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At The Cross/ Alas And Did my Savior Bleed
Public Domain Old-Time, Bluegrass Gospel by Watts and Hudson;
ARTIST: Watts 1707 & Hudson- 1885;
CATEGORY: Public Domain Bluegrass Gospel;
DATE: 1885; First Recorded in 1927 by Rev. M. L. Thrasher & His Gospel Singers
RECORDING INFO: At The Cross [Me III-D 3b] - Watts, Isaac/Hudson, Ralph E
Rt - I Am Bound for the Promised Land
Benziger, Barbara; & Eleanor Dickinson (eds.) / That Old-Time Religion, Harper & Row, Sof (1975), p 64
Carson, Fiddlin' John;'s Virginia Reelers. Folk Music in America, Vol.15, Religious Music, Solo & Perform.., Library of Congress LBC-15, LP (1978), trk# B.06 [1930/12/09]
Johnson, Sam. Old Time Gospel, Vol. 2, J and J --, Cas (199?), trk# A.04
Owens, Bill; and the Kinfolk. Songs of the Smokey Mountains, REM LP-1024, LP (197?), trk# 14c
OTHER NAMES: "At the Cross" "Alas And Did My Savior Bleed"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Meade
NOTES: "Alas And Did My Savior Bleed" is best known as "At the Cross." Ralph Erskine Hudson (1843- 1901), wrote the chorus and tune in 1885 based on Isaac Watts (1674-1748) verses which were written in 1707.
The composer of this hymn was Mr. Ralph E. Hudson, who was born on July 12, 1843, in Napoleon, Ohio. Ralph moved to Pennsylvania with his parents Henry and Sarah Hudson when was a boy. Soon after the outbreak of the American civil war, Ralph enlisted in the Army with 10th Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served his country for three years.
After discharge from the army, he became a successful music teacher. From 1872-1874, he was a Professor of Vocal Music at Mount Union College, and for the next twenty five years lived in Mt. Union-Alliance, Ohio. Ralph formed a real estate partnership with Rev. D. D. Waugh for a few years. After trying that for a while he started to write and publish hymns , he was also a lay preacher and a member of the Mt. Union Methodist
Episcopal Church, and was a supporter of the Salvation Army when it struggled to gain a foothold in Alliance in the mid-1880’s.
Hudson moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1897 where he continued to publish music and to travel as an evangelist. In late May 1901 he left Cleveland for an extensive trip to promote his latest songbook. He stopped in Upland, Indiana, to attend commencement exercises at Taylor University, where he was a trustee. He stayed there several days and delivered a lecture. Shortly after, he fell gravely ill and died.
Ralph Hudson wrote and published other popular hymns that include: “Blessed Be the Name,” “A Glorious Church,” and “‘I’ll Live for Him.”
Isaac Watts wrote many papers for places of higher learning but his most famous work is the hymn, “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed.” Watts was born July 17, 1674, at Southampton, England. Such compelling lyrics came from a child born into a home of “non-Comformists” during the times when the Church of England persecuted Dissenters and Independents. His father was jailed twice during this time of persecution. Despite the fact that this era of intolerance lasted only a short while; it had a significant effect on Watts. In 1707, Watts wrote the lyrics to “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed.” One line echoes such a impact, “Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?”
In 1850, Fanny Crosby answered the altar call at a revival as the audience began to sing “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed.” When they sang the lyric, “Here, Lord I give myself away - ‘tis all that I can do,” Fanny realized that she needed to yield to the call. She was quoted as saying: “I surrendered myself to the Savior, and my very soul flooded with celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting ‘Hallelujah.’”
Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed- Watts 1707
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut His glories in,
When Christ, the Mighty maker, died for man, the creature’s sins.
Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine - and bathed in its own blood -
While the firm mark of Wrath Divine His soul in anguish stood.
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear Cross appears;
Dissolved my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I woe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away- ‘til all that I can do.
The song became a standard old-time Country gospel song and was recorded many Country artists including Frank Welling and John McGhee in 1928, Frank Luther and Carson Robison 1928, Irene Spain Family 1929, and Fiddlin' John Carson in 1930. The hymn is also sung in African-American churches such as the Holy Rock Missionary Baptist Church St. Stephen, South Carolina, whose choir recorded "At the Cross" in 1987.
At the Cross- Watts and Hudson 1885
1. Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I?
CHORUS: At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away;
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day.
2. Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
3. Well might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut its glories in,
when Christ, the mighty maker, died
for man the creature’s sin.
4. Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine
and bathed in its own blood
While the firm mark of Wrath Divine
His soul in anguish stood.
5. Thus might I hide my blushing face
while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears.
6. But drops of grief can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do.
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