Part 12
For variant forms of the tune see 'Marion' and 'I Will Arise' in this collection. Among its related secular tunes are 'Greenwood Siding' ('Cruel Mother'), Cox, p. 522; an unnamed tune in Petrie, No. 193; 'Oh Love it is a Killing Thing', Petrie, No. 469; and 'When First I left Old Ireland', Petrie, No. 863. A remarkable tune resemblance and one which opens to the imagination surprising vistas as to the possible age of the 'New Orleans' tune, is to be seen in the Whitsuntide church melody 'Iam Christus astra ascenderat' from the eleventh century:
[Music]
Iam Christus astra ascenderat regressus unde venerat.
The same melodic trend is seen also in the German tune set to 'Christ der du bist der helle Tag' from the year 1568. See _Hymns Ancient and Modern_, Nos. 178 and 604.
No. 140 HOLY SON OF GOD, REV 365
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
I love the holy Son of God, Who once this vale of sorrows trod, And bore my sins, a heavy load, Up Calv'ry's gloomy mountain. High on the cross he shameful hung, The sport of many an envious tongue, While pains severe his nature wrung, And streamed life's crimson fountain.
Oh, why did not his fury burn, And floods of vengeance on them turn? Amazing! See his bowels yearn In soft compassion on them. No fury kindles in his eyes; They beam with love, and when he dies, Father, forgive, the sufferer cries, They know not--Oh, forgive them.
No. 141 WORTHY THE LAMB, SWP 92
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 IV 6 7)
[Music]
Glory to God on high; Let earth and skies reply, Praise ye his name, praise ye his name; His love and grace adore, Who all our sorrows bore, Sing aloud evermore, Worthy the Lamb, worthy the Lamb.
Jesus, our Lord and God, Bore sin's tremendous load, Praise ye his name, praise ye his name; Tell what his arm has done, What spoils from death he won; Sing his great name alone; Worthy the Lamb.
While they around the throne Cheerfully join as one, Praising his name, praising his name, Those who have felt his blood Sealing their peace with God, Sound his dear fame abroad, Worthy the Lamb.
Three more stanzas of the text are in the _Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist_. The tune is attributed to Bradshaw.
No. 142 CAPTAIN KIDD, COH 73
Hexatonic, mode 4 b (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Through all the world below God is seen all around, Search hills and valleys through, There he's found. The growing of the corn, The lily and the thorn, The pleasant and forlorn, All declare, God is there; In meadows drest in green, There he's seen.
See springing waters rise, Fountains flow, rivers run; The mist that veils the sky Hides the sun; Then down the rain doth pour, The ocean it doth roar, And beat upon the shore; And all praise in their ways The God who ne'er declines His designs.
The sun with all his rays Speaks of God as he flies; The comet in her blaze, God she cries. The shining of the stars, The moon when she appears, His awful name declares; See them fly through the sky, And join the solemn sound All round.
Not India's hills of gold, Where the wonders are told, Nor zephyrs strong and bold Can unfold The mountain Calvary, Where Christ our Lord did die. Hark, hear the Savior cry, Mountains quake, heavens shake, Christ, call'd to heaven's host, Left their coast.
The tune is ascribed to Nicholson. The oldest American recording known to me is in the four-shape-note manuscript song collection made by Catherine Alderice in or near Emmittsburg, Md., 1800-1830, p. 37. Miss Gilchrist calls attention to the secular 'Captain Kidd' ballad, of which the above is a parody, as it appeared, twenty-five verses long, in _Our Familiar Songs and Who Made Them_, published in America, 1889. She describes it as "a sort of dying speech and testament probably dating from about 1701 in which year Kidd and nine of his associates were hanged in Execution Dock.... There were many other eighteenth century songs, built on this peculiar stanzaic plan, celebrating other notorious characters, 'Admiral Benbow,' 'Jack (or Sam) Hall.'" Other American spiritual songs in this collection having the same stanzaic form are 'Wondrous Love' and 'Remember Sinful Youth'.
No. 143 JERUSALEM, SOH (1835) 60
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 IV V 6 VII).
[Music]
Jerusalem, my happy home, O how I long for thee! When will my sorrows have an end, Thy joys when shall I see! But O, the happy, happy place, The place where Jesus reigns; The place where Christians all shall meet, Never to part again.
