Be Present at Our Table, Lord

DESCRIPTION: "Be present at our table, Lord, Be here and ev'ry where adored, These mercies bless, and grant that we May feast in Paradise with Thee."
AUTHOR: John Cennick (source: hymnary.org)
EARLIEST DATE: 1741 (source: hymnary.org)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Harbin-Parodology, #306, p. 72, "(no title)" (1 text, in the section "Graces for the Table")
Rodeheaver-SociabilitySongs, p. 127, "(no title)" (1 text, tune referenced)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsNThings, p. 109, "Be Present at Our Table, Lord" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsPopularEdition, p. 54, "Be Present at Our Table, Lord" (1 text)
National-4HClubSongBook, pp. 46-47, "Grace Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
SongsOfManyNations, "Wesley Grace" (1 text) (CC edition, p. 60)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 261, "Be Present at Our Table Lord" (notes only)
Roud #37301
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Hundred" (tune) and references there
NOTES [126 words]: John Julian, editor, A Dictionary of Hymnology, 1892; second edition 1907 (I use the 1957 Dover edition in two volumes), p. 215, calls John Cennick "a prolific and successful hymn-writer, [who] was descended from a family of Quakers, but brought up in the Church of England. He assisted J. Wesley and then G. Whitefield in their labours for a time, and then passed over to, and died as a minister of, the Moravian church."
Hymnary.org says he was born in 1717, but Julian says 1718. They agree that he died in 1755.
Julian calls the quality of his hymns "most unequal," though saying that some of his verses are quite good. Julian lists fourteen hymns of his which are remembered; the only one I can recall hearing is "Children of the Heavenly King." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACSF261B

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