MUSIC. ST. DROSTANE was written for the words “Ride on, ride on” for the Congregational Hymn and Tune Book, London, 1862. It has since come into wide use with this hymn. Other tunes also used with this text are “Winchester New” ([369]) and “Park Street” ([272]).
For comments on the composer, J. B. Dykes, see [Hymn 1].
HIS PASSION
102. When my love to God grows weak
John R. Wreford, 1800-81
A useful hymn, true to the Gospel record, and free from the emotional morbidity that is found in many passion hymns.
John Wreford, an Englishman trained for the Unitarian ministry, was compelled to give up his ministry on account of a failing voice. He then opened a school at Edgbaston. The later years of his life were spent in retirement at Bristol. The original of this hymn written in 1837, received little notice until it was rewritten and improved by Samuel Longfellow, brother of the more famous Henry Wadsworth. In this revised form it has been included in a number of the best English hymnals.
MUSIC. ORIENTIS PARTIBUS, the so-called “Donkey Festival Tune,” has a most peculiar origin. During the Middle Ages, the church in some parts of France celebrated January 14 as the “Feast of the Ass,” to commemorate the flight into Egypt. A beautiful young woman holding a child in her arms rode a donkey through the streets of the town and then into the principal church. The donkey, with its burden, stood beside the high altar while mass was celebrated, during which the hymn beginning with the line “Orientis partibus adventatis asinus” was sung. The melody of this hymn is the basis for our tune which was adapted by Richard Redhead and published in his Church Hymn Tunes, 1853. The original was the work of Pierre De Corbeil, Archbishop of Sens, who died in 1222. It is a virile tune worthy of its increasing place in modern hymn books.
For Richard Redhead see [Hymn 109].