while in slumber I lie" (1893) "And stay by my side until morning is nigh" (1905) Verse 3 is absent from the earliest publications. It first appears in Gabriel's Vineyard Songs (1892). Verse 3, line 4: Instead of "take us to heaven", one popular variant found from 1899 has "fit us for heaven". History First and second verses The origin of the words is obscure. An early appearance was on 2 March 1882, in the "Childrens' Corner" section of the anti-Masonic journal The Christian Cynosure. Under the heading "Luther's Cradle Song", an anonymous author contributed the first two verses, writing: A near-identical article appeared in the November 1883 issue of The Sailors' Magazine and Seamen's Friend. Another early version was published in Little Pilgrim Songs, a book of Christian music for young children, whose preface is dated 10 November 1883. Little Pilgrim Songs includes a similar claim that the song was written "by Martin Luther for his own children". An article in the May 1884 issue of The Myrtle, a periodical of the Universalist Publishing House in Boston, also included the carol, stating: All four sources include almost-identical text of the first two verses, with no music. Little Pilgrim Songs and The Myrtle both suggest the melody of Home! Sweet Home!. Third verse The third stanza, "Be near me, Lord Jesus", is absent from the known early sources. Its first known appearance was in Gabriel's Vineyard Songs (1892), where it was set to a melody by Charles H. Gabriel (simply marked "C"). Gabriel credited the entire text to Luther and gave it the title "Cradle Song". Decades later, a story was published attributing the third verse to John T. MacFarland: Since this story dates the composition of the stanza to 1904–1908, over a decade after its first known appearance, Hill judges that "the 1892 publication [of Gabriel's Vineyard Songs] renders the Bishop's story suspect, and additional evidence must be found before McFarland can be safely credited with the writing of the third stanza." It has been suggested that Gabriel may have written the third stanza himself and attributed it to Luther. Popularity By Christmas of 1883, "Luther's Cradle Song" was already being performed as a recitation as part of a Sunday School celebration in a church in Nashville. The early popularity of the hymn may also be reflected in a report (published in 1885, but covering the year 1884) from