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[My God, my Father, while I stray]
Appears in 5 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Lowell Mason Incipit: 12333 23455 65432 Used With Text: My God, my Father, while I stray
[My God, my Father, while I stray]
My God, my Father, while I stray
Author: Charlotte Elliott Appears in 563 hymnals Used With Tune: [My God, my Father, while I stray]
My God, my Father, while I stray
Looking Homeward
Author: Godfrey Thring Appears in 153 hymnals First Line: The radiant morn hath passed away Used With Tune: [The radiant morn hath passed away]
Looking Homeward
I cannot always trace the way
Appears in 97 hymnals Used With Tune: UNWIN
I cannot always trace the way
I cannot Always Trace the Way
Author: Sir John Bowring Hymnal: Select Songs No. 2 #43 (1893) Languages: English Tune Title: [I cannot always trace the way]
I cannot Always Trace the Way
I cannot always trace the way
Hymnal: The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book #322a (1859) Tune Title: UNWIN
I cannot always trace the way
Dear Saviour, while on earth I stray
Hymnal: Select Songs No. 2 #44 (1893) Languages: English Tune Title: [Dear Saviour, while on earth I stray]
Dear Saviour, while on earth I stray
Charlotte Elliott
1789 - 1871 Author of "My God, my Father, while I stray" in Select Songs No. 2 Elliott, Charlotte, daughter of Charles Elliott, of Clapham and Brighton, and granddaughter of the Rev. H. Venn, of Huddersfield, was born March 18, 1789. The first 32 years of her life were spent mostly at Clapham. In 1823 she removed to Brighton, and died there Sept. 22, 1871. To her acquaintance with Dr. C. Malan, of Geneva, is attributed much of the deep spiritual-mindedness which is so prominent in her hymns. Though weak and feeble in body, she possessed a strong imagination, and a well-cultured and intellectual mind. Her love of poetry and music was great, and is reflected in her verse. Her hymns number about 150, a large percentage of which are in common use. The finest and most widely known of these are, "Just as I am” and "My God, my Father, while I stray." Her verse is characterized by tenderness of feeling, plaintive simplicity, deep devotion, and perfect rhythm. For those in sickness and sorrow she has sung as few others have done. Her hymns appeared in her brother's Psalms & Hymns and elsewhere as follows:—
(1) Psalms and Hymns for Public, Private, and Social Worship; selected by the Rev. H. V. Elliott, &c., 1835-48. In this Selection her signature is "C. E." (2) The Christian Remembrancer Pocket Book. This was originally edited by Miss Kiernan, of Dublin. Miss Elliott undertook the editorship in 1834. (3) The Invalid's Hymn Book. This was originally compiled by Miss Kiernan, but before publication was re-arranged by Miss Elliott, who also added 23 hymns in the first edition., 1834. These were increased in the following edition to the sixth in 1854, when her contributions amounted to 112. From that date no change was made in the work. (4) Hours of Sorrow Cheered and Comforted; or, Thoughts in Verse, 1836. (5) Morning and Evening Hymns for a Week, printed privately in 1839 for sale for a benevolent institution in Brighton, and published in 1842. (6) Thoughts in Verse on Sacred Subjects, 1869.
Miss Elliott's Poems were published, with a Memoir by her sister, Mrs. Babington, in 1873, and an additional volume of Leaves from her unpublished Journals and Poems, also appeared in 1870.
In addition to her more important hymns, which are annotated under their respective first lines, there are in common use:—
i. From The Invalid's Hymn-book, 1834-1841:—
1. Clouds and darkness round about thee. (1841.) Resignation.
2. Not willingly dost Thou afflict [reject]. (1841.) Divine Chastisement.
3. O God, may I look up to Thee. (1841.) Teach us to Pray.
4. This is enough; although 'twere sweet. (1834.) On being debarred from Divine Worship.
5. With tearful eyes I look around. (1841.) The Invitation "Come Unto Me."
ii. From H. V. Elliott's Psalms & Hymns, 1835-1839:—
6. Glorious was that primal light. Christmas.
7. Hail, holy day, most blest, most dear. Easter.
8. My only Saviour, when I feel. Jesus His people's Rest.
9. Now let our heavenly plants and flowers. Monday Morning.
10. The Sabbath-day has reached its close. Sunday Evening.
iii. From Miss Elliott's Hours of Sorrow, 1836:—
11. Father, when Thy child is dying. Prayer for a Departing Spirit.
12. Leaning on Thee, my Guide, my Friend. Death Anticipated.
13. My God, is any hour so sweet? The Hour of Prayer.
14. O faint and feeble-hearted. Resignation enforced.
15. There is a holy sacrifice. The Contrite Heart.
iv. From her Hymns for a Week, 1839:—
16. Guard well thy lips; none, none can know. Thursday Morning.
17. There is a spot of consecrated ground. Pt. i.
18. This is the mount where Christ's disciples see. Pt. ii. Monday Evening.
19. This is the day to tune with care. Saturday Morning.
v. From Thoughts in Verse on Sacred Subjects, 1869:—
20. As the new moons of old were given. On a Birthday.
21. I need no other plea. Pt. i.
22. I need no prayers to saints. Pt. ii. Christ, All in All.
23. Jesus, my Saviour, look on me. Christ, All in All.
Several of the earlier of these hymns were repeated in the later works, and are thus sometimes attributed to the wrong work. [Rev. James Davidson, B.A.]
