Slide Show: 10 hymns with not so sacred musical roots

Hymn #560: Let All Things Now Living

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This hymn is set to "The Ash Grove," a traditional Welsh folk song whose best known lyrics are all about death: The true love of a sailor died and is buried -- you guessed it -- in an ash grove. The hymn title seems a bit ironic now, don't it?


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8 Comments

  1. Travis Losey

    “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” (#423) is set to the tune “God save Francis the Emperor” by Haydn, which has been the tune for the German and Austrian national anthems (including the “co-national anthem” of Nazi Germany).

    1. Coincidence?

      Once upon a November 11th Sabbath, this was the closing song at the university church.
      All us history majors in the back row were wondering if the organist who made the selection was aware…

  2. Dan

    That early Advent favorite, “How Sweet Are the Tidings” (#442), is set to “Bonnie Eliose, the Belle of the Mohawk Vale.” Eloise proved popular with both Yankees and Rebs during the Civil War!

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