Christ be beside me

Christ be beside me. James Quinn* (1919-2010). This crisp and condensed version of ‘St Patrick’s Breastplate’ was written to be sung to the Highland tune BUNESSAN. It is a fresh and modern alternative to the traditional version by Cecil Frances Alexander*, ‘I bind unto myself today’*. It was published in Quinn’s New Hymns for All Seasons (1969) and in his Praise for All Seasons (1994). One of the first people to use it was Donald P. Hustad* in The Worshiping Church (1990). Its appearance there was followed by the Second Edition of Journeysongs (Portland, Oregon: OCP, 2003) followed by the Irish Presbyterian Hymnal (2004), where it is correctly described as ‘adapted’ by Fr Quinn.  It was...