Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

St Patrick's Breastplate is another of my favourites which the average parish church tends not to do very well. It gets sung in Lent because St Patrick's Day is 17 March, which almost always falls during Lent. Be Thou My Vision is another Irish one which never seems to fit the tune very well unless you are really familiar with it, translated from 8th century Irish, which doesn't help - again a favourite - we sung it at Kirri's wedding, and when I played the video of the wedding service to Miss Mercer on a visit to her in County Kerry, she cried. (So it could be said that she cried at Kirri's wedding even though she was hundreds of miles away at the time!)

We always had a chapel service in the evening of the first day of term, and always had the same hymn and psalm. When I hear them now, as I occasionally do, a wave of depression washes over me, even before I realize why.

The psalm was 121
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

And the hymn
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
o'er the world's tempestuous sea;
guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
for we have no help but thee; ...

Both were always sung extraordinarily badly, of course, as we were out of practice. I can still hear the dragging and inappropriately stressed syllables (FO...OR we have... )

The Foundation Hymn is unusual in having both a good tune and sensible words; the leaving hymn is sung to an ancient plainchant melody which would put it near the top of my list even without its holiday associations.

As for the Francis Thompson poem I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't know what the tune was called, though I have parts of it in my head. It was very stirring, but very difficult, and I only recall singing it twice. It's in the PSHB.

michael scuffil wrote:No Kerren, I know what JR means and it wasn't that. But I think I've heard it played at passing-out parades elsewhere, Sandhurst for example. (Not that I've ever been to Sandhurst, but occasionally when some famous person passes out, we get a brief news item, and this piece seems to be played.)

CHAZ: you mean you had to go to chapel every day ONLY because you were SG?!

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Well yes because in the 80s Monday was for Grecians & Deps, Tuesday Middle School and Wednesday was Junior Houses or soemthing, Thursday was Full School Chapel, Friday can't rememebr, Saturday Choral Practice and then Sunday evening service!

Maybe Geriant or adlop can help me out here!

Before becoming SG and if I remember correctly we only went 3 times a week to Chapel.

Well bar the Foundation Hymn which should be a given!

Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion city of God-John Newton....which i have down as a hymn for the wedding
How great though art
oh and its escaped me but there is one sung at the leavers service-magnificant something?????

It is interesting to see that you all like the Foundation Hymn but in retrospect we harldy sang it when I was there. Just on the "formal occasions".

Geraint mentioned the "gut wrencher" leaver's hymn. How we all sobbed as we sang that ....

Anyway please all stay

You are all mentioning the Leavers' Hymn, but no one is giving it a name! I remember at Hertford the end of term service included 'Lord dismiss us with thy blessing', but I'm not sure whether that is the one you are referring to at Horsham. There was a corresponding one for the beginning of term. I think one or other or both occurred in the film 'Goodbye,Mr Chips' as well.

Curious that of Blondie's two, one is sung to the same tune as the German national anthem, and the tune of the other (How great thou art) has a well-known affinity to the Horst Wessel Lied (the Nazi anthem).

The leaver's hymn at Horsham was clearly not the one you had at Hertford. Ours started:
"Lor -ord thou hast brou - ought u-us to our journey's end"

There was a note in the hymn-book which said: When sung to Magda, the slurs should be ignored
(but being thin-skinned, and not singing it to Magda (whatever that is) we took the "slurs" very much to heart).

Cheerful little number, 'Christe, redemptor omnium'

Lord, thou hast brought us to our journey's end:
once more to thee our evening prayers ascend;
once more we stand to praise thee for the past;
grant prayer and praise be honest at the last.

For all the joys which thou hast deigned to share,
for all the pains which thou hast helped to bear,
for all our friends, in life and death the same,
we thank thee, Lord, and praise thy glorious name.

If from thy paths, by chastening undismayed,
if for thy gifts ungrateful, we have strayed,
if in thy house our prayers were faint and few,
forgive, O Lord, and build our hearts anew.

If we have learnt to feel our neighbour's need,
to fight for truth in thought and word and deed,
if these be lessons which the years have taught,
then stablish, Lord, what thou in us hast wrought.

So be our rest thy palaces most fair,
not built with hands, whose stones thy praise declare:
where war is not, and all thy sons are free,
where thou art known, and all is known in thee.

(CA Allington, 1872-1955)
Was he an Old Blue? Do they still sing it.....?

kerrensimmonds wrote:
(CA Allington, 1872-1955)
Was he an Old Blue? Do they still sing it.....?

No he wasn't an OB. He has a Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Alington

Best known otherwise for being a headmaster of Eton.

Singing this at the leaving service was (is?) one of those traditions which can't have been very old. I wonder when he wrote it.

[quote="michael scuffil"]The psalm was 121
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.[quote]
I always had a problem with this psalm - being poked in the ribs usually! I hope you treated my brother better, Michael!!!

Favourite psalm

133, which I can quote in full

BEHOLD, how good and joyful a thing it is : brethren, to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down unto the beard : even unto Aaron's beard, and went down to the skirts of his clothing.
Like as the dew of Hermon : which fell upon the hill of Sion.
For there the Lord promised his blessing : and life for evermore.

It was sung to a plainsong chant (always good) and the imagery is extraordinary. I have never forgotten the ointment running down Aaron's beard.

Does anyone remember' Through The Night Of Doubt and Sorrow'? Tune ?? It was very melodic. It was my favourite hymn at Hertford. Never heard it since to that haunting tune.

Of course. And have sung it many times since.
'Onward goes the pilgrim band......'

Just thought also - referring to a posting earlier in this thread - that 'Lord dismiss us with thy blessing' was sung at the last service of every term at Hertford, not solely at the Leavers' Service at the end of the year (and 'Lord receive us with thy blessing' was sung at the first service of every term.) I have no recollection of the programme for the actual Leavers' Service, although I must have been to eight of them before it became my turn. My sole memory is of the table holding the leavers' Bibles, and the queue of leavers lining up to for their Bible to be presented to them. And tears afterwards... especially if a leaver was a favourite person and this might be the Last Time one would ever see them! When I left CH Hertford myself, on July 4th 1966 (appropriately, Independence Day!), I wept in my mum's car, all the way home. What a wimp!

For all the saints..... always conjures up beautiful images, and I think there is an embroidery design amongst them. I can see a wide wall-hanhing in there.