“Pull for the Shore”

Suddenly the tall man knew what to do. He linked his long arm in the little man’s fat arm, and they came down the sidewalk together, singing… — Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 6, “The Month of Roses”

Come forward, come forward and be saved! Come to salvation! Repent, ye sinners! Stand up, stand up and sing! Oh, lost lambs! Flee from the wrath! Pull, pull for the shore!… — Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 23, “Schooltime Begins Again” — Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 6, “The Month of Roses”

     
Words and music to “Pull for the Shore” were by Phillip P. Bliss in 1873 for his hymnal Sunshine for Sunday Schools. Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876) was born in Pennsylvania to poor parents. He married a musician and poet, and under his wife’s influence, he studied how words and music went together. After moving to Chicago following the Civil War, he served as chorister and Sunday School Superintendent of the First Congregational Church of Chicago. Bliss had a wonderful singing voice and was a gifted public speaker; he became an evangelist in 1874 and toured the northeast. He wrote many hymns, publishing Sunshine for Sunday Schools in 1873 and Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs in 1875. “Pull for the Shore” was included in both collections.

After spending Christmas 1876 with his mother, Bliss and his wife were returning to Chicago when a bridge collapse wrecked their train. He survived the initial impact but died when he returned to the wreckage in an attempt to rescue his wife.

Nineteenth century evangelists often used the sea as an image of life. In many hymns, Christians are constantly being told to “throw out the lifeline” and “be guided” by the Great Pilot. Bliss’s most famous hymn, “Hold the Fort for I am Coming” was inspired by the famous message signaled by General William T. Sherman during the Battle of Atlanta: “Hold the fort. I am coming.”

In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder used the hymn in two situations: sung by Tay Pay Pryor (Tom Power) and a friend while drunk in town, and by Rev. Brown during a revival. The first made Laura laugh so hard “that tears ran out of her eyes,” and while the revival was an uncomfortable experience for her, she could only remember the earlier singing of the song, so she found amusement in Reverend Brown’s singing of it. “Pull for the Shore” is not mentioned in any of the Pioneer Girl manuscripts. In the existing manuscript for Little Town on the Prairie, Wilder’s revival scene is more abbreviated than in the published version, and Laura Ingalls doesn’t relate the song to its earlier mention. She wrote: “We will sing once more and this is the last call,” [Reverend Brown] said finally. “If there are any here who repent and want to be saved, let them come forward and give me their hands while we sing.” And his loud voice led all the other voices…

     

“Pull for the Shore” (LTP 6, 23)
     “Pull for the shore, sailor, pull for the shore”
     “Though loudly they roar”