O'er the Gloomy Hills of Darkness

O'er the Gloomy Hills of Darkness
O'er the Gloomy Hills of Darkness in the Church of England in Canada's 1877 Church Hymnal
GenreHymn
Written1772
TextWilliam Williams Pantycelyn
Based onIsaiah 9:2
Meter8.7.8.7.4.7
Melody"Regent Square" by Henry Smart, "Zion" by Thomas Hastings

"O'er the Gloomy Hills of Darkness", also titled "O'er Those Gloomy Hills of Darkness",[1] is a Welsh Christian hymn by William Williams Pantycelyn written in 1772.[2] The hymn was written as a missionary hymn; there are conflicting accounts of why the hymn was written. The hymn was later published in 374 hymnals worldwide,[3] though it was censored and altered in the United States by slaveholders for evangelising to slaves. The hymn later fell out of favour with hymn book editors in the 1960s.

  1. ^ Kirk, John (2013). Cultures of Radicalism in Britain and Ireland. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-1848933446.
  2. ^ Lewis, Saunders (1991). Williams Pantycelyn. Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru. p. 128. ISBN 0708311229.
  3. ^ "O'er the gloomy hills of darkness". Hymnary.org. Retrieved 2016-06-14.

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