The Washington herald., 1910-07-17
FAMOUS SONGS 0
~ AND THEIR HISTORY 4 ]
No. 81.
WHEN SHALL WE THREE MEET AGAIN.

HREE MEET AGAIN."
When around the youthful pine,
Moss shall creep and Ivy twlne:
When these FURNISHED locks are
gray.
Trimmed by many toiI-spent day.
May this long loved bower remain.
Here may we three meet again.
When the dreams of life are fed,
When It's wasted lamp is dead.
When In cold oblivion's shade
Beauty. Wealth. and Power are laid
Where immortal spirits reign.
There shall we three meet again.
was sung by three young men. Just
graduating there. who had met in
meadow. in the shade Of a great
hay stack. TO consecrate themselves
10 the work of foreign missions.
among the earliest that America
had known. One of their number
was said TO have composed the song
entire. and the especial proof lay in
the second stanza:
Though in distant lands we sigh.
Parched beneath a hostile sky;
Though the deep between as rolls
Friendship shall unite our souls.
Still. in fancy's rich domain,
Oft shall we three meet again"
Three standard English coliec-
tions. published within the past
sixty years. have contained the
song without the stanza to which
tradition points in proof OF Indian
origin. No authorship of the words
Is given. but the air Is spoken Of,
in one place. as the work OF Sam
uel Webbe. and in another as the
work of DR.. William Horsley. Sam
uel Webbe was an English COM
poser. born in London in 1740. His
father, who was wealthy. died sud-
denly when about 10 assume q gov
eminent Office in Minorca, and tho
property was taken from his widow
and infant son. Mrs. Webbe was
rendered so destitute that she was
obliged TO deny her son an educa-
tion, and when he was but eleven
years old she was compelled TO ap-
prentice him TO a cabinet maker.
This business he hated. and though
he knew not a note OF written
music. his fondness for the art led
him 10 undertake 10 copy II. - He
copied from in the morning until
midnight. He also studied French.
Hebrew, German, and Latin, and
finally employed an Italian music
master. after which he attempted
composition His music was re-
ceived warmly. and he became a
favorite teacher Webbe wrote nu-
merous songs. anthems. masses. &c.
including the music Of when Shall
We Three Meet Again." which is
spoken of as his Celebrated gIee."
DR.. Horsley was a well-known
English composer. born thirty
years later than webbe, whose pupil
he was. He either made new
composition OF the words OF the
song. or rearranged his teachers
air; the former supposition Is more
probable, as two different airs are
given.
Where the song appears IN these
English collections there is no def
mite information as 20 the author
ship of the words; but one of the
three attributes them 10 a lady. It
is not probable that the glee was
written before the words which ae-
companied IT. The words seem
like those of some one leaving home
for foreign land. expecting years
Of absence.
May IL not be that they were writ
ten by the wife OF an English mis-
sionary. who is about TO accom-
pany her husband 10 his distant
work? AT any rate. the song may
likely have been written in England
and brought to this country when
Dartmouth College was in its in
fancy. The first Indian graduates
meeting in the bower" for their
farewell might have recalled the
song, but would desire TO have
something n little more expressive
of their circumstances. One OF
their number would write the
stanza which indicates Indian Or
igin. and the song might pass as
his own, without such intention on
his part.
In corroboration OF this is the
fact that that stanza is not con-
tanned I'm the English versions, and
is very greatly inferior TO the rest
in poetic merit The song was no
doubt sung again at Wiiliamstown,
and by the same method by which
a shrewd saying has been fastened
in turn upon each college president
in the country, it would be easy TO
transmit the supposed authorship
OF this song from the Dartmouth
students. who added a stanza 10 the
Williams students, who sang II on
a memorable occasion.