Further stanzas of the text are given under 'Long-Sought Home' in this collection. The song is attributed to Benjamin White. This is Benjamin Franklin White, brother-in-law of, and co-worker with, William Walker (compiler of the _Southern Harmony_) and author subsequently of the _Sacred Harp_. See _White Spirituals_, 84.
No. 144 ROBY, OL 273
Heptatonic dorian, mode 2 A + B with altered 3rd (I II 3 [III] IV V VI 7)
[Music]
Tempest tossed, troubled spirit, Dost thou groan beneath thy load, Fearing thou shalt not inherit In the kingdom of thy God? View thy Savior on the mountain In temptation's painful hour; Tho' of grace himself the fountain, And the Lord of boundless pow'r.
Do thy blooming prospects languish? Sayest thou still, "I'm not his child?" View thy Savior's dreadful anguish, Famished in the gloomy wild. Not a step in all thy journey, Thro' this gloomy vale of tears, But thy Lord hath trod before thee; He thy way to glory clears.
The _Olive Leaf_ compiler informs us that this song which was a favorite with the late Rev. Wesley P. Arnold, of Georgia, was "learned of some dear Baptist friends in Iridell Co., N. C., in 1839, and called 'Roby', their name."
No. 145 REMEMBER SINFUL YOUTH or SOLEMN THOUGHT, SOH 29
Pentatonic, mode 2 (I -- 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Remember, sinful youth, you must die, you must die, Remember, sinful youth, you must die; Remember, sinful youth, who hate the way of truth And in your pleasures boast, you must die, you must die; And in your pleasures boast, you must die.
Uncertain are your days here below, here below, Uncertain are your days here below, Uncertain are your days, for God hath many ways To bring you to your graves here below, here below, To bring you to your graves here below.
The God that built the sky, great I AM, great I AM, The God that built the sky, great I AM, The God that built the sky, hath said, (and cannot lie), Impenitents shall die, and be damn'd, and be damn'd, Impenitents shall die, and be damn'd.
And, O my friends, don't you, I entreat, I entreat, And, O my friends, don't you, I entreat, And, O my friends, don't you your carnal mirth pursue, Your guilty souls undo, I entreat, I entreat, Your guilty souls undo, I entreat.
Unto the Saviour flee, 'scape for life! 'scape for life! Unto the Saviour flee, 'scape for life! Unto the Saviour flee, lest death eternal be Your final destiny, 'scape for life! 'scape for life! Your final destiny, 'scape for life!
The mood of the poem indicates a considerable age for it. That the song as a whole was decidedly among the stock of orally transmitted ones is indicated by the many claimants to its authorship. Such claimants in the southern books are F. Price, William Caldwell, James Carrell and Ananias Davisson. Found also, UH 56, KNH 108, HH 225, SKH 66, CHH 361. The stanzaic form is that of 'Captain Kidd' in this collection. In his _Christian Harmony_, William Walker adds the note that "I learned it [the tune] from my dear mother (who now sings in heaven) when I was only three years old,--the first tune I ever learned." That was in 1812. That the song was even older, however, is shown by its appearance in Ingalls' _Christian Harmony_ of 1805, p. 39.
No. 146 WEEPING SAVIOR, OSH 33
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Did Christ o'er sinners weep? And shall our cheeks be dry? Let floods of penitential grief Burst forth from every eye.
The Son of God in tears, Angels with wonder see; Be thou astonished, O my soul; He shed those tears for thee.
He wept that we might weep; Each sin demands a tear; In heav'n alone no sin is found, And there's no weeping there.
The text is attributed to Benjamin Beddome, and the tune to Joseph Barnby, and to E. J. King. The first, sixth, and seventh measures had only quarter notes in the _Sacred Harp_. The slurred eighth notes are inserted from a variant of the tune found in the _Olive Leaf_. They represent probably an effort on the part of the editor of that song book to present the tune as really sung.
No. 147 DETROIT, SOH 40
Hexatonic, mode 2, b (I -- 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
Do I not love thee, O my Lord? Behold my heart and see; And turn each cursed idol out, That dares to rival thee.
Hast thou a lamb in all thy flock I would disdain to feed? Hast thou a foe before whose face I fear thy cause to plead?
Would not my ardent spirit vie With angels 'round thy throne, To execute thy sacred will, And make thy glory known?
Thou know'st I love thee, dearest Lord, But Oh! I long to soar Far from the sphere of mortal joys, That I may love thee more.
