"The Sparrow's Petition"
The Sparrows’ Petition (1897), words unattributed, music by T. Crampton, was first score ever published in a Band volume, as the end-score in the January 1879 issue. It gives the birds’ petition in first person as addressing the children of “Chester Square” in London, to “give us of your meals a share…this is the season bleak and cold” (v. 1). In essence, feed the birds for they are cold, but are our are neighbors, and even help with vermin in trees. Their final admonistion is “And as you would be done by, do,” a reference to Jesus’ Golden Rule now applied to non-human neighbors. Many Band songs will address birds, as most vulnerable, but also most within a child's daily experience, to kill (a common pastime) or protect.
Score: The Band of Mercy Advocate, Volume 1, January 1897.
Choir: 2026 Band of Mercy
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- Part 3: Animal Welfare (Bands of Mercy) Songs Alisa Clapp-Itnyre