Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old

Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old. Edward Hayes Plumptre* (1821-1891). Plumptre was chaplain of King’s College, London, from 1847 to 1868, and the hymn was written in June 1867 for use in the chapel of King’s College Hospital. It was first published on a fly-sheet, and appeared in the Appendix (1868) to the First Edition of A&M. It was included in some editions of the author’s Lazarus and other poems though not, as sometimes stated, the edition of 1865. Since then, it has become one of the most widely known hymns for the sick. It is often sung to the tune SAINT MATTHEW by William Croft*, but other music is also used. In the original text, there was a penultimate verse emphasising that...