Philip Doddridge is credited with the words. The tune is attributed to 'Bradshaw' in the _Southern Harmony_. Found also, UH 33, KNH 23, OSH 39, HH 158, SOC 175, HOC 22, WP 24, SKH 85, GOS 282. The melody is similar to a number of those given by Sharp (i., 150ff.) with 'The Wife of Usher's Well'.
No. 148 I SHALL BE SATISFIED, REV 62
Hexatonic, mode 4 b minorized (I II 3 IV V -- 7 [VII])
[Music]
If I in thy likeness, O Lord, may awake, And shine a pure image of thee; Then I shall be satisfied when I can break These fetters of flesh and be free. I know this stain'd tablet must first be wash'd white, To let thy bright features be drawn, I know I must suffer the darkness of night, To welcome the coming of dawn.
Then I shall be satisfied when I can cast The shadows of nature all by, When this cold dreary world from my vision is past, And let this soul open her eye. I gladly shall feel the blest morn drawing near, When time's dreary fancy shall fade, If then in thy likeness I may but appear, I rise with thy beauty arrayed.
One more stanza of text in the _Revivalist_. The song is used "as sung by Rev. G. C. Wells." It is reminiscent of the 'Henry Martin' tune; see Gould and Sharp, _English Folk-Songs for Schools_, p. 22.
No. 149 EDGEFIELD, OSH 82
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
How tedious and tasteless the hours When Jesus no longer I see! Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers Have all lost their sweetness to me, Have all lost their sweetness to me.
The tune is attributed, in the _Sacred Harp_, to J. T. White, a Georgian, and is dated 1844. It is a variant of 'When the Cock Crows it is Day', Petrie, No. 478. The fuller text, attributed to John Newton, is given under the song 'Green Fields' in this collection.
One Hundred and one Revival Spiritual Songs
No. 150 JESUS IS MY FRIEND (A), OSH 345
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Come life, come death, come then what will, Jesus is my friend. His foot-steps I will follow still, Jesus is my friend. Jesus is my friend, O hallelujah! Jesus is my friend.
In the _Sacred Harp_ of 1859 this song, tune and words, is attributed to the Georgian, J. P. Rees. I have heard my negro servant, Annie Ware, singing it, or fragments of it including the final phrase, "Jesus is my friend," in Nashville, Tennessee, 1932. It is found also GOS 652.
No. 151 LOST CITY or TO GLORY I WILL GO, OSH 320
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
O when shall I see Jesus And reign with him above, And from the flowing fountain Drink everlasting love, And to glory I will go, And to glory I will go, will go, will go, And to glory I will go.
The words are by John Leland. The old tune seems to have been wedded to the above text by E. L. King, about 1844, according to the _Original Sacred Harp_. John G. McCurry applied the same tune to a text beginning:
I'd rather live a beggar While here on earth I stay
and ending with the refrain
And to begging I will go.
See 'Beggar' in this collection where there are references to the seventeenth century prototype of the above song. Further stanzas of the above spiritual text are given under 'Faithful Soldier'.
No. 152 GOLDEN HARP or TO PLAY ON THE GOLDEN HARP, OSH 274
Pentatonic, mode 2 (I -- 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Farewell, vain world, I'm going home, To play on the golden harp; My Savior smiles and bids me come, To play on the golden harp. _Chorus_ I want to be where Jesus is, To play on the golden harp. To play on the golden harp, To play on the golden harp; I want to be where Jesus is, To play on the golden harp.
Sweet angels beckon me away To sing God's praise in endless day.
I'm glad that I am born to die, From grief and woe my soul shall fly.
Bright angels shall convey me home, Away to New Jerusalem.
I'll praise my Master while I've breath, I hope to praise him after death.
I hope to praise him when I die, And shout salvation as I fly.
I soon shall pass this vale of death, And in his arms I'll lose my breath.
And then my happy soul shall tell My Jesus hath done all things well.
Recorded in 1869 for the edition of the _Sacred Harp_ which appeared in that year. The tune stems from some variants of 'Come all ye Faithful Christians', cf. JFSS, ii., 115ff.
No. 153 I CAN'T STAY AWAY, CSH 95
Heptatonic aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
Farewell, vain world, I'm going home, I can't stay away, My Savior smiles and bids me come, I can't stay away. I can not stay much longer here, I can't stay away, For the gospel ship is passing by, I can't stay away.
