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Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger

19 Jul 00 - 07:49 PM (#261168)
Subject: Wayfaring Stranger
From: QRS

Anyone who knows the lyrics to the Song "Wayfaring Stranger"? I heard a nice version of it with the band "16 horsepower" some days ago.. I have heard it before.. Is it a trad. song?

Regards

QRS


19 Jul 00 - 07:53 PM (#261170)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Allan C.

If you go to the main forum page you will see a marvelous blue box into which you should type the word, WAYFARING. Then start the search. You'll find that song and about 8,000 others that way.


19 Jul 00 - 07:55 PM (#261173)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Morticia

have you tried the digitrad lyric database, yet? If you have and can't find them, I have them, although I suspect there are a number of versions.......anyway let me know, if you can't find them there, I'll post them in a PM. As far as I'm aware it's a trad.spiritual.......but there is almost always someone here who knows more than I do :)


19 Jul 00 - 08:13 PM (#261191)
Subject: Lyr Add: WAYFARING STRANGER^^
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

Here are the words as they appear in C. H. Cayce, The Good Old Songs, Thornton, Arkansas, 1914, which differs in some details from the DT version:

WAYFARING STRANGER

I am a poor, wayfaring stranger,
while trav'ling through this world of woe,
yet there's no sickness, toil or danger,
in that bright world to which I go,
I'm going there to see my Father,
I'm going there no more to roam;
I'm only going over Jordan,
I'm only going over home.

I know dark clouds will gather round me,
I know my way is rough and steep;
Yet beauteous fields lie just before me,
Where God's redeemed their vigils keep,
I'm going there to see my mother,
she said she'd meet me when I come,
I'm only going over Jordan,
I'm only going over home.

I'll soon be freed from every trial,
My body sleep in the church-yard,
I'll drop the cross of self-denial,
and enter on my great reward,
I'm going there to see my class mates,
Who've gone before me one by one,
I'm only going over Jordan,
I'm only going over home.

I want to wear a crown of glory,
when I get home to that good land,
I want to shout salvation's story,
in concert with the blood-washed band,
I'm going there to see my Savior,
To sing his praise forever more,
I'm only going over Jordan,
I'm only going over home.

T. ^^


19 Jul 00 - 09:16 PM (#261262)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: QRS

Thanks for the lyrics "Okiemockbird"!!

Allan C: Sorry, but I did a search before but i could not find it.. maybe I was spelling wrong or something..(Did find it in the database now :) And just to make one thing clear: I Always look in that Database before i post a mes here.. We always do.. I have been here for almost two years now (not posting for a year now) so I know very well about all songs in the database..

Regards

QRS


19 Jul 00 - 09:34 PM (#261276)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Joe Offer

...and, as a result of the failure of QRS's search, we ended up with an extra verse, which will be added to the database. Good thing you asked, QRS.
-Joe Offer-


20 Jul 00 - 08:38 AM (#261477)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Allan C.

Sorry, QRS, I knew you had been around awhile but there are some who have been here a long time and still haven't discovered all the wonders contained herein. For the record, it took me a bit to find the song as well. I first searched the alpha listing under W and came up with nothing. Then I figured out that it must be called something else and so did the other kind of search.

Glad to see these other lyrics, OKm. This has always been one of my favorite songs. I grew up listening to a recording of Gogi Grant singing it. (Anyone remember her? - her big hit was "The Wayward Wind").


20 Jul 00 - 09:04 AM (#261491)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Willie-O

Gogi Grant--The Wayward Wind--great stuff, especially for the fifties. (Weird name though) Think I'll sing it tomorrow! AND Wayfaring Stranger. It's hard for me to understand my attachment to this song--I guess I like the dark juicy melody/chords and the stuff about the bloodwashed band--gospel with guts. Also the way the words fit rhythmically into the melody makes it easy to sing with passion. Even for an atheist. I guess it's kind of like not having to be a fisherman or a Newfoundlander to sing "We'll Rant and We'll Roar"....

Willie-O


26 Jul 00 - 10:48 AM (#264978)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: QRS

Thanks Catters for your help with this song!