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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Elliott, Charlotte, p. 328, i. Other hymns are:—
1. O how I long to reach my home. Heaven desired. From the Invalid's Hymn Book, 1834.
2. The dawn approaches, golden streaks. Second Advent. From Thoughts in Verse, &c, 1869.
Of her hymns noted on p. 328, Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11, and 13, all appeared in the 1st edition of Elliott's Psalms & Hymns, 1835.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
========================
Elliott, Charlotte, pp. 328, i.; 1561, ii. Further research enables us to give amended dates to some of her hymns as follows:—
1. With tearful eyes I look around (No. 5). This is in the 1835 Appendix to The Invalid's Hymn Book.
2. My only Saviour, when I feel (No. 8). Also in the 1835 Appendix.
3. Father, when Thy child is dying (No. 11). In the 1833 Appendix.
4. I want that adorning divine, p. 559, i. In the Christian Remembrancer 1848, p. 22.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
Charlotte Elliott
Godfrey Thring
1823 - 1903 Author of "Looking Homeward" in Select Songs No. 2 Godfrey Thring (b. Alford, Somersetshire, England, 1823; d. Shamley Green, Guilford, Surrey, England, 1903) was born in the parsonage of Alford, where his father was rector. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, England, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1847. After serving in several other parishes, Thring returned to Alford and Hornblotten in 1858 to succeed his father as rector, a position he retained until his own retirement in 1893. He was also associated with Wells Cathedral (1867-1893). After 1861 Thring wrote many hymns and published several hymnals, including Hymns Congregational (1866), Hymns and Sacred Lyrics (1874), and the respected A Church of England Hymn Book Adapted to the Daily Services of the Church Throughout the Year (1880), which was enlarged as The Church of England Hymn Book (1882).
Bert Polman
================
Thring, Godfrey, B.A., son of the Rev. J. G. D. Thring, of Alford, Somerset, was born at Alford, March 25, 1823, and educated at Shrewsbury School, and at Balliol College, Oxford, B.A. in 1845. On taking Holy Orders he was curate of Stratfield-Turgis, 1846-50; of Strathfieldsaye, 1850-53; and of other parishes to 1858, when he became rector of Alford-with-Hornblotton, Somerset. R.D. 1867-76. In 1876 he was preferred as prebend of East Harptree in Wells cathedral. Prebendary Thring's poetical works are:— Hymns Congregational and Others, 1866; Hymns and Verses, 1866; and Hymns and Sacred Lyrics, 1874. In 1880 he published A Church of England Hymnbook Adapted to the Daily Services of the Church throughout the Year; and in 1882, a revised and much improved edition of the same as The Church of England Hymn Book, &c.
A great many of Prebendary Thring's hymns are annotated under their respective first lines; the rest in common use include:—
1. Beneath the Church's hallowed shade. Consecration of a Burial Ground. Written in 1870. This is one of four hymns set to music by Dr. Dykes, and first published by Novello & Co., 1873. It was also included (but without music) in the author's Hymns & Sacred Lyrics, 1874, p. 170, and in his Collection, 1882.
2. Blessed Saviour, Thou hast taught us. Quinquagesima. Written in 1866, and first published in the author's Hymns Congregational and Others, 1866. It was republished in his Hymns & Sacred Lyrics, 1874; and his Collection, 1882. It is based upon the Epistle for Quinquagesima.
3. Blot out our sins of old. Lent. Written in 1862, and first published in Hymns Congregational and Others
Godfrey Thring
Lowell Mason
1792 - 1872 Composer of "[My God, my Father, while I stray]" in Select Songs No. 2 Dr. Lowell Mason (the degree was conferred by the University of New York) is justly called the father of American church music; and by his labors were founded the germinating principles of national musical intelligence and knowledge, which afforded a soil upon which all higher musical culture has been founded. To him we owe some of our best ideas in religious church music, elementary musical education, music in the schools, the popularization of classical chorus singing, and the art of teaching music upon the Inductive or Pestalozzian plan. More than that, we owe him no small share of the respect which the profession of music enjoys at the present time as contrasted with the contempt in which it was held a century or more ago. In fact, the entire art of music, as now understood and practiced in America, has derived advantage from the work of this great man.
Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Mass., January 8, 1792. From childhood he had manifested an intense love for music, and had devoted all his spare time and effort to improving himself according to such opportunities as were available to him. At the age of twenty he found himself filling a clerkship in a banking house in Savannah, Ga. Here he lost no opportunity of gratifying his passion for musical advancement, and was fortunate to meet for the first time a thoroughly qualified instructor, in the person of F. L. Abel. Applying his spare hours assiduously to the cultivation of the pursuit to which his passion inclined him, he soon acquired a proficiency that enabled him to enter the field of original composition, and his first work of this kind was embodied in the compilation of a collection of church music, which contained many of his own compositions. The manuscript was offered unavailingly to publishers in Philadelphia and in Boston. Fortunately for our musical advancement it finally secured the attention of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, and by its committee was submitted to Dr. G. K. Jackson, the severest critic in Boston. Dr. Jackson approved most heartily of the work, and added a few of his own compositions to it. Thus enlarged, it was finally published in 1822 as The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason's name was omitted from the publication at his own request, which he thus explains, "I was then a bank officer in Savannah, and did not wish to be known as a musical man, as I had not the least thought of ever making music a profession." President Winchester, of the Handel and Haydn Society, sold the copyright for the young man. Mr. Mason went back to Savannah with probably $500 in his pocket as the preliminary result of his Boston visit.
The book soon sprang into universal popularity, being at once adopted by the singing schools of New England, and through this means entering into the church choirs, to whom it opened up a higher field of harmonic beauty. Its career of success ran through some seventeen editions. On realizing this success, Mason determined to accept an invitation to come to Boston and enter upon a musical career. This was in 1826. He was made an honorary member of the Handel and Haydn Society, but declined to accept this, and entered the ranks as an active member. He had been invited to come to Boston by President Winchester and other musical friends and was guaranteed an income of $2,000 a year. He was also appointed, by the influence of these friends, director of music at the Hanover, Green, and Park Street churches, to alternate six months with each congregation. Finally he made a permanent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, and gave up the guarantee, but again friendly influence stepped in and procured for him the position of teller at the American Bank.
In 1827 Lowell Mason became president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. It was the beginning of a career that was to win for him as has been already stated the title of "The Father of American Church Music." Although this may seem rather a bold claim it is not too much under the circumstances. Mr. Mason might have been in the average ranks of musicianship had he lived in Europe; in America he was well in advance of his surroundings. It was not too high praise (in spite of Mason's very simple style) when Dr. Jackson wrote of his song collection: "It is much the best book I have seen published in this country, and I do not hesitate to give it my most decided approbation," or that the great contrapuntist, Hauptmann, should say the harmonies of the tunes were dignified and churchlike and that the counterpoint was good, plain, singable and melodious.
Charles C. Perkins gives a few of the reasons why Lowell Mason was the very man to lead American music as it then existed. He says, "First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their shortcomings. Second, he was a born teacher, who, by hard work, had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of themselves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them."
The personality of Dr. Mason was of great use to the art and appreciation of music in this country. He was of strong mind, dignified manners, sensitive, yet sweet and engaging.
Prof. Horace Mann, one of the great educators of that day, said he would walk fifty miles to see and hear Mr. Mason teach if he could not otherwise have that advantage.
Dr. Mason visited a number of the music schools in Europe, studied their methods, and incorporated the best things in his own work. He founded the Boston Academy of Music. The aim of this institution was to reach the masses and introduce music into the public schools. Dr. Mason resided in Boston from 1826 to 1851, when he removed to New York. Not only Boston benefited directly by this enthusiastic teacher's instruction, but he was constantly traveling to other societies in distant cities and helping their work. He had a notable class at North Reading, Mass., and he went in his later years as far as Rochester, where he trained a chorus of five hundred voices, many of them teachers, and some of them coming long distances to study under him. Before 1810 he had developed his idea of "Teachers' Conventions," and, as in these he had representatives from different states, he made musical missionaries for almost the entire country. He left behind him no less than fifty volumes of musical collections, instruction books, and manuals.
As a composer of solid, enduring church music. Dr. Mason was one of the most successful this country has introduced. He was a deeply pious man, and was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Mason in 1817 married Miss Abigail Gregory, of Leesborough, Mass. The family consisted of four sons, Daniel Gregory, Lowell, William and Henry. The two former founded the publishing house of Mason Bros., dissolved by the death of the former in 1869. Lowell and Henry were the founders of the great organ manufacturer of Mason & Hamlin. Dr. William Mason was one of the most eminent musicians that America has yet produced.
Dr. Lowell Mason died at "Silverspring," a beautiful residence on the side of Orange Mountain, New Jersey, August 11, 1872, bequeathing his great musical library, much of which had been collected abroad, to Yale College.
--Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.
Lowell Mason