Further stanzas of the text are given under 'Golden Harp'. Compare, for melodic similarities 'Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard', Sharp, i., 161, 162, 164, 168, and 170.
No. 154 MY HOME IS OVER JORDAN, REV 390
Pentachordal, cannot be classified (I II 3 IV V -- --)
[Music]
My home is over Jordan, My home is over Jordan, My home is over Jordan, Where pleasures never die.
Where the wicked cease from troubling, _etc._ And the weary are at rest.
Farewell to sin and sorrow, _etc._ I bid you all adieu.
And you, my friends, prove faithful, _etc._ And on your way pursue.
This spiritual tune has been widely used as a chorus to other songs. An example is 'Wings of the Morning' in this collection.
No. 155 O I'M SO HAPPY
Pentatonic, mode 1 (I II -- IV V VI --)
[Music]
O I am so happy in Jesus, His blood has redeem'd me from sin; I shout and I sing in my gladness, To know he is dwelling within.
O I am so happy in Jesus, His blood has redeem'd me from sin, So happy that he is my Savior, So happy he's dwelling within.
Recorded by the author, September 21, 1932, in Nashville, Tennessee, from the singing of Samuel E. Asbury who learned it from hearing it sung at camp meetings in western North Carolina in the 1880's. The tune is quite evidently an orally transmitted version of that of 'Faithful Soldier', in this collection, which first appeared in the _Southern Harmony_ (1835) and was claimed by William Walker, the compiler of that collection. See also 'Hallelujah' in this collection, a type tune to which the above melody is organically related, for further data as to kindred tunes.
No. 156 CUBA or GO PREACHERS or POOR MOURNER'S FOUND A HOME, OSH 401
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Go, preachers, and tell it to the world; Go, preachers, and tell it to the world; Go, preachers, and tell it to the world: Poor mourner's found a home at last.
Through free grace and a dying Lamb; Through free grace and a dying Lamb; Through free grace and a dying Lamb, Poor mourner's found a home at last.
This typical spiritual was taken into the 1859 edition of the _Sacred Harp_. Other stanzas were added by simply substituting in the place of "preachers," the words "fathers," "mothers," etc. A negro version of tune and words is in _Slave Songs_, No. 24.
No. 157 SINNERS TURN, OL 266
Heptatonic, essentially aeolian, mode 2 A + b (I II 3 [III] IV V 6 [VI] 7)
[Music]
Sinners, turn, why will ye die? God, your maker asks you why. God who did your being give, Made you with himself to live. _Chorus_ Oh! turn, sinners, turn! May the Lord help you turn, Oh! turn, sinners, turn, Why will you die?
He the fatal cause demands, Asks the work of his own hands, Why, ye thankless creatures, why Will you cross his love and die? _Chorus_
Sinners, turn, why will ye die? God, your Savior, asks you why! God, who did your souls retrieve, Died himself that ye might live. _Chorus_
This tune is closely related to 'Animation' and, like it, to the worldly tune 'Ropesman' in Thomas, p. 164. The melody of the above chorus seems to have been derived from 'Willy Taylor', Petrie, No. 745. Compare for similarities 'Run Nigger Run', SS 89.
No. 158 DEATH AIN'T YOU GOT NO SHAME
Pentachordal, cannot be classified (I II III IV V -- --)
[Music]
Death, ain't you got no shame, shame? Death, ain't you got no shame, shame? Death, ain't you got no shame, shame? Death, ain't you got no shame?
Recorded by the compiler of this collection from the singing of Francis Arthur Robinson, Nashville, Tennessee, as he had heard it in the backwoods of Wayne County, Tennessee, in 1926. Mr. Robinson called it a "barefoot white" song. The tied notes are sung in a skid or scoop. Subsequent stanzas:
Left his pappy to moan, moan, _etc._ Left his widder alone, lone, _etc._ Left his mammy to weep, weep, _etc._
and many more. In _The Carolina Low-Country_, page 249, a version of the song is given as sung by a negro congregation in Beaufort, South Carolina.
This song is one of the most primitive in the present collection. It is valuable, however, in that it exemplifies well a lyric level which suited both whites and blacks of a certain cultural status.
No. 159 COME TO JESUS, REV 142
Hexatonic, 6th missing, cannot be classified but obviously ionian (I II III IV V -- VII)
[Music]
Come to Jesus, come to Jesus, Come to Jesus just now, Just now come to Jesus, Come to Jesus just now.
