Revision as of 01:22, 6 November 2008

General Information

The actual name of this tune has yet to be verified, however the Cyberhymnal calls it Man of Grief (without a source, and so perhaps they coined it), and the Latter-day Saints Psalmody, 1889^[1] (the earliest known publication of the tune) calls it Hyrum. This tune is said to have been around since 1844 or before (said to have been the tune John Taylor sang with the lyrics of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief before the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr.)^[2]
Composer: Ebenezer Beesley^[3]—until recently, the composer had been unknown, although many presumed it was George Coles; there was considerable doubt that Coles was the composer, however, as a source verifying that he was had yet to be identified, and there and there were other clues against this idea: The confusion appears to have been started by an assumption that since the tune Duane Street was not found to compare with the tune at hand (i.e. Hyrum), and Duane Street was known to have been associated with A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, that perhaps they were the same tune.^[4] It has since been discovered that they are not the same tune. Maybe more information was found later and not recorded (or perhaps it was recorded somewhere and we have just not yet found it).

This is the tune used in the current (1985) LDS hymnal with A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, although that hymnal refers to the tune as Duane Street (which is another song entirely, though also associated with A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief). Here is a source that gives hints as to how this confusion may have begun, as mentioned above also.
This is not the tune John Taylor used before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith Jr., although it was thought to be before the discovery of Ebenezer Beesley's choir book.^[5]

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 =Latter-day Saint Information=
 *This is the tune used in the current (1985) LDS hymnal with [[A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief]], although that hymnal refers to the tune as [[Duane Street]] (which is another song entirely, though also associated with [[A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief]]).  [http://books.google.com/books?id=a_tMAI0k_GYC&pg=PA12&dq=%22a+poor+wayfaring+man+of+grief%22&sig=aCGpbcJAhhEwugHKcFvZv78mTaI Here is a source] that gives hints as to how this confusion may have begun, as mentioned above also.
-*This is not the tune John Taylor used before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith Jr., although it was thought to be before the discovery of [[Ebenezer Beesley|Ebenezer Beesley's]] choir book.
+*This is not the tune John Taylor used before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith Jr., although it was thought to be before the discovery of [[Ebenezer Beesley|Ebenezer Beesley's]] choir book.<ref>[http://mormontimes.com/studies_doctrine/church_history/?id=4102 Original <i>Poor Wayfaring Man</i> had different tune, by Tad Walch, Deseret News, Saturday, Oct 11, 2008]</ref>
 =Associated Lyrics=