Wordwise Hymns

Thanks very much for your input. “Keep on Believing” has been a favourite of mine for some years. But I initially wasn’t sure of the authorship. As you can see from my blog on the hymn I have since gained more information. You’ve added a bit more. Maybey I need to add Mr. Taylor’s volume to my library. (I see there’s a book with the same title by a “Gordon Avery.” Is this the same person? Just wondered.) God bless.

Thanks for the question, Sophie. I think your problem may be that someone has connected the hymn to the wrong author. John Francis Wade (1710-1786) gave us the Christmas carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” But it was Emily Shirreff (1814-1897) who wrote the lovely hymn “Gracious Saviour, Who Didst Honour.” You can find all the words and music for the hymn by clicking on the Cyber Hymnal. It offers you three possible tunes. You can listen to them played by clicking on each MIDI, and get a copy of the music by clicking on the PDF. Hope that’s a help.

Thanks for the question. Redd Harper’s song isn’t an easy one to track down. But it is #361 in a Hymn book called Praise! Our Songs and Hymns. If you don’t have a copy, or know someone that does, you can purchase a copy here, from Amazon.

Well, so far I’ve drawn a blank on this one. I looked through several dozen books, including many edited by Peterson, and couldn’t find this song. The phrase comes from Isaiah 55:7. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” And I see the hymn’s listed in a compendium of the hundreds of songs Peterson produced. But I’m sorry I can’t shed any more light. If any readers have a suggestion as to where the hymn can be found, I’d be glad to hear from you.

Thanks for your kind words. As to the hymn…Wow! I must have checked about 30 resources, online and in my library. Can’t tell you much. The hymn is found in both Living Hymns (#303), and Hymns of the Christian Life (#248). Both of these hymnals list the author as F. Brook. Where did you get the name Frederick? Because actually the author is a woman named Frances! She was the daughter of an English clergyman, and she was born in 1870. She had a great passion for missionary work, but health problems kept her from foreign missionary service, though two of her sisters went abroad serving the Lord.

In addition to “My Goal is God Himself” (written in 1895) she wrote several other songs, including a hymn called “My Home Is God Himself” (written in 1899). Of the latter hymn, she said, “The helpful testimony of another of God’s children, and my own deep need of restfulness in Him, led me to the truth expressed in [this hymn].” It actually reminds me of some wonderful lines from Charles Dickens’ novel Nicholas Nickleby. Smike, speaking to Nicholas–the only one who’d ever shown him any love and kindness–says, “You are my home!”

Hope that’s a bit of help. Pretty obscure hymn writer, but a beautiful hymn.

This is an easy one. The song is called Victory in Jesus. You can read a bit about it here (the second item on the page.

Thanks for the question. I have the lyrics, and a bit of the story behind the hymn here. As noted there, a concert version was recorded by famed baritone, John Charles Thomas, who had one of the great voices of the 20th century. You can hear him sing it on his radio program here. You can hear the hymn version played on the MIDI file on the Cyber Hymnal here.

So there you are. Three answers for one question.

Sorry, I can’t help you on that one. Didn’t recognize the melody you’ve included. I know of two or three common tunes to this carol, but it doesn’t seem to fit any of them! All I can tell you definitely is that neither the words nor the music came from Martin Luther, although some books erroneously refer to it as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn.” (I know that doesn’t help you, but just thought I’d throw it in! )

(I hope you realize I was joking–about my legal culpability.) In any event, here’s my son’s answer to the question of whether I’m a descendant of Thomas Cotterill’s. (I’ll pass on your most recent post to him as well.)

Very interesting!

The short answer is, no. You’re not. But, if the question was “Are you closely related?” that would be another matter. I’m not sure.

We do know that our family was only about 40 miles away only 6 years earlier. Now, 40 miles of course in those days could be a very long way indeed. On the other hand, in the days of the Industrial Revolution, 6 years could be a very long time.

The closest relation could be a brother of your ancestor William, your Great Great Grandfather. Which of course would make him (Thomas) an Uncle. Unfortunately, I don’t yet have any info on this William’s siblings.

It would be very interesting to know a connection, because I found it very odd that our ancestors are so hard to find in parish records, even when I have a pretty good idea exactly what parish they were in, and the records are readily available. One explanation would be that the Cottrills were a part of some kind of dissenting group, and so weren’t married and buried where the “normal” people were.

So it would be very interesting to find out more about the religion and activities about this Thomas, because it may actually shed some light on what the Cottrills were up to in this era.