This hymn first appeared in A Supplement to the Shawbury Hymn Book, 1773, but without signature or credit given to the author, which was not uncommon at that time. The first indication as to the author comes in a Nonconformist collection entitled Selection of Psalms for Social Worship, 1786, where it is signed “F”, which in the authors’ list represents J. Fawcett. The editor does admit that the accuracy of this list is only as good as his memory. However, in 1791, in the seventh edition of A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, compiled by J. Harris, a Nonconformist minister from Hull, the full name of Fawcett is given. Seeing that John Fawcett himself was a Baptist minister, it is likely that the identification is correct.

The hymn recalls the Aaronic blessing “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee… and be gracious unto thee… and give thee peace” (Num 6:24, 25). This is all the more apt, as the last line of the first stanza has been changed to “Wilderness” from the original “in this dry and barren place.” Fawcett also wrote SDAH 350, “Blest Be the Tie That Binds.”

John Fawcett was born on January 6, 1740, near Bradford, Yorkshire. At the age of 16 he was converted by the evangelist George Whitefield. In 1765 he was ordained as a Baptist minister, serving at Wainsgate (see SDAH 350). In 1782 he published a collection of 166 of his own hymns, Hymns Adapted to the Circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion, although this hymn and other that he wrote are not included. In his preface to this book, he wrote: “When I have digested my thought on some portion of God’s Word, I have frequently attempted to sum up the leading ideas, in a few plain verses, to be sung after the sermon; that so they might be more impressed on my own heart and on the heart of my hearers.” In 1811 Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, granted him an honorary D.D. degree. He died at Hebden Bridge, Halifax, Yorkshire, July 25, 1817.

SICILIAN MARINERS was included in The European Magazine and London Review of November 1792, where it is set to  “The Sicilian Mariner’s Hymn to the Virgin.” It appeared later in other collections, taking with it the tune name SICILIAN MARINERS. Today in Sicily the tune is unknown, but it does resemble some folk tunes of southern France. The European Magazine says that Sicilian sailors sing the hymn when the sun sets, and an 1866 source says that the Venetian gondoliers sang it, especially on St. Mary’s Day.