Patrick Comerford
Advent began last Sunday with Advent Sunday (30 November 2025), and the countdown to Christmas is and truly now well under way.
At noon each day in Advent this year, I am offering one image as part of my ‘Advent Calendar’ for 2025, and one Advent or Christmas carol or hymn. My choice today is ‘Hills of the north, rejoice’ by the Revd Charles Edward Oakley (1832-1865).
Charles Oakley, a lawyer and a Church of England priest, wrote this hymn in the mid 19th century, expressing the Advent message of the coming of Christ to all four corners of the world.
Oakley was educated at Oxford and was ordained in 1855. He became Rector of Wickwar in 1856, and later Rector of Saint Paul’s, Covent Garden. He died on 15 September 1865 before his hymn ever acquired popularity. The hymn first appeared in Bishop TV French’s Hymns Adapted to the Christian Seasons, and the Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer in 1870.
Oakley’s hymn gained new popularity after 1915, when Martin Shaw (1832-1865) wrote for it his leaping tune ‘Little Cornard,’ and the hymn and the tune became inseparable.
Martin Shaw had studied under Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry, and worked closely with Ralph Vaughan Williams. His influence on Anglican hymnody comes from his being the organist in Saint Mary’s, Primrose Hill, London, where the Vicar was Canon Percy Dearmer, who edited the English Hymnal in 1906.
Hills of the North, rejoice,
river and mountain-spring,
hark to the advent voice;
valley and lowland, sing.
Christ comes in righteousness and love,
he brings salvation from above.
Isles of the Southern seas,
sing to the listening earth,
carry on every breeze
hope of a world’s new birth:
In Christ shall all be made anew,
his word is sure, his promise true.
Lands of the East, arise,
he is your brightest morn,
greet him with joyous eyes,
praise shall his path adorn:
your seers have longed to know their Lord;
to you he comes, the final word.
Shores of the utmost West,
lands of the setting sun,
welcome the heavenly guest
in whom the dawn has come:
he brings a never-ending light
who triumphed o'er our darkest night.
Shout, as you journey home,
songs be in every mouth,
lo, from the North they come,
from East and West and South:
in Jesus all shall find their rest,
in him the universe be blest.
No comments:
Post a Comment