‘Above the Bright Blue Sky’ – Albert Midlane (1825–1909)

The name of Albert Midlane may be unfamiliar to readers today, but the chances are many will be familiar with his most famous work, There’s a Friend for little children, a hymn which has been sung in Sunday Schools around the world.

Albert Midlane was born in Newport, Isle of Wight, England on 23rd of January 1825. His father passed away before Albert’s birth, leaving him to be brought up by a godly mother from whom, along with his sister, he received spiritual instruction. Later in life, Albert would recount how his mother, in times of trouble, would, ‘lead me into a quiet room; and there kneeling by my side would she, with holy fervour, by prayer bring God into all her circumstances down here; or by sweet communion be with God above them all’.

Such godly influence made impressions upon a young Albert. The date of his conversion is not recorded, but it appears that he had been involved in Sunday School work, and it was whilst attending a Sunday School teachers’ prayer meeting, he felt the conviction of sin, recognized his condition before God and put his trust in the Saviour. He was subsequently baptized at Castlehold Baptist Church, Newport. Initially he attended the Baptist Church but at the age of twenty-three he began to meet with believers in accordance with New Testament church principles and remained convicted of these principles for the rest of his life.

On 20 March 1851, Albert married Miriam Grainger of Newport and they were married for fifty-eight years until the time of Albert’s death. They had two sons and one daughter. Miriam passed away on 13th January 1914.

His first employment was with a printer, but, after three years he left, and became an ironmonger’s assistant. For fifty years he ran his own business. These activities, however, were to cease when he was declared bankrupt for the sum of £500 as a result of acting as a guarantor for a friend.

From an early age he had an exercise to write hymns. Two such examples are, Hark! In the presence of our God and God bless our Sunday School (which was set to the tune of the British national anthem). A source of potential influence in those early years was the Reverend Thomas Binnie, author of Eternal Light! Eternal Light! In total, Albert would go on to write over a thousand hymns and poems. A number of these hymns continue to be sung today. The hymnologist Josiah Miller’s conclusion was, ‘His hymns are full of spiritual thought, careful in their wording, and often very pleasing without reaching the highest form of poetic excellence’. The same author also records that, ‘for many years he had been dissatisfied with many hymns because of their combining prayers for pardon and praise for deliverance, and so being unfit for use in their entirety either for the guilty or the pardoned’.

Albert’s hymns were published in many hymn books, including collections specifically for use with children. He compiled The Bright Blue Sky Hymn Book. All of the 323 hymns were composed by himself. When he was eighty, he compiled The Gospel Hall Hymn Book which contained 278 hymns of his own composition.

Albert’s famous hymn, There’s a Friend for little children was written on 7 February 1859. Following a busy day at work but with a burden to write a hymn for young children, Albert sat down to write and by 2 a.m. he completed what would become his most well-known hymn. Interestingly, the order of the verses familiar to us today is different from how it was first composed - originally the order of the verses was: There’s a rest, home, Friend, crown, song and robe. The hymn was first published in Good News for the Young, a publication for children edited by C. H. Mackintosh (C.H.M. - author of the famous series of books on the Pentateuch) and was set under the heading, ‘Above the Bright Blue Sky’.

Although the hymn has been set to different tunes, the most enduring is the tune ‘In Memoriam’, written by Sir John Stainer (composer of the famous choral work, The Crucifixion). The story goes that during a meeting of the committee responsible for overseeing the music of the hymn book Hymns Ancient and Modern (enlarged edition, 1875), dissatisfaction was expressed at the available tunes for the hymn. The chairman of the committee, Sir Henry Baker, suggested that Sir John Stainer retire to another room and compose a tune. ‘In Memoriam’ was the result, a tune which has remained associated with the hymn ever since.

