WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
FAR, FAR AWAY ON JUDEA'S PLAINS
(a popular Christmas carol written and composed in St. George, Utah)
THE MUSIC
Score for Far, Far Away on Judea's PlainsFar, Far Away on Judea's Plains
sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
HISTORY
Late 1869 was an unusually difficult time in Dixie. The weather was dreary and food was very scarce. Mormon Apostle Erastus Snow who was in charge of the Dixie Mission wanted to do something special for Christmas.He called he called two men into his office, Charles Walker, poet laureate of the Cotton Mission, and John Macfarlane, recently called to St. George to be choirmaster. He set them apart to compose a special Christmas song. The two men had been collaborating almost from the day they first met, Walker composing verses and Macfarlane composing or arranging music to go with Walker's work, (eg. Dearest Children, God Is Near You).
The two men worked ferverishly, but Macfarlane just couldn't seem to fit music to Walker's words. Then one night he had a breakthrough at his little home on Tabernacle. He woke up with words and a melody running through his mind. He woke up his wife, Ann, and took her to their little three-octave pump organ. She held a crude lamp and pumped the organ while he worked out the music and words to Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains. They finished by dawn and after breakfast, Macfarlane took the song over to the Walker home to share with Charlie. They both agreed that it was what they were looking for. Macfarlane offered to put Walker's name on it, but Walker refused saying he had contributed nothing to it.
The carol was first performed for an 1869 Christmas program in St. George. It was first published in the Juvenile Instructor of December 15, 1889. It became very popular in the Dixie community and then spreading to the broader Mormon community and beyond.
This carol was added to the official L.D.S. hymn book in 1896, four years after Macfarlane died. It has remained and continued to gain in popularity ever since.
PHOTOS
Magazine cover depicting Macfarlane composing this Christmas carol
REFERENCES
Far Away in St. Georgeby Mary Phoenix (Version 1)
Far Away in St. George
by Mary Phoenix (Version 2)
Far, far away in St. George
A chapter by Mary Phoenix in the book, A Dixie Christmas
edited by Lyman Hafen and illustrated by Roland Lee
Wikipedia entry for Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains