Sources for 3 songs in The Social Harp

[David]

I'm looking for the sources for three songs in John G. McCurry's Social Harp (1855): Communion (p. 61), Deep Spring (p. 249), and Permanence (p. 22). 

These three songs appear to have been borrowed from other sources by John G. McCurry (because they are uncredited in the Social Harp), but I have not found them in the tune books he used as the source for most of the borrowed songs in The Social Harp: The Sacred Harp, The Hesperian Harp, and The Southern Harmony.

All 3 of these songs are mentioned in George Pullen Jackson's writings:

Deep Spring: GPJ's "Spiritual Folk-Songs of Early America" (p. 65) says this tune is found in John B. Jackson's Knoxville Harmony (1838), p. 90, and Caldwell's Union Harmony (1837), p. 89 -- does anyone have a copy of those books and could see if either or both matches the arrangement in The Social Harp? This song is also on p. 93 of The New Harp of Columbia (1867), credited to "Douglass". 

Communion: GPJ's "Down-East Spirituals and Others" (p. 144) gives this tune the family name "Liberty Hall", and says "The song was widely used in the earlier southern shape-note song books" (but he doesn't say which ones?)

Permanence: This song is apparently covered in GPJ's "Another Sheaf of White Spirituals", p. 163, but I don't have access to that book. 

I'd appreciate any help, especially page scans of these songs from older tune books.

Thanks,

David Smead

[Wade Kotter]

David, I can help with one of these tunes:

COMMUNION is on the bottom of p. 10 in the 1835 first edition of The Southern Harmony and later editions up to 1849; it was apparently removed in the 1854 ed.

https://archive.org/details/southernharmonym0000walk/page/10/mode/1up

According to Temperley's Hymn Tune Index, the earliest printing of COMMUNION is in Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music from 1810. I do not have access to a scan of this printing, but here it is from the 1820 ed. of this tune book:

https://archive.org/details/wyethsrepository00wyet_0/page/68/mode/1up

It is a close variant of the tune LIBERTY HALL, which, according to research done for The Shenandoah Harmony, was arranged by Lucius Chapin in ca. 1801. Rachel Hall and/or Nikos Pappas would, I believe, be able to provide more information on this.

I'll let you know tomorrow if I can help with the others you mention.

Dr. Wade Kotter

Retired Librarian

Independent Hymnologist and Unrestrained Loud Treble

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord" 

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[Bob Richmond]

New Harp of Columbia singer here. In the 35 years I've been singing, neither my wife nor I can remember singing 93 DEEP SPRING, credited to "Douglass". Marion Hatchett's book doesn't add much to what's been said.

In response to: "Deep Spring: GPJ's "Spiritual Folk-Songs of Early America" (p. 65) says this tune is found in John B. Jackson's Knoxville Harmony (1838), p. 90, and Caldwell's Union Harmony (1837), p. 89 -- does anyone have a copy of those books and could see if either or both matches the arrangement in The Social Harp? This song is also on p. 93 of The New Harp of Columbia (1867), credited to "Douglass"."

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[Robert Vaughn]

This probably does not help, but DEEP SPRING is also in the older Harp of Columbia (W. H. & M. L. Swan, 1848), also on page 93 and credited to Douglass. A scan of that book is on the University of Tennessee website. Perhaps this direct link will work.

https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/harp%3A136

Sincerely,

Robert Vaughn 

Mount Enterprise, TX

http://baptistsearch.blogspot.com 

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

http://mtcarmelbaptist.blogspot.com 

For ask now of the days that are past...

http://oldredland.blogspot.com 

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

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[Bob Richmond]

The printing of 93 DEEP SPRING in the 1848 Harp of Columbia books is from the same stereotype (printing) plate used to print the 1867 New Harp. The 1919 printing (or printings) also used the old plates. That's the last anyone's heard of them - it's suspected they ended up in a WW 2 scrap metal drive. The 1975 photographic University of Tennessee reprinting was done from a copy of the 1919 printing. That photographic record survives today, and will be used again if the New Harp of Columbia is ever reprinted.

The original typesetting and making of printing plates was done in Philadelphia, probably by a forerunner of the Lippincott publishing house. I suspect that some record of this may exist in Lippincott's archives, which are supposed to be housed at the University of Pennsylvania.

[Wade Kotter]

Your link worked, Robert. I don't think it matters, but the copy at UTK is dated 1857 on the cover. It appears to be a stereotyped reprint of the 1848 original.

Wade

Dr. Wade Kotter

Retired Librarian

Independent Hymnologist and Unrestrained Loud Treble

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord" 

[Robert Vaughn]

Thanks, Wade, for mentioning that. I was just dating the origin of the Harp of Columbia, rather the actual edition/printing. It is my understanding that these (1848/1857) would be the same as far as the songs/music are concerned. But I have not checked that out carefully (and maybe someone can weigh in more about that); it is good that you pointed that out so that we take that into consideration. 