Both hymn and tune reflect personal cost to their authors. Albert was found by his wife in a state of collapse in the early hours of the morning following the completion of the hymn and had to receive medical attention. It seems that a hard day’s work previously, and the intense effort in composition took their toll. ‘But the hymn was completed’, was Albert’s happy verdict. The tune was named In Memoriam following the death of Sir John Stainer’s young son, Frederick, in 1874.

The hymn rapidly gained popularity and was published in over 200 hymn books and sung by children literally around the world. Such was the popularity of the hymn that, fifty years after being written, the Sunday School Union organized special services to commemorate the event and on 7 February 1909 many services were held, not just in England, to celebrate the wellloved hymn. The jubilee celebrations included a service in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, which Albert attended, during which three thousand assembled children sang the hymn. A special souvenir was published which incorporated the words, the tune ‘In Memoriam’, as well as a brief biography of Albert Midlane, of which it is recorded that many thousands were sold. Albert attended an open-air service in his own town which was held to commemorate the event at which he spoke to the assembled crowd concerning eternal issues. It would be the last time his voice was heard in public.

Whilst the hymn was enjoyed by so many around the world, it became a burden to Albert in the sense of having to deal with the correspondence of the appreciative public.

Albert never applied for copyright on any of his hymns. Doubtless, the publishing rights to There’s a Friend could have proved to be very lucrative, but he wrote rather out of conviction than for any profit he might have derived. He spent long hours walking in the grounds of the ruins of Carisbrooke Castle. He once said, ‘The twilight hour, so dear to thought, and the hushed serenity then pervading nature, have often allured my soul to deep and uninterrupted meditation, which in its turn, has given birth to lines which, had not these walks been taken, would never probably have been penned’. This lack of financial security led to the unfortunate circumstances of his bankruptcy. The matter would have left a blight on his character were it not for the fact that the bankruptcy became public knowledge. Many people generously contributed to a fund in his benefit and as a result he was able to pay off all debts, have the bankruptcy annulled, and use the balance to purchase an annuity to provide an income for himself and his wife.

His work brought him into contact with a number of well-known persons of his day. Having presented several volumes of his compositions to Queen Victoria, Albert, the Prince Consort, purchased a number himself as gifts for his friends. He became acquainted with C. H. Spurgeon who included a number of his hymns in the Metropolitan Tabernacle hymn book. Lord Tennyson, the famous poet, was a neighbour and encouraged him in his hymn writing.

On 11 February 1909, Albert suffered an ‘apoplectic seizure’ (a term of indefinite meaning - it could have been a stroke or a heart attack) from which he never recovered, passing away into the presence of the Lord in the late evening of 27 February. Truly he had gone to meet the Friend not just of little children, but of all true believers, ‘above the bright blue sky’.

Albert is buried at Carisbrooke Cemetery, Isle of Wight. His memorial stone was paid for out of subscriptions from Sunday School children of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Two of his own hymns were sung at the graveside, the first being a hymn which commenced, ‘Star of the morning, rise, Dispense these shades of night’. The second was, ‘There’s a Friend for little children’, sung by Sunday School children. It is recorded that during the singing of the hymn, the burial of a little child was taking place some twenty yards away.

He left a lasting legacy in the hymns that he wrote and a number of his hymns are still sung today. They are worth seeking out for the truth they express. A gospel hymn, The perfect righteousness of God gets to the heart of the gospel message:

‘God could not pass the sinner by,
His sin demands that he must die;
But in the cross of Christ we see
How God can save, yet righteous be.

The sin alights on Jesus’ head,
‘Tis in His blood sin’s debt is paid;
Stern justice can demand no more,
And mercy can dispense her store’.

When reading these lines, one cannot help but be reminded of the words of Romans chapter 3 verse 26, ‘that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’.

Albert lived in anticipation of the coming of the Lord, summed up in the hymn, Thine, Jesus, Thine. The fifth verse says,

‘Till Thou shalt come
And bear me to Thy home,
For ever freed from earthly care,
Eternally Thy love to share -
Lord Jesus, come!’

‘Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus’, Rev. 22. 20.