O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in afflictions I call,
My comfort by day and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.
The poem is by Joseph Swain of England (1762-1796). The tune is attributed to Freeman Lewis whom Tillett calls merely “an American musician.” His dates are 1780-1859. Found also GCM 65, Baptist Hymnal (1902), No. 389. Methodist Hymnal (1905), No. 530; GOS 102, SOH 15. Miss Gilchrist (op. cit.) compares this tune with ‘Fair Rosie Ann’ in Greig’s Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads, p. 771. The chorus of ‘The Sinking of the Titanic’ a phonograph-recorded song of wide popularity in America during the 1920’s, is practically the same melodic trend as that of ‘Dulcimer’. Its text is:
It was bad when that great ship went down,
It was bad when that great ship went down,
There was husbands and wives,
Little child’en lost their lives,