New Sacred Quartettes for Male, Female and Mixed Voices ‎#43

43. The little brown church

1 There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood,
No lovelier spot in the vale;
No place was so dear to our childhood
As the little brown church in the dale.

Chorus:
Come to the church in the wildwood,
O come to the church in the vale;
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.

2 O come to the church in the wildwood,
Where the flowers are blooming so fair;
Come, list to the songs of our childhood—
Nowhere else do they sing them as there. [Chorus]

3 We may hear in the calm summer morning
The tones of the clear ringing bell;
How tenderly sweet is the warning
As it calls to the church in the dell. [Chorus]

4 It was there in the church in the wildwood
That we knelt with our mothers in pray'r
In the long-ago days of our childhood—
Come and meet her in memory there. [Chorus]

5 O the little brown church in the wildwood,
With the clustering vine at the door;
O the songs that were dear to our childhood—
Let us sing them together once more. [Chorus]

Text Information

• First Line: There's a church in the valley by the wildwood
• Title: The little brown church
• Author: W. S. P. (Alt.)
• Refrain First Line: Come to the church in the wildwood
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1914

Tune Information

• Name: [There's a church in the valley by the wildwood]
• Composer: Dr. William S. Pitts
• Key: B♭ Major
• Notes: Melody in second tenor.