MUSIC. DUNDEE (or FRENCH) is one of the twelve Common Tunes appearing in the Scottish Psalter, The CL Psalms of David, &, Edinburgh, 1615, where it is named “French Tune.” Its first appearance in an English Psalter is in Ravencroft’s Whole Book of Psalms, 1621, where it is called “Dundy.” It is one of the best known of the psalm tunes and its smooth, flowing melody has enjoyed great popularity.
For comments on the Scottish Psalter see [Hymn 575].
CONSECRATION OF CHILDREN
298. Gracious Savior, gentle Shepherd
Jane Eliza Leeson, 1807-1882
John Keble, 1792-1866
A hymn for the children’s consecration service, evolved by John Keble from three hymns—“Shepherd in thy bosom, folded,” “Loving Shepherd of Thy sheep” ([429]), and “Infant sorrow, infant weakness,” written by Jane Eliza Leeson. Keble took the main ideas of these hymns and rewrote them into a hymn of five stanzas, two of which are omitted here.
Jane Eliza Leeson was born in London and died there. She had rare gifts in writing for children, and published several books of hymns—Infant Hymnings, and Hymns and Scenes of Childhood—specially for children. Very little is known of her life, except that she was a prominent figure in the Catholic Apostolic Church and that some of her hymns were supposedly “prophetical utterances,” prompted by the Holy Spirit, at public services, which she “delivered slowly with short pauses between the verses.” Late in life she united with the Roman Catholic Church.
For comments on John Keble, see [Hymn 22].
MUSIC. MANNHEIM is from the source mentioned in the note on [Hymn 174]. The present form of the melody is much altered from the original.