The words of the hymn Abide with Me were written from Luke 24v 29 by Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 with melody added by William Henry Monk in 1861.
Lyte, was born in Scotland in 1783 and educated in Ireland attending Trinity College Dublin from where he became an Anglican Priest serving in Devon England. Lyte wrote the lyrics and died in the same year. Lyte would have been influenced no doubt by events in Ireland that year.
1847 was the worst year of the Irish Potato famine and was known as ‘ Black 47’. During the famine about 1 million died and a million more emigrated causing the population of Ireland to fall by nearly one quarter. My own family stayed and survived and I was born just over a century later.
Monk was an English musician born in 1823 and famous for the song Eventide from which the music for Abide with Me came in 1861 which was a year of the Cotton Famine when the British Government decided to remain neutral at the outbreak of the American Civil War when 816,222 men lost their lives. It was also the year in which Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law was codified.
Both events ironically were the result of man made events could have been avoided but were neglected and became turning points of history. Many that left the shores of famine would have left to only later die in anAmerican war. The hymn became a favourite for many, a comfort and reminder a plea to God to stay with us that we may stay with Him. As Luke relates the Apostles plea to Jesus ‘ Stay with us for it is nearly evening ; the day is almost over ‘
The hymn was a favourite of George V , King of England and ironically also Mahatma Ghandi. It has been played at FA Cup Finals just 15 minutes before the match since 1927 and at many funerals. It is a reminder of how we should lead our life and it was etched over 14 years out of famines and failure. It was indeed a reminder that only with Him will we make it through life’s challenges and that we must cling to the rock to survive. Play the hymn today and think of Lyte and Monk and the 1.86 million plus people who lost their lives as word and note were hewn out leaving us with such a wonderful hymn and forever reminder to
‘ Abide with Me ‘.
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