“The Good Old Way”
Best of all was Hymn Eighteen, when the organ notes rolled out and everybody vigorously sang… — Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 19, “The Whirl of Gaiety”
The Good Old Way is Hymn #18 in Pure Gold for Sunday School by Rev. Robert T. Lowry and W. Howard Doane. The hymnal was published in New York by Biglow & Main, 1871. “The Good Old Way” was written for this work by W.H. Doane (1832-1915). Doane’s main occupation was president of a woodworking company, although he was trained in church choirs and earned a doctorate of music from Dennison University.
During his lifetime, Doane composed hundreds of hymns, and he published over 40 collection of hymns. Pure Gold was his fifth collection; a copy was owned by the Ingalls family. While working on the Little House books, Laura wrote sister Carrie and asked if she still had the old hymnal, and Carrie mailed it to Laura for reference.
1. We are going forth with our staff in hand.
Thro’ a desert wild in a stranger land;
But our faith is bright and our hope is strong.
And the Good Old Way is our pilgrim song.
[chorus] ‘Tis the Good Old Way,
by our fathers trod;
‘Tis the way of Life,
And it leadeth unto God;
‘Tis the only path to the realms of day;
We are going home in the Good Old Way.
2. There are foes without, there are foes within;
They would turn us back to the path of sin;
We will stop our ears to the words they say,
While we onward press in the Good Old Way.
3. In the blissful hour of communion sweet,
Let us come with joy to the Mercy seat;
O we love to sing and we love to pray,
And we bless the Lord for the Good Old Way.
4. On the brink of time when we stand at last,
When our sun has set, and our work is past,
When we bid farewell to our mortal clay,
We will praise the Lord for the Good Old Way.
(from Little Town on the Prairie)
We are going forth with our staff in hand
Through a desert wild in a stranger land,
But our faith is bright and our hope is strong,
And the Good Old Way is our pilgrim song…
‘Tis the Good Old Way by our fathers trod,
‘Tis the Way of Life and it leadeth unto God,
‘Tis the only path to the realms of Day,
We are going home in the GOOD OLD WAY!
“The Good Old Way” (LTP 19)
“‘Tis the Good Old Way by our fathers trod”
“We are going forth with our staff in hand”