And I agree.. It is a great song" One of the best and most "magical" songs I have ever heard..

Nice to have ya all here to help me when I´m stuck in music world Catters!

Regards

QRS


26 Jul 00 - 11:20 AM (#264992)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler

One of the great things about this forum is that it reminds me of songs I knew years ago and have forgotten. Didn't Burl Ives do this in that decade I tend to regress to ? Over the couple of years I've been 'catting I've built up quite a folder of songs I had forgotten or only half-remembered. (Not that I ever get a chance to sing them of course!).
RtS


26 Jul 00 - 11:45 AM (#265003)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Kim C

According to some sources, Wayfaring Stranger goes back to at least the mid-18th century. There are several different versions.


26 Jul 00 - 08:12 PM (#265400)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Burke

There's a relativly late (1935) arrangement in the Sacred Harp.

But from the citation one source of the text is: The Christian songster : a collectin of hymns and spiritual songs, usually sung at camp, prayer, and social meetings, and revivals of religion. Designed for all denominations / compiled by Joseph Bever. Dayton, Ohio : Printed at the printing establishment of the United Brethren in Christ, 1858.


04 Nov 00 - 09:57 AM (#334395)
Subject: Tune Add: A POOR WAYFARING STRANGER
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

X: 1
T: A Poor Wayfaring Stranger
C: C. H. Cayce, The Good Old Songs, Thornton, AR, 1914. Hymn # 714 (accidentals omitted)
M: 6/4
K: G
L: 1/4
E E B | B3 A B B | A/ G/ E2 G A B | A3 G E D | E3 :|
B B d | e3 d e B | B A2 B B d | e3 d e B | A3
B e d | B3 A B B | A/ G/ E2 G A B | A3 G E D | E3||

Cayce has D# in measure 4 and in next-to-last measure
Cayce has d-flat in 5th-to-last measure: "A3 B e d-flat"

T.


04 Nov 00 - 08:50 PM (#334799)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: richlmo

What a great song. When I hear it I think Bill Monroe's version. There was a thread a few weeks back about , " What is The High Lonsome Sound? " listen to Monroe sing Wayfaring Stranger, that pretty much defines the term.

Emmylou Harris' " Roses In The Snow " has a real good version only 2 verses.


05 Nov 00 - 12:45 AM (#334942)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST

I agree 100% Richlmo, Monroe's version is downright ethereal...I first heard him perform it live one night at his Beanblossom Bluegrass festival when I was still a teenager. It's been more than twenty years now, but I can still remember the hush that came over the rowdy Saturday night crowds, the intense look on his face as he played the incredible mandolin break, and the goosebumps on my arms that I still get when I hear the recording of it. I miss 'The Mon'..:-(


05 Nov 00 - 12:49 AM (#334944)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Thyme2dream

eeek! That was me the anon guest last post... guess I lost my cookie...glad its found again:-)


04 Jan 02 - 08:14 AM (#620825)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: paddymac

Willie-O: I whole-heartedly agree that "Wayward Wind" by Cogi Grant is also a great song.


09 Jan 02 - 08:12 PM (#624476)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)

Cross-reference to Hymn stories thread, with related Pilgrim Song: Here


14 Feb 02 - 11:40 AM (#649959)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: wysiwyg

indexed


14 Feb 02 - 12:26 PM (#649995)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Steve in Idaho

Doc Watson did this song also. Just as good as Bill Monroes I think. I had no idea the origins so am grateful as always for the music archeologists work.

Steve


23 Jan 03 - 04:12 PM (#873161)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: wayfaring stranger
From: GUEST,emr

These are the lyrics I remember:

I am a poor wayfaring stranger,
A-wandering through this world of woe.
There is no sickness, no toil or danger,
In that bright world to which I go.
I'm going there to meet my Savior,
I'm going there to see my Lord.
I'm only going over Jordan,
I'm only going over home.

I know my sins are all forgiven,
My hopes are stayed on things above.
I'm going home to you, bright heaven,
Where all is joy and peace and love.
I'm going there to meet my Savior,
I'm going there to see my Lord.
I'm only going over Jordan,
I'm only going over home.


10 Apr 05 - 08:28 PM (#1457609)
Subject: origin of Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST

Does anyone know anything about the origins of the song "Wayfaring Stranger"? My band will be performing it at an upcoming public school function, and figure if we couch it in a little history we can safely get around potential church/state complaints. (It is our best song and we don't want to cut it!)

Thanks!
HJK


10 Apr 05 - 08:31 PM (#1457613)
Subject: RE: origin of Wayfaring Stranger
From: Peace

Bit here.


10 Apr 05 - 08:35 PM (#1457618)
Subject: RE: origin of Wayfaring Stranger
From: Peace

It's in order alphabetically.


10 Apr 05 - 10:15 PM (#1457662)
Subject: RE: origin of Wayfaring Stranger
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Pretty complete data right here at Mudcat (of course!). Put wayfaring stranger in the Lyrics and Knowledge Search and read the threads that are brought up.
No need to google for most of these well-known songs.


10 Apr 05 - 10:59 PM (#1457687)
Subject: RE: origin of Wayfaring Stranger
From: Peace

Thanks, Q. Keep remindin' me. I am getting trained; I just ain't housebroke yet.

Bruce


06 Aug 05 - 02:29 AM (#1536213)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: rangeroger

So there I was,listening to Bluegrass Junction on XM radio, and I hear Bill Monroe's version of "Wayfaring Stranger" with a verse I had not heard before.
Next step is go on-line to the Mudcat to find the third verse.

Didn't show up in the Digitrad, but after perusing the related Forum threads I now have 6 (six)!!!! additional verses. Which of course means I have to sing the song a lot to memorize the new ones.

Lord, save me.
rr


06 Aug 05 - 04:57 AM (#1536237)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: masato sakurai

Bill Monroe's "Wayfaring Stranger" is on Bluegrass 1950-1958 by Bill Monroe (Bear Family). To listen to sound clip, scroll down to "101."


06 Aug 05 - 10:11 AM (#1536364)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Dave Hanson

Didn't Peter Rowan sing it with Bill Monroe and the Blurgrass Boys ?

eric


06 Aug 05 - 12:46 PM (#1536456)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Cluin

Yep. When he was a Blurgrass Boy.

He still performs it regularly.


07 Aug 05 - 09:45 AM (#1536901)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,leeneia

This is a great tune for DAG tuning on the mountain dulcimer.
    Threads combined. Messages below are from a new thread.
    -Joe Offer-


01 Oct 07 - 10:07 PM (#2161567)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Other versions in thread 23495: Wayfaring Stranger
Also see thread 879: Wayfaring Stranger
The latter has words from a songster of 1858; it seems to be an old Sacred Harp shape note song.
First known appearance in print 1816, "Kentucky Harmony," as "Judgement." See Traditional Ballads Index.


02 Jun 08 - 08:16 PM (#2355716)
Subject: RE: Req/ADD: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

Found it. It's on page 32 just before Funeral Thought. The meter is given as long meter. The words are "My God, what inward grief I feel." The melody has similarities to PWS, but it isn't the same:

X: 1
T: Judgement
C: Ananias Davission, Kentucky Harmony 2nd Edition, Knoxville, Nashville, and Lexington, 1817, p. 32
M: 4/4
K: G
L: 1/4
B2 | E E B2 |G E B G | E3 A | B B A2| G2 D E| E4:|
G2 | E E A2 | B d e e | e2 B2 | d e/ d/ B2| G2 B. /A | A2 G2 |
E E A2 | B d e e | e2 B2 | d e/ d/ B2| A. /B G F | E2 ||

Sorry, I forgot how to do dotted notes in ABC.


03 Jun 08 - 08:23 AM (#2356081)
Subject: Tune Add: JUDGEMENT
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

There are a couple of transcription errors in my last post. Here is the air again:

X: 1
T: Judgement
C: Ananias Davission, Kentucky Harmony 2nd Edition, Knoxville, Nashville, and Lexington, 1817, p. 32
M: 4/4
K: G
L: 1/4
B2 | B E B2 |G E B G | E3 A | B B A2| G2 D E| E4:|
G2 | E E G2 | B d e e | e2 B2 | d e/ d/ B2| G2 B>A | A2 G2 |
E E G2 | B d e e | e2 B2 | d e/ d/ B2| A>B G F | E2 ||

The original I'm working from is a digital facsimile of a copy that was damaged and smudged in spots, unfortunately making a couple of notes hard to make out.


05 Jun 08 - 12:04 AM (#2357874)
Subject: RE: Req/ADD: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

Yet another correction: the second note in Judgement should be c, not B.

George Pullen Jackson, in Another Sheaf of White Spirituals, page 147, seems to be the one who first identified the melody Judgement (transcribed above) as being related to "Poor Wayfaring Stranger."   But after listening to Judgement several times, I have concluded that this was mere wishful thinking on Jackson's part.    The resemblance is remote at best.

Another melody in ASoWS, #300, Fulfillment, from the 1844 edition of the Sacred Harp, is also identified by Jackson as being related to "Poor Wayfaring Stranger." In this case the resemblance is much stronger. This conclusion is complicated, however, by the way Jackson has manipulated the rhythm of his transcription of Fulfillment precisely in order to bring out its resemblance to PWS.


07 Jun 08 - 11:20 PM (#2360485)
Subject: RE: Req/ADD: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

Fulfillment, from the 1860 Sacred Harp, can be found here.

F.Mud.I the song I'm going home is here.


08 Jun 08 - 07:07 AM (#2360577)
Subject: RE: Req/ADD: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Gerry

I'm sorry, there is no "T" in "Oklahoma."


18 Dec 08 - 02:25 PM (#2519106)
Subject: RE: Origins: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Lonesome EJ

Checked McGuinn's Folk Den for info on this beautiful old song. While the info is scanty, my heart was warmed to see the photo Roger used with the song, a tribute to his old friend Gene Clark.


18 Dec 08 - 09:11 PM (#2519451)
Subject: RE: Origins: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Jack Campin

There is a startlingly similar tune from Sephardic tradition - on the Voice of the Turtle recording "Balkan Voices, Spanish Dreams", it's "Ken es akeyo de la meniana", whose source is given as Avraam Altarats of Sarajevo. Judith Wachs' note says it's of Yugoslav origin, which in this context presumably means Bosniak. It ends a tone higher than Wayfaring Stranger, though it doesn't really sound Phrygian.


09 Apr 10 - 03:55 PM (#2883083)
Subject: RE: Req/ADD: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: Genie

Maybe not, Gerry, but there's "Texas tea" there (oil, that is).   ; D


I'm looking for the lyrics and authorship of different (newer) song titled "Wafaring Stranger," which Mo Mack (Morris McClellan) has recorded. The chorus starts, "Don't mind me - I'm a poor wayfaring stranger ... "

If it's not here in the forum somewhere and someone finds the info on it, maybe we should put it in a separate thread? Not sure, since the two songs have the same title.


19 Oct 10 - 03:26 PM (#3010899)
Subject: RE: Req/ADD: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,DWR

Do notice that this is one of the books available for download. Just click on the pdf link up on the right, and it's all yours, free and clear.


06 Feb 13 - 04:31 PM (#3476508)
Subject: RE: Origins: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Derek Hatley

Here's a web reference that seems pretty legit:

http://www.manhattanbeachmusic.com/html/wayfaring_stranger.html


07 Feb 13 - 04:10 AM (#3476652)
Subject: RE: Origins: Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST

Being about a journey of a poor soul through
Iife can be seen as a spiritual journey through life. See wiiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wayfaring_Stranger_(song)

A sort of pilgrims progress through a vale of tears!


07 Feb 13 - 08:06 AM (#3476715)
Subject: RE: Origins: Wayfaring Stranger
From: Jack Campin

Derek's link is interesting. It traces it back to the Melungeons in the 1780s. Since the Melungeons trace their ancestry in part back to Ottoman Empire, that gives a link with the place that Sephardic song came from.


