to obey, 'Tis His to provide; Tho' cisterns be broken, and creatures all fail, The word He has spoken will surely prevail.
His life in time past forbids me to think He'll leave me at last, in trouble to sink; Each sweet Ebenezer, I have in review, Confirms His good pleasure to bring me quite thro'.
Since all that I meet shall work for my good; The bitter, the sweet; the medicine, food; Tho' painful at present 'twill cease before long, And then, O how pleasant the conqueror's song!
William Hauser, compiler of the _Olive Leaf_ tells that this "air [was] learned of Reverend Samuel Anthony, of Georgia, in 1841." The tune of a Virginia version of the 'Brown Girl' (Sharp, i., 303) is very close to this in note-trend and character. Also 'Pretty Saro', Sharp, ii., 10-12; 'Cuckoo', Sharp, ii., 180; 'Green Bushes', Sharp, ii., 155; 'Farewell, Dear Rosanna', Sharp, ii., 243 and 244, are the same type. Negro adoptions of the tune are Marsh, pp. 144 and 173, and SS, p. 33. A variant in this collection is 'Rest in Heaven'. For its relationship to the 'I Will Arise' tune family, see the song with that title in this collection. The errors in Hauser's notation of the tune (second, fourth, sixth measures etc.) have been left uncorrected.
No. 118 PILGRIM'S TRIUMPH, OL 61