"ABIDE WITH ME.”

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 142, 12 March 1938, Page 8 (Supplement)

"ABIDE WITH ME.”

More Than A Hymn: A Tradition. The picturesque little town of Brixham, perched high above the sea atop the Devonshire cliff in England, is preserving for posterity the Berry Head House, where nearly a hundred years ago the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, Vicar of Brixham, wrote the greatly loved hymn “Abide With Me.” To the English, “Abide With Me’ is more than a hymn; it has become a tradition ; and one is as likely to hear a gathering of Britons break into its strains as they are to hear “God Save the King” or "Rule, Britannia.” Not infrequently it is sung to celebrate victory by a throng of spectators on a football field or other places.where one would Jeast expect to hear it. The hymn has a history that goes far beyond the house which Brixham is going to preserve, or the football fields of England. After Lord Kitchener had won the battle of Oradurman and reconquered from the Mahdists the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, “Abide With Me” was given the main place on the programme of the Thanksgiving services held in commemoration of the victory. Again, when General Allenby in the" World War captured the city of Jerusalem and restored the Holy Land to the Cross. "Abide With Me” was the hymn of victory sung by the British soldiers. Thus on two historic occasions the hymn was chosen to mark the triumph of the Crosfe over the Crescent. Wherever the English tongue is known, “Abide With Me” shares in popularity with “Rock of Ages” and “Lead, Kindly Light.” The hymn was written under unusual circumstances. The author preached what he intuitively knew was to be his. last sermon, and on returning to the parish house gave the words of the hymn to bis daughter. He died soon afterward. Few funerals are held in Westminster Abbey when “Abide With Me” is not sung. Like most English coast towns, and especially those of Devon and Cornwall, Brixham has a historical past. Here it was that William of Orange landed in 1688; a statue there to-day commemorates that historic occasion.