In our dear Lord’s garden

In our dear Lord’s garden. Ella Sophia Armitage* (1841-1931).  Written at Dedham, on the Essex-Suffolk border, in 1881, and published in the same year in Armitage’s The Garden of the Lord. It was entitled ‘Christ’s love for children’. Probably Armitage’s fondness for this hymn led to the book’s title. It was popular as a children’s hymn in the first part of the 20th century, and was printed in MHB and CP. In the metre of 6.5.6.5., it has an affecting simplicity, but its language has not attracted the editors of hymnbooks in an age of more sophisticated children. Phrases in the first verse have adjectives such as ‘dear’, ‘tiny’, and ‘sweet’:  In our dear Lord’s garden,   Planted here below,...