Subsequent verses are built up on: He will save you; O, believe him; He is able; He is willing; He'll receive you; Call upon him; He will hear you; Look unto him; He'll forgive you; He will cleanse you; He will clothe you; Jesus loves you; Don't reject him; and, Only trust him. A negro version of tune and text is in _Slave Songs_, No. 85.
Was 'Come to Jesus' a tune importation from Germany? Erk and Böhme (_Deutscher Liederhort_, vol. iii., p. 735) bring several variants of what is called an "altes Fastenlied." I reproduce one of them:
[Music]
Es sangen drei Engel einen süszen Gesang, sie sangen, dasz es Gott in dem Himmel erklang.
The first part of the German tune is almost identical with the corresponding part of the one, heard widely among American students, with such texts as 'O My Darling Clementine' and 'Found a Horseshoe Just Now'--evident parodies on the 'Come to Jesus' tune and words. The second part of the German melody is strikingly like that of the above mentioned negro version in _Slave Songs_.
No. 160 GLAD NEWS or WE'LL LAND ON SHORE, SOC 18
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.
And we'll land on shore, Yes, we'll land on shore, And we'll land on shore And be safe for evermore.
A variant of the above text and tune is 'when we pass over Jordan', Mason's _Harp of the South_, p. 295.
No. 161 CHRISTIAN PROSPECT or THERE'S A BETTER DAY, SOH 323
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
We have our trials here below, O glory hallelujah! We have our trials here below, O glory hallelujah! There's a better day a-coming, Hallelujah! There's a better day a-coming, Hallelujah!
A few more beating winds and rains, O glory hallelujah! A few more beating winds and rains, O glory hallelujah! And the winter will be over, Hallelujah! And the winter will be over, Hallelujah!
A few more rising and setting suns And we'll all cross over Jordan.
I feel no ways like getting tired, I am making for the harbor.
I hope to get there by and by, My home is over Jordan.
There are four more stanzas. The song is found also in KNH 52. Both Walker, compiler of the _Southern Harmony_, and Davisson, compiler of the _Kentucky Harmony_, laid claim to its authorship.
They were doubtlessly both recorders of this same piece of unwritten music. That was in the 1830's. See the first phrase of 'Glorishears' (Sharp, _Morris Dances_ Set 5, No. 6) for melodic similarities. The above song, both tune and words, inspired the composition of 'Christian's Hope' in this collection. A negro remake of tune and words is in Dett, p. 36.
No. 162 CHRISTIAN'S HOPE or WHERE ALL IS PEACE AND LOVE, OSH 506
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
We have our troubles here below, We're trav'ling through this world of woe, To that bright world where loved ones go, Where all is peace and love.
Where all is peace and love, To that bright world where loved ones go, Where all is peace and love.
We're fettered and chained up in clay, While in this body here we stay; By faith we know a world above, Where all is peace and love.
I feel no way like getting tired, I'm trusting in his holy word, To guide my weary feet above, Where all is peace and love.
The _Sacred Harp_, edition of 1911, has the following note: "H. A. Parris, who composed the words and music to the 'Christian's Hope', resides at this time, 1911, at Helicon, Alabama. He is a great lover of the old _Sacred Harp_ tunes." Mr. Parris composed the song by assembling, happily withal, wandering distichs and melodic phrases from songs of much older times. His chief source, both tonally and textually, was 'Christian Prospect' in this collection. I have been told that this spiritual grips the _Sacred Harp_ singers' emotions so deeply that they can hardly get to the third verse before many burst into tears.
No. 163 DULCIMER or BELOVED, PB 309
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight, On whom in afflictions I call, My comfort by day and my song in the night, My hope, my salvation, my all.
The poem is by Joseph Swain of England (1762-1796). The tune is attributed to Freeman Lewis whom Tillett calls merely "an American musician." His dates are 1780-1859. Found also GCM 65, _Baptist Hymnal_ (1902), No. 389. _Methodist Hymnal_ (1905), No. 530; GOS 102, SOH 15. Miss Gilchrist (_op. cit._) compares this tune with 'Fair Rosie Ann' in Greig's _Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads_, p. 771. The chorus of 'The Sinking of the Titanic' a phonograph-recorded song of wide popularity in America during the 1920's, is practically the same melodic trend as that of 'Dulcimer'. Its text is: