The Lily of the Valley
"The Lily of the Valley" ("I've Found a Friend in Jesus") is a Christian hymn written by William Charles Fry (1837–1882) in London for the Salvation Army.[1] Ira D. Sankey arranged the words to the music of "The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane" composed by Will Hays.
| The Lily of the Valley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Hymn |
| Written | 1881 |
| Text | William Charles Fry |
| Based on | Song of Solomon 2:1 |
| Meter | 14.11.14.11.13.10 with refrain |
| Melody | "Salvationist" by William S. Hays (arranged by Ira D. Sankey) |
History
The lily of the valley is a gospel standard hymn which appeared in almost all protestant hymnals. It was written by Charles W. Fry during one of his performance for the Salvation Army.
He and his family were members of the Salvation Army organization owned by William Booth which then was in crisis. It was recorded that Mr. Fry did not like the abuse he saw heralded at the Salvation Army when they established the ministry in 1878 Salisbury, where the Fry family lived and worked as a bricklayer. Mr. Fry and his three sons offered to serve as bodyguards for the Salvation Army workers. It was recorded as witnessed “the next day the four men arrived with their weapons. These weapons consisted of two cornets, a trombone and a small tuba in between fighting off the troublemakers. The fry men played and their music attracted the crowd for the preachers (workers of Salvation Army). This was the first Salvation Army brass band with Mr. Fry as the leader of the band as inscribed on his grave stone.
The lily of the valley was coiled from the understanding Mr. Fry received from a meditation on the book of Song of Solomon 2:1 < I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley …>. He used this verse of the scripture as a focus to relate the message of the preacher William Booth to the people during the protests of 1881. After reading those words of the scripture, Fry wrote about a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus. Those words became the hymn first published in the December 29, 1881, edition of the salvation war national magazine
Charles Fry died the year after the publishing of the hymn, on August 24, 1882, in park hall, Polmont, Scotland. Fry had written the words, but no one knew the composer of the music, when the hymn was published in 1885. Only later was it discovered that a man named William Shakespeare had writtene a melody for a secular minstrel show in 1871 with the original lyrics “the little ole log, cabin down the lane which was adapted for the popular hymn.[2][3][4]
Lyrics
The opening verse and chorus:
I've found a friend in Jesus,— He's ev'rything to me
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!
The "Lily of the Valley," in Him alone I see,
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole
In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay
He tells me ev'ry care on Him to Roll
(chorus)
He's the "Lily of the Valley," the Bright and Morning Star
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul
"The Lily of the Valley" is a gospel standard and appears in almost all Protestant hymnals.
References
- Sankey, My Life and the story of the Gospel Hymns, p. 387: "Mr. Fry is one of the leaders of the Salvation Army in London. In addition to writing the words, he also set the hymn to music, and later arranged it to slower time and published it in Gospel Hymns."
- http://elifeonline.net/hymn-i-have-found-a-friend-in-jesus-by-charles-w-fry/
- http://songscoops.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-lily-of-valley-charles-william-fry.html
- http://dianaleaghmatthews.com/the-lily-of-the-valley/#.W4Ks0M6cGt8
Bibliography
- Sankey, Ira D. My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns and of Sacred Songs and Solos. Philadelphia: The Sunday School times Company (1906).