08 Apr 16 - 09:43 AM (#3784200)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Guest Meister

Can any of you explain what the meaning of "that blood-washed band" is


08 Apr 16 - 11:43 AM (#3784223)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,leeneia

Guten Tag, Meister. The blood-washed band is a group of souls who have gone to Heaven because they have been by the suffering (blood) of Jesus Christ on the cross.

"Band" has a lot of meanings, but here it simply means "group."


09 Apr 16 - 08:57 PM (#3784473)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,leeneia

As the result of the above post, Big Data has now decided I'm a German. So far I have been:

an American
a Canadian
a German
a Kansas Citian
a Chicagoan
a St Louisan
and a resident of three local counties.


09 Apr 16 - 09:58 PM (#3784482)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: Jeri

Based, I believe, on the phrase "washed in the blood of the lamb". There's a whole sermon on it at princeton.edu


08 Feb 17 - 03:05 AM (#3837471)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch

It's closer to the one posted above than the other 'Pilgrim' thread that just got bumped:

The Wayfaring Pilgrim
Rev. Ivy Ernest Rippetoe; Rev. Robert Henry Cunningham
(As performed by the Stamps Co. Music Quartet c.1940)


I am a poor wayfaring pilgrim,
While trav'ling thru this world below;
There is no sickness, toil nor danger
In that bright world to which I go, to which I go.
I'm going there to meet my father,
I'm going there no more to roam;
I am going over Jordan,
I'm just going over home.

I know dark clouds will gather o'er me,
I know my pathway's rough and steep;
But golden fields lie out before me,
What weary eyes no more shall weep, no more shall weep.
I'm going there to see my mother,
She said she'd meet me when I come;
I am going over Jordan,
I'm just going over home.

I'll soon be free from ev'ry trial,
This form will rest beneath the sod;
I'll drop the cross of self denial,
And enter in my home with God.
I'm going there to meet my Savior,
Who shed for me his precious blood,
I am going over Jordan,
I'm just going I'm going home.


Note: This is lifted from an old AM radio rebroadcast. The Rev. Rippetoe (1892-1962) was a Texas music teacher; composer and one-time Prez. Of the Texas State Singing Convention. He sang for one or another of the V.O. Stamps Quartets briefly, his brother a while longer.

R.H. Cunningham is mentioned as being from Lexington, KY but I haven't looked into him much.

It appears in several of the Zion's Call camp meeting songbooks. Copyright: 1944, Stamps-Baxter Music but none are credited to Cunningham-Rippetoe.


28 Mar 20 - 11:44 AM (#4042621)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,john braden

OK, we've nailed down earliest publication of the words to Joseph Bever's Christian Songster (United Brethren in Christ, 1858), where it is No. 23 (page 34) under the catchline "Going Over Jordan," first line "I am a pilgrim and a stranger". You can see it at hymnary.org
However, like most songsters, Bever's book does not include music. So when was the tune we know first published with the words?
One poster said the tune is in the 1860 edition of the Sacred Harp, titled Fulfillment. The Wikipedia article on that book gives a table of contents, and I see neither that tune nor "I am a poor wayfaring stranger."
The Wikipedia article on the hymn says it was added to the Sacred Harp in 1935.
So the question remains: when did the words first appear with the tune we use?


28 Mar 20 - 03:53 PM (#4042666)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: Lighter

See 03 Jun 08 above.

If "Judgment" is really the same tune, then it could have been attached to the words as soon as they appeared.

Have they ever been sung to a different tune, BTW?


29 Mar 20 - 05:20 AM (#4042785)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,john braden

Thank you, Lighter.

The Kentucky Harmony has been posted online by the University of Kentucky. A link to it can be found at the Wikipedia article "Kentucky Harmony." At page 32 is the tune "Judment" (sic) for a hymn whose first line is "My God what inward grief I feel." My sight-reading is rudimentary, but none of the parts for this four-part harmony tune seem to match the tune currently used for "I am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger." The tune would fit the words, but that is true of numerous tunes and hymns, and does not establish that they were ever sung together.

