Yesterday, funeral services were held for a former Rusk County resident, Claude Gray, Jr. I did not know him, but he became a well-known country singer in his day, whose most popular song was probably “Family Bible.”
Willie Nelson wrote the song, sold it to Paul Buskirk, who got Claude Gray to record it. It reached number seven on country singles chart. The news and the song reminded me of our The Family Bible song in The Sacred Harp.
Of youthful connexions and innocent joy,
When blest with parental advice and affection,
Surrounded with mercies—with peace from on high.
I still view the chairs of my sire and my mother—
The seats of their offspring, arranged on each hand,
And that richest of Books, which excell’d every other,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
The old fashion’d Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
2. That Bible, the volume of God’s inspiration,
At morn and at evening, could yield us delight;
And the prayer of our sire was a sweet invocation,
For mercy by day, and for safety through night;
Our hymns of thanksgiving with harmony swelling,
All warm from the hearts of a family band,
Half rais’d us from earth to that rapturous dwelling,
Described in the Bible that lay on the stand—
The old fashion’d Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
3. Ye scenes of tranquility, long have we parted,
My hopes almost gone—and my parents no more—
In sorrow and sadness, I live broken hearted,
And wander unknown on a far distant shore;
Yet how can I doubt a dear Saviour’s protection,
Forgetful of gifts from his bountiful hand;
Oh let me with patience receive his correction,
And think of the Bible, that lay on the stand—
The old fashion’d Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
4. Blest Bible! the light and the guide of the stranger,
With it I seem circled with parents and friends;
Thy kind admonition shall guide me from danger;
On thee my last lingering hope then depends.
Hope weakens to vigor and rises to glory;
I’ll hasten and flee to the promised land,
And for refuge lay hold on the hope set before me,
Revealed in the Bible that lay on the stand.
The old fashion’d Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
5. Hail, rising the brightest and best of the morning,
The star which has guided my parents safe home;
The beam of thy glory, my pathway adorning,
Shall scatter the darkness and brighten the gloom.
As the old Eastern sages to worship the stranger
Did hasten with ecstasy to Canaan’s land,
I'll bow to adore him, not in a low manger,—
He's seen in the Bible that lay on the stand.
The old fashion’d Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
6. Though age and misfortune press hard on my feelings,
I’ll flee to the Bible, and trust in the Lord;
Though darkness should cover his merciful dealings,
My soul is still cheered by his heavenly word.
And now from things earthly my soul is removing
I soon shall glory with heaven’s bright bands,
And in rapture of joy be forever adoring
The God of the Bible that lay on the stand.
The old fashion’d Bible, the dear blessed Bible,
The Family Bible, which lay on the stand.
The Family Bible music was written or arranged by William Caldwell, and published in his Union Harmony tunebook. Caldwell was born October 24, 1801 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, the son of Anthony Caldwell and Elizabeth Aiken. He married Cinderilla Blackburn in 1829. After her death, circa 1840, Caldwell married Harriet Rebecca Meek in 1841. The Caldwell family moved to Fannin County, Texas, sometime after the 1850 census was taken. William Caldwell died July 10, 1857. Where he is buried is currently unknown.
William Caldwell was by denomination a Presbyterian, a music teacher, and published his songbook Union Harmony in 1837 (printed in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee). Several of his tunes are still found in current shape-note tunebooks. Circa 1902, B. P. Poyner wrote the alto that appears with this song in The Sacred Harp.
The words appear (apparently) first in the Charleston (South Carolina) Courier, Tuesday, October 13, 1818, page 2. According to David Warren Steel (The Makers of The Sacred Harp, p. 201) the style of the words is a parody of “The Old Oaken Bucket” by Samuel Woodworth, which begins “How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view.”
In the Courier, the poem is headed by these words:
“OH THAT I WERE AS IN MONTHS PAST.”—Job 29.2.
THE FAMILY BIBLE.
The first three stanzas above were in the Courier. Apparently, stanzas 4 through 6 were added later and/or from other sources. This song is found in the The Sacred Harp book on page 165 (listen starting at 3:02:35), and there uses the first two stanzas. The author of the original words is unknown.
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