> Folk Music > Songs > Dwelling in Beulah Land
Dwelling in Beulah Land
[
Roud V46048
; Ballad Index Mr20262
; DT DWBEULAH
; Mudcat 15101
; Charles Austin Miles]
Beulah is mentioned in Isaiah 62:4. In Biblical Hebrew, ‘beulah’ means ‘married’, and is applied to the land that the people of Israel will marry:
… but thou shalt be called Hephzibah,
and thy land Beulah;
for the LORD delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married.
For as a young man marrieth a virgin …
In the Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) by John Bunyan, Beulah Land is a place of peace near the end of the Christian life, on the border of the Celestial City. The River of Death separates Beulah from the New Jerusalem, the city on a hill.
Prolific American writer of gospel songs, Charles Austin Miles wrote Dwelling in Beulah Land in 1911. It is printed in Samuel Beazley et al: Select Songs of Praise (Philadelphia: The Judson Press, 1924, No. 86).
Helen Schneyer sang the first first three verses (as do all the following artists) of Dwelling in Beulahland with a chorus of Riki Schneyer, Lee Sills, Genny Haley, Jonathan Eberhart, John Roberts and Tony Barrand, in 1974 on her Folk-Legacy album Ballads, Broadsides and Hymns. She noted:
What can I do but try to explain the madness that overtook us as we were recording this? I do not ordinarily treat songs with such disrespect. It is true, however, that from the first day I sang this song, I experienced great difficulty in controlling audiences, which would rise and strike imaginary cymbals in the air, deliver drum rolls and emit trumpet breaks with great abandon. On some occasions people would persist in marching in the aisles. After practising it earnestly during the recording session, Jonathan Eberhart and Tony Barrand suddenly cracked and began doing mouth trumpet parts in harmony; discipline was instantly thrown to the winds, a tambourine was struck with great gusto on poor Lee Sills’ bottom, an egg whisk was scraped over a pot cover by Genny Haley, and the rest of us struggled desperately to sing without cackling like stoned chickens. This song is a monument to the kind of mood that overtakes us at not infrequent intervals. I may add that Riki Schneyer (my own flesh and blood yet!) and Jonathan Eberhart are almost always the precipitating factors involved in this kind of breakdown.
Even without the fanfare, this is a hell of a good, militant and joyous Revival hymn. It is still sung in tents all over this country, and I know of no song that gets groups of people to sing more energetically.
Suzie Adams and Helen Watson (Hockenhull) sang Beulah Land, with Geoff Harris, Mike Hockenhull and Laurie Harper as chorus, in 1983 on their Dingle’s album Songbird.
Swan Arcade sang Dwelling in Beulahland with the Dawn Caesar Singers-—Linda Adams, Georgina Boyes, Colin Davidson and Maddy Prior—in 1986 on their Fellside album Diving for Pearls. This track was also included in 2001 on their Fellside compilation Round Again and in 2016 on Fellside’s 40th anniversary anthology The Journey Continues.
Keith Kendrick sang Beulah Land in 2006 on his WildGoose album Songs From the Derbyshire Coast. He noted:
This song was taught to me by Suzie Adams from the singing of the amazing Helen Schneyer who was unique and for me, one of the great pioneers of the U.S. folk scene. Helen sadly died last year while Sylvia and I were performing at Pinewoods Folk Festival in Cape Cod (where she would likely have been otherwise—so a very sad coincidence), but we all sang to her memory. The melody is in fact the Fijian national anthem (don’t yer know!). Practically all my CDs have a ‘fun’ track somewhere—I like to think that Helen would have approved…
Andy Turner learned Dwelling in Beulah Land from Swan Arcade’s album and from Hymnary.org. He sang it as the 13 April 2017 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.
Lyrics
Charles Austin Miles’ Dwelling in Beulah Land
Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling,
Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand.
Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling,
None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.
Chorus (after each verse):
I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky (Praise God!);
I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;
O yes! I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.
Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating,
Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand.
Safe am I within the castle of God’s word retreating,
Nothing then can reach me—’tis Beulah Land.
Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me,
I am safely shelter’d here, protected by God’s hand.
Here the sun is always shining, here there’s naught can harm me,
I am safe forever in Beulah Land.
Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation;
Hearing now His blessed voice, I see the way He plann’d.
Dwelling in the Spirit, here I learn of full salvation,
Gladly I will tarry in Beulah Land.
Helen Schneyer sings Dwelling in Beulahland
Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling,
Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand;
Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling,
None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.
Chorus (after each verse):
For I’m living on the mountain underneath a cloudless sky (Praise God!);
I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;
O yes! I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.
Far below a storm of doubt upon my ear is beating,
Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand;
Safe am I within the castle of God’s word retreating,
Nothing here can reach me, ’tis Beulah Land.
Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me,
I am safely sheltered here, protected by God’s hand;
Here the sun is always shining, here there’s naught can harm me,
I am safe forever in Beulah Land.