Blessings,

Robert Vaughn 

Mount Enterprise, TX

http://baptistsearch.blogspot.com 

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

http://mtcarmelbaptist.blogspot.com 

For ask now of the days that are past...

http://oldredland.blogspot.com 

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

[David Smead]

Hi Wade,

Thanks for sharing the two arrangements of Communion. It would make sense for McCurry to have access to an older edition of the Southern Harmony, but the two arrangements are slightly different, and the second one (from Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music) matches the arrangement in The Social Harp.

McCurry made very few changes to the songs he borrowed from the Sacred Harp, Hesperian Harp, and Southern Harmony, and in particular he didn't change the words of any of them (although he sometimes added or deleted verses), so it's interesting that the words to Communion in these sources are different from the Social Harp ("Long have I tried terrestrial joys, But here can find no rest; Far from its vanity and noise, To be with Christ is best.") McCurry certainly could have changed the words, but I almost expect there's another published source we haven't seen yet that has the arrangement from Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music and the words in the Social Harp. 

Thanks,

David

[Fulton, Erin]

Although I doubt there would be any direct influence in terms of arrangement, "Long have I tried terrestrial joys" appears with this tune in Christian Lyre. Lyre both included enough pre-existing songs solicited by Leavitt from his readers and enjoyed a wide enough circulation afterwards that it's often a decent reflection of which tunes and texts were in general circulation, including in particular combinations. 

Best,

E. Fulton.

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Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Sources for 3 songs in The Social Harp

 

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[Nikos Pappas]

Greetings,

Erin is right about the Leavitt connection. I've been able to find over 80 different printings and copies of members of this folk hymn family. Here are my findings about these three tunes.

1) McCurry's printing of COMMUNION is identical to that in Wyeth. However, I would argue that McCurry got it from one of the editions of Alexander Johnson's Johnson's Tennessee Harmony rather than Wyeth as he apparently drew from Tennessee tunebooks for a number of tunes in this tunebook. A close contemporary of Johnson was a farmer by the name of William Black who lived in Georgia before moving to Maury County, Tennessee in 1819 and then to Illinois. A manuscript tunebook of his from his Georgia and Tennessee periods also includes COMMUNION. Interestingly, the Georgia entries are not in shape-note notation but the Tennessee ones are suggesting he only learned shape-note notation after his move west. McCurry's printing of the Wyeth variant was the last printing of this version of the folk hymn. That in Walker's Southern Harmony is slightly different with an added melisma in the first phrase (among others). Walker seemed to want to have a closer connection between the various phrases of this melody. Leavitt's WHITING is set to two different texts: "Long have I tried terrestrial joys," and "Like Paul I would desire to" and it is another closely related variant, but set in two parts. No other compilers printed the Leavitt variant.

Here are the variants that I've found and the earliest sources for these variants (not a complete bibliography):

Tune	Composer Attr.	Source	Date	Compiler	Compiler Location			Parts
LIBERTYHALL		John Ketcham Ms.	1802	John Ketcham	Shelbyville, KY	5u1d7u12(3)42(1)d7	u353(2)12(3)4	3	*this is the version that appeared in Patterson's Church Music (1813) in 4 parts that influenced later shape-note settings of LIBERTY HALL
SLOW TRAVELLER		Christian Harmony	1805	Jeremiah Ingalls	Newbury, VT	111(d7)u12(3)4(3)2(1)d7	u21d7u125	3
COMMUNION

Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music

1810	John Wyeth	Harrisburg, PA	5u11(d7)u1343(1)d7	u3(4)54(3)12(3)4	3
WHATCOAT		David's Harp	1813		Baltimore, MD	5u12(d7)u12(3)43(1)d7	u3(4)5(6)5(3)1(2)3(4)5	3
SINCERITY		Evening Star	1820	Benoni Adams	Otsego County, NY	111(d7)u1343(1)d7	u354(3)13(4)5	3
FOUNTAIN		Sunday School Music Book	1826	E. Osborn	Philadelphia, PA	5u11(d7)u1342(1)d7	u3(4)54(2)134	1
WHITING		Christian Lyre	1830	Joshua Leavitt	New York City, NY	5u11(d7)u1343(1)d7	u3(4)54(3)134	2
WHATCOAT		Church Harmony	[1830] 1831	Henry Smith	Chambersburg, PA	5u12(d7)u12(3)43(1)d7	u3(4)551(2)3(4)5	3
HICKSE'S FAREWELL	W. Walker	Elizabeth Adams' Music Book	1832-1833	Elizabeth Adams	Pendleton (?), SC	3111d7545	u35(4)3134	2	*this is the version that would appear in Walker's Southern Harmony
COMMUNION		Southern Harmony	1835	William Walker	Spartanburg, SC	5u11(d7)u12(3)43(1)d7	u3(4)54(3)12(3)4	3
LIBERTY HALL	Chapin	Sacred Melodeon	1848	Amos Sutton Hayden	Euclid, OH	5u11(d7)u12(3)42(1)d7	u354(3)12(3)4	4
LIBERTY HALL	Chapin	Hesperian Harp	1848	William Houser	Wadley, GA	5u1d7u12(3)42(1)d7	u3(4)53(2)12(3)4	4
LIBERTY HALL		Christian Psalmist, rev. enl.	1850	Silas W. Leonard and Augustus Damon Fillmore	New Albany, IN	5u11(d7)u12(3)42(1)d7	u3(4)53(2)12(3)4	2
WATCHFULNESS		Manual of Sacred Music	1853	Levi Myers	Higginsville, WV	3111d7545	u3(4)5(4)3134	3
HICK'S FAREWELL		West Virginia Lute, ed. 2	1868	W. H. Diddle	Pennsboro', WV	3111d757u1	3(4)54(3)134	3

The attribution to Lucius Chapin is taken from the Logan supplement by Andrew Law.

