Near the Cross

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "In the Cross, in the Cross, be my glory ever / Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river." Verses center on being "near the Cross" and reaching "the golden strand Just beyond the river."
AUTHOR: Words: Frances Jane (Fanny) Crosby (Van Alstyne) (1820?-1915)
EARLIEST DATE: 1869 ("Bright Jewels," according to Robinson)
KEYWORDS: river Bible nonballad religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
ADDITIONAL: Ira D. Sankey, Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos [1200 Hymns] (London: Collins, 1921?), #134 (1880 #127), "Near the Cross"
F. E. Belden, Christ in Song (Washington: Review & Herald Publishing Assn, 1908 ("Digitized by Internet Archive")), #289, "Near the Cross" (1 text) (1 tune)
Roud #17303
RECORDINGS:
Bright Light Quartet, "Just Beyond the River" (on LomaxCD1708)
Moving Star Hall Singers, "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross" (on USSeaIsland02)
NOTES [192 words]: The USSeaIsland02 version starts with Sankey verse 1 - "Jesus, keep me near the Cross / There a precious fountain / Free to all -- a healing stream -- / Flows from Calvary's mountain" repeats the chorus, as in the description above, many times, introduces verse 4 -- "Near the Cross I'll watch and wait / Hoping trusting ever / Till I reach the golden strand / Just beyond the river" -- and ends repeating the chorus again with increasing speed, clapping and beating on the floor.
The Herskovits Trinidadian Spiritual Baptist account of "Jesus Lover of My Soul" fits the USSeaIsland02 track as well. This is a Sankey hymn, and the writers of the WITrinidadVillage02 liner notes would characterize this track as "Sankey into Shout."
Belden's tune is attributed to W.H. Doane with an 1890 copyright. - BS
For background on author Fanny Crosby van Alstyne, see the notes to "A Few More Marchings Weary." According to William Reynolds, Companion to Baptist Hymnal, Broadman Press, 1976, pp. 1220123, William H. Doane wrote the tune to this and had Crosby set the text. The result appeared in Bright Jewels in 1869 and was reprinted by Sankey in 1880. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: RcJKMNtC

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