The lone, wild [fowl] bird

The lone, wild [fowl] bird. Henry Richard McFadyen* (1877–1964).   This two-stanza hymn was the only text composed by McFadyen (sometimes misspelled as‘MacFadyen’). The final two lines of each stanza form a refrain.The Homiletic and Pastoral Review sponsored a hymn-writing contest during the time that McFadyen served the Nashville Presbytery. The author describes the origins of his hymn: ‘The hymn was written on a quiet Sunday afternoon in the fall or winter of 1925 and sent to the Review. It was forgotten until I was surprised with an announcement that I had been awarded the third prize in the contest (McKim, 1993, p. 227). The hymn was copyrighted in 1927 by the Homiletic...