2) DEEP SPRING is part of a larger folk hymn family with another variant of this tune family found in McCurry's Social Harp on p. 125. This is a tune type descended from the PISGAH form of having the chorus comprise the last two lines of the verse with a modified version of the verse melody adapted to the difference in syllabification of the chorus [verse 8.6.8.6. (C.M.) chorus 6.6.8.6.]. The melody of PISGAH is unrelated, only the form.

Here are the variants that I've found and the earliest sources for these variants (again not a complete bibliography)

Tune	Composer Attr.	Source	Date	Compiler	Compiler Location			Parts
DEEP-SPRING	Douglass	Union Harmony	1834 (1837)	William Caldwell	Dandridge, Jefferson County, TN	5u132311d6(5)	6u113(2)35	4
POTOSI	A. M. Scott	Western District Harmony	1838	Allen M. Scott	Brownsville, TN	5u113(2)31d66	5u334(3)45	3	*this tune would be retitled NEW LIBERTY and attributed to A. C. Clark in the Eclectic Harmony, ed 2 (1847) by Andrew Johnson of Bedford County, TN
ANIMATION		Sacred Harp	1844	B. F. White and E. King	Hamilton, GA	5u113(2)1453	2111(2)35	3	*this tune is retitled THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME and provided with the note "As sung by Rev. Mr. Gamewell" in Walker's 1854 ed. of Southern Harmony
CAROLINE	Arr. by Wm. Houser	Hesperian Harp	1848	William Houser	Wadley, GA	5u132(3)511d6(5)	6u1(2)32(3)55	4
SOLICITUDE		Union Harmony	1848	George Hendrickson	Midway, Craig County, VA	5u132(3)511d6(5)	6u132(3)55	3

This tune family was much more limited in its geographic dispersal. The Douglass attribution is found in Caldwell [1834 (1837)], W Swan and M. Swan (1848), and M. Swan (1867) but not in either edition of John B. Jackson's Knoxville Harmony or Walker's Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist (1845). McCurry almost certainly got this from Walker and not Jackson because he does not include the Douglass attribution and  Jackson hyphenates "DEEP-SPRING" and Walker does not (like that in McCurry).

3) I have not found PERMANENCE in any other tunebook. However, the text "Come, child of Zion, and help me to sing" is most often associated with members of the EXPOSTULATION tune family, sometimes called WESLEY in Funk and others. Jackson might have some info. that I do not.

BTW - Caldwell's book is copyright in 1834, but not printed until 1837, hence my date of 1834 for this book.  

Good luck.

N. Pappas

RDFLD, ME

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[Barry Johnston]

Wow, Nikos!

By the way, Leavitt was apparently not a musician, so he hired an editor for The Christian Lyre. 'The editor Leavitt hired was a promising young musician named Deodatus Dutton, Jr., a divinity student in New York and an organist of some reputation' (Downey 1986, quoting Stribling 1976). So the arrangements, even some compositions, in The Christian Lyre should be attributed to Dutton. For example,  Pleading Savior, Star in the East, and Wallace. Also see Hallelujah (Anonymous).

• Downey, James C. 1986. Joshua Leavitt's The Christian Lyre and the beginnings of the popular tradition in American religious song. Latin American Music Review 7(2):149-161.
• Stribling, Cynthia. 1976. Joshua Leavitt's The Christian Lyre: An Historical Evaluation. M. A. Thesis, William Carey College.

Barry Johnston

Gunnison, Colorado

[David Smead]

Thanks, all. The sources Nikos identified for Deep Spring and Communion make sense, and that's consistent with the observation that McCurry made very few changes to the songs he took from other sources, so the absence of the "Douglas" attribution and unhyphenated "Deep Spring" are important clues.

I did notice significant differences to two other songs that appear to be taken from the Hesperian Harp, where the Social Harp doesn't include the alto part: 

p. 218t Blackburn is on page 61t of the Hesperian Harp, but the Social Harp is missing the alto and verses 3-6

p. 239-240 Creation is on page 231 of the Hesperian Harp -- the Social Harp removes the alto and adds verses 3-6. The removal of the alto is particularly unfortunate because this is a fuguing tune, and originally the altos entered after the tenor and before the treble.

I guess it's possible McCurry removed the alto parts for space, but is there any evidence that these songs appeared as 3-part songs in other books?

Thanks,

David Smead

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