O Thou who givest corn and wine

O Thou who givest corn and wine. Thomas George Crippen* (1841-1929).  The hymn for Temperance movements in Britain was well known at one time. It avoids the extreme denunciation of alcohol found in some hymnbooks, and nevertheless its message is clear from the reference in stanza 3 line 2 to ‘Rechab’s sons’. The allusion is to Jeremiah 35: 2-6, ending ‘Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever.’ The Independent Order of Rechabites was founded in England in 1835, and was very successful in discouraging the misuse of alcohol (it still exists under the name of ‘Healthy Investment’, providing advice on ethical investment). Crippen’s hymn was dated ca. 1880 in Carey Bonner*’s...