There's a Rest for the Weary

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "There is rest for the weary" (3x) / "There is rest for you" / "On the other side of Jordan / In the sweet fields of Eden / Where the tree of life is blooming / There is rest for you" Verses have to do with that home in glory.
AUTHOR: William Hunter (1811-1877, for "In the Christian's home in glory") (? -- see NOTES)
EARLIEST DATE: 1870 (Smith, for "In the Christian's home in glory")
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Heart-Songs, p. 279, "Rest for the Weary" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: James Smith, _The Revivalist_ (Toronto, 1870), #104 pp. 86-87, ("In the Christian's home in glory")
P. P. Bliss, _Gospel Songs_ (Cincinnati: John Church & Co.,1874 ("Digitized by Internet Archive")), p. 108, ("In the Christian's home in glory")
William Booth, _Salvation Army Songs_ (London: The Salvation Army Book Department, 1911) , #672 p. 478, ("In the soldier's home in glory")
RECORDINGS:
Moving Star Hall Singers, "There's a Rest for the Weary" (on USSeaIsland02)
NOTES [273 words]: The Herskovits Trinidadian Spiritual Baptist account of "Jesus Lover of My Soul" fits this USSeaIsland02 track as well. Although this is not a Sankey hymn, the performance style matches "Sankey into Shout." - BS
The USSeaIsland02 version is only the chorus, as in the description above, from William Hunter's "In the Christian's home in glory," changing "rest for you" to "rest for me."
The Salvation Army text follows Hunter, except for the first line.
The Original Sacred Harp has the chorus as "There is rest for the weary"(3x) "There is rest for you," -- that is the first half of Hunter's chorus -- but with different verses that it attributes to Rev. John Robinson in 1758 (Benjamin Franklin White, E.J.King, et al, Original Sacred Harp (Atlanta, 1911 ("Digitized by Google") (correction and enlargement of 1869 edition copyright J.S. James)), p. 474, "Rest for the Weary" )
The Southern Sons have Hunter's chorus, but with other verses (Southern Sons, "Rest for the Weary" (on "1940s Vocal Groups (1941-1944)" Document Records DOCD-5492, 1996)). As with the USSeaIsland02 version they sing "rest for me." - BS
Heart-Songs has yet another attribution, to S. Y. Harmer and J. W. Dadmun; that version has the standard chorus but still another set of verses. Frankly, this seems less like a song than an idea for a song.
This is presumably inspired by Matthew 11:28 (or the verses following): "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (New Revised Standard Version has "are weary" for "that labour" and has other smaller changes).
For William Hunter, see the notes to "The Evergreen Shore." - RBW
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File: RcTRftWe

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