The LORD, My Shepherd, Rules My Life

Performance Notes:

• The following article is taken from the Psalter Hymnal Handbook.

Tune Information:

CRlMOND was first published in The Northern Psalter (1872), where the tune was attributed to David Grant (b. Aberdeen, Scotland, 1833; d. Lewisham, London, England, 1893), who arranged many of the tunes in that collection. However, in 1911 Anna B. Irvine claimed that CRIMOND had been composed by her sister, Jessie Seymour Irvine (b. Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, Scotland, 1836; d. Aberdeen, Scotland, 1887), who had given it to Grant to be harmonized. Irvine's authorship is generally accepted today. Little is known of Irvine's life except that she was the daughter of an Anglican minister and lived in her parents' home for much of her life.

CRIMOND became very popular after it was used at the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1947. Named after the town of Crimond in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the tune is considered by many to be among the finest of all Scottish psalm tunes.

David Grant composed the harmonization. A tobacco shop merchant by trade, Grant was an amateur musician. He composed music for bands, arranged tunes for The Northern Psalter (1872), and served as precentor of the Footdee Church in Aberdeen.

The descant composed by William Baird Ross (b. Montrose, Scotland, 1871; d. Edin¬burgh, Scotland, 1950) also gained popularity from royal use in 1947. Educated at Queen's College in Oxford, Ross became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. He was an educator and an organist in Montrose, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Stirling in Scotland.

Other Resources:

• Visit hymnary.org for more information on this song and additional resources.

• The following are alternative accompaniments for this tune, CRIMOND.

Alternative Harmonization for Organ and Descant Resources:

• Archer, Malcolm. After the Last Verse. Kevin Mayhew ISBN 0 86209 502 6 [1995]
• Mawby, Colin. Hymns for Occasions. Kevin Mayhew ISBN 0-86209-568-9 [1994]
• Rawsthorne, Noel. 200 Last Verses. Kevin Mayhew ISBN 0 86209 189 6 [1991]
• Wilkinson, John T. One Hundred and Four Descants for “The Hymn Book”. enThusia [1980]

Alternative harmonization for Piano:

• Hopson, Hal H. The Creative Use of the Piano in Worship. Hope 8392 [2008] (√; E-M; with organ)