Come, Christians, join to sing

Come, Christians, join to sing. Christian Henry Bateman* (1813–1889).  This hymn was published in Bateman’s Sacred Melodies for Children (Edinburgh, 1843) in five stanzas with the first line as ‘Come, children, join to sing’. The number of stanzas was reduced to three in Melodies for Sabbath Schools and Families (1854). The inspiration for the hymn came directly from an earlier text by the British educational writer William Edward Hickson*, ‘Join now in praise, and sing’, published in an influential children’s music education book, The Singing Master (London, 1836). Both texts were paired with SPANISH HYMN (MADRID, SPAIN, SPANISH MELODY), appearing first as an arrangement by Benjamin Carr*...