So my original question remains: When was the tune we currently use first published to the words of "I am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger"?

Addressing your BTW question, I'm not aware of other tunes being used for "I am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger," but nevertheless avoid calling any tune "the" tune used for a hymn, given that hymns were often sung to whatever tune fit (a necessity at a time when most hymnals lacked music).


30 Mar 20 - 03:20 AM (#4043037)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: Rusty Dobro

I have posted to another thread about the use of this song/hymn in the film '1917', where it is performed by a British soldier during an impromptu service held before going into action.

I do not believe that it would have reached the UK by this date, especially as the film is set on the very day that the USA joined the Great War.


30 Mar 20 - 03:41 AM (#4043043)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: Joe Offer

John Braden, I'm wondering if you're referring to the song "I Am a Pilgrim," that was recorded by Merle Travis and Doc Watson. There's definitely a tie between that song and "Wayfaring Stranger." I wonder if these songs are based on a passage from scripture.
-Joe-


11 Apr 20 - 09:15 PM (#4045434)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,john braden

Thank you for the link to the "I am a Pilgrim" thread, Joe Offer. Despite a few similarities, they are different hymns.
1. "I am a poor wayfaring stranger"
a. Second line: "I'm traveling through this world of woe."
b. Refrain "I'm just going over Jordan."
c. Appearance: Words only at p. 34 of Joseph Bever, "Christian Songster" (Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren in Christ 1858)
2. "I am a pilgrim and I'm a stranger."
a. Second line: "I can tarry but a night."
b. Refrain: same as first and second lines.
c. Appearance: Mary S.B. Dana (author of the lyrics), "The Northern Harp" (NY: Dayton & Saxon 1841), set at p. 54 to an "Italian Melody" which is different than the tune used for "I am a poor wayfaring stranger."
As the other thread notes, Mrs. Dana's hymn was quite popular, being reprinted in 1848, 1854, 1855, in three Civil War soldier hymnals and in numerous postwar hymnals. It has also appeared to additional tunes, but of the four tunes I looked at, none match the one for "I am a poor Wayfaring Stranger."
So, I'm still in the dark about the earliest publication of "I am a poor wayfaring stranger" with the tune we use.


12 Apr 20 - 10:44 AM (#4045574)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Lighter

John, check out this recent (Jan., 2020) article, by Eric Sinclair:

https://sixstrstories.com/2020/01/19/the-ballad-of-wayfaring-stranger/

According to the research of John Garst, the first joint appearance of the familiar words and (essentially) music was in the early 1890s.

A really "transitional" version is the one recorded by Vaughn's Texas Quartet in 1929. It's at the linked site.

So far, it looks like the now standard version was introduced by Burl Ives.


12 Apr 20 - 10:46 AM (#4045577)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,Lighter

Note the Quartet's old-time Southern pronunciation "Jerdan" (rhymes with "burden.")

I've heard this many times.


12 Apr 20 - 11:51 AM (#4045598)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: voyager

Very timely post Mudcatters....I have been playing a flatpick version of IAAPWS two of three times a day during Pandemic-2020/

Be safe out there.
voyager


13 May 20 - 04:40 AM (#4052171)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST,John Braden

Thank you, Lighter.
Question answered.


16 Jan 24 - 11:40 PM (#4195591)
Subject: RE: Origins: I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
From: GUEST

I believe the original melody was composed by Johann Georg Ebeling and lyrics written by Paul Gerhardt in 1666 in Germany as "Ich bin ja nur ein Gast auf Erden". The song is based on Psalm 39:12 and Psalm 119:19 It possibly shows the German escape to the fledgling America's in that period as there are well documented colonies by the 1670's

here is some evidence https://ccel.org/ccel/hewitt/gerhardt/gerhardt.p2_2.h_284.html

The words have a similar feel to the evolved song It would be interesting in documenting the transition from the 1670's to the published version in the 1840's