I have a friend whose faithful love

It is surprising that so little is known about a 20th-c hymn of such quality. It was apparently written by Ebenezer Alfred Tydeman, and not ‘C A Tydeman’; see the notes in EP2. The text appears in CH, and in the Pentecostal Making Melody (1983) and New Redemption Hymnal (1986, where it is headed by Proverbs 18:24). Kenneth Bowden writes (2007): ‘It is virtually certain that [this] his sole hymn in current use’ first appeared in Lyrical Leaflets written at E Dulwich, S London, between 1898 and 1914. It also featured on a card (one shilling for 50) printed by the British Gospel Book Assn of Liverpool, where the end of each stz is underlined in red. Lesley Petrone adds (Oct 2005) that one ms with Tydeman’s name on it states that copies can be obtained from the author at Godalming, Surrey, where he spent his latter years. [Other material omitted or rewritten.] It is natural to wonder if he or she wrote other texts (under a different name?); but 391 is evidence that single-hymn authors do, or did, exist. Except for ‘it’s’ replacing ‘’tis’ in line 3, the only change here comes in the final phrase of each stz, which was originally ‘Blessèd be his name’. In spite of the opening line, and text in NRH, the hymn does not expound the friendship of Christ in the manner of Newton’s 326, but rather moves into a credal form, with stzs linked by each final line, ‘he loved/sought/found/ saved me’, then ‘I’ll praise him’. The structure of the writing and rhyming is distinctive and suggests an author in the Margaret Clarkson mould (cf 383).

The tune is something of a mystery; BLESSED BE HIS NAME remains anonymous, but is metrically unique (892 having the same syllable count but a quite different rhythm) and perfectly matched to the words. It is natural to wonder which came first.

(given in Praise! and other books as ‘C A Tydeman’); b Moulsham, Chelmsford, Essex 1842, d Godalming, Surrey, 1914. Coming from a family with roots in Suffolk and Essex, he was the son of Henry William Tydeman, a piano-maker who became a Baptist minister. After beginnings as an optician and ‘visitor to a coal merchant’ at Portslade, Ebenezer was one of two brothers who followed their father to ordination and pastoral work. From 1870 he studied at Spurgeon’s Coll, and his first pastorate was at Morice-square [sic] in Devonport, while he lived at nearby Stoke Damerel (cf note to 824).. In 1882 he moved to Bacup in the Rossendale Valley of Lancs, to be Pastor of Zion Baptist Ch; then after 3 years to Foots Cray, Kent, where he named his house ‘Rossendale’. His longest pastorate followed, at Lordship Lane Baptist Ch, E Dulwich, where his Lyrical Leaflets were probably written; followed by his last, at Godalming Baptist Ch, Surrey.
Tydeman’s hymns include a 6-stz text to the National Anthem tune and ‘We gather in our thousands now’ to ‘Auld Lang Syne’, both being sung at Bacup at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887; 3 of the 4 hymns sung there for the Diamond Jubilee, 1897 were also his, although by then he was at Foots Cray. No.399, however, is the one enduring hymn for which he (or at least his surname) has become known. He also contributed to Spurgeon’s Sword and Trowel magazine, and wrote a poem on the death of his widow in 1903. Other Tydemans are published authors, apparently unconnected. Kenneth Bowden of Bacup, who provided much of this information in 2007, adds that two traceable ‘C Tydemans’ are Ebenezer’s brother Charles Joseph (b1850) and son Charles (b.c1893). No.399.