There is a green hill far away

with
HORSLEY
GREEN HILL
MEDITATION

I. Text: Origins

For many centuries, the Apostles’ Creed has been a vital tool for instruction in Christian doctrine. For just as long, it has been sung, either in chanted form in Latin or versified metrically into other languages. Metrical hymns based on the Creed sometimes encapsulate the entire text in a single hymn, or they are made in an extended form, with separate hymns for each of the twelve articles of the Creed. In 1848, while living in Strabane, County Tyrone, Irish poet Cecil Frances Humphreys published a set of hymns using the latter method. Among them, three in particular have gained great favor: “All things bright and beautiful” (based on “Maker of heaven and earth”), “Once in royal David’s city” (based on “Conceived by the Holy Spirit,” etc.), and “There is a green hill far away” (based on “Suffered under Pontius Pilate,” etc.).

“There is a green hill far away” was first published in Hymns for Little Children (London: Joseph Masters, 1848 | 4th ed. shown at Fig. 1), without music, in five stanzas of four lines.

Cecil had a great passion for children, to the extent that the proceeds from her book went toward a school for deaf and mute children, which initially met in a small building on the grounds of her family’s property. Her concern for the interests of children show in the way her hymns use simple language in simple phrases. One early twentieth century writer noticed her skill in this area:

Mrs. Alexander was always in touch with the thoughts and feelings of children, and being indued with fine poetic gifts, she surpassed all other writers of sacred song in meeting a growing demand for children’s hymns—hymns attractive in their simplicity, picturesqueness, and pathos, and yet without blemish in hymnic beauty.[1]

Her work was also born out of a personal commitment to Christ-like service toward others. When she married Rev. William Alexander in 1850, he was rector of Termonamongan, County Tyrone, Ireland. Upon her death, the current rector of Termonamongan, William Verner, noted how the older people of his parish still remembered her charitable work:

The parish clerk still remembers her carrying soup and other nourishment to the sick and poor in the most remote parts of the parish and in the most inclement weather, and often has he seen her returning from her ministrations of loving and practical sympathy wet through. I cannot refrain from mentioning another case differing from the above, which shows the great interest she took in all classes of the parish. She sent a man to school whose education had been somewhat neglected in his youth, and gave him a weekly allowance towards his maintenance out of her own purse, and when he had made sufficient progress Mrs. Alexander procured an appointment for him as national school teacher. As beautifully put in her exquisite hymn, “There is a green hill far away,” she trusted in His redeeming blood, and tried his works to do.[2]

Her beloved husband believed “There is a green hill far away” was among her best hymns. He survived her by nearly sixteen years, but he was always proud to be known as the husband of the great hymn writer. This hymn was sung at his graveside. According to one witness:

After the reading of the lesson, Mrs. Alexander’s sweet hymn “The roseate hues of early dawn” was sung by the congregation in Londonderry Cathedral. Later, at the graveside, came what was perhaps the most moving feature in the whole of the sad ceremony—another beautiful hymn by the late Mrs. Alexander, “There is a green hill far away,” being devoutly sung by the general body of mourners. The circumstances invested the word and the music with a pathos never to be forgotten by those who were present.[3]

II. Text: Analysis

Keeping mind the original audience of the hymn—children—poet and English professor Mark Jarman explained its usefulness:

Not only did Alexander have a gift for setting a scene, but also for conveying basic belief with an admixture of Victorian edification. She reminds the little children to whom she is presumably speaking that no one but Jesus could be found “to pay the price of sin” because “there was no other good enough.” Therefore we must not only “trust” that the blood of his sacrifice will redeem us, but must also “try his works to do.” Faith without works did not amount to much in Victorian Christianity like Alexander’s. And Jesus was a model of both, especially for children. In “Once in royal David’s city,” Alexander’s famous Christmas carol, we are reminded that Jesus grew from infancy just like us, “For he is our childhood’s pattern.” He was a model of obedience and good behavior.[4]

Even though the hymn was written with children in mind, her clear presentation of the redemptive work of Christ has allowed the hymn to prosper and continue to find favor even among adults.

In the first stanza, the green hill is Golgotha (Calvary), far away in both time and geography. According to lore, Alexander would often pass by a green hill between her home and Derry, and she associated it with what Calvary might look like. The second line, “Without a city wall,” most likely was intended to mean “Outside a city wall,” and some hymnals make that change. The last line, “Who died to save us all,” is borne out of Scriptures such as 1 John 2:2 (“he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” KJV) and Isaiah 53:6 (“the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all”). Similarly, the second stanza speaks of a substitutionary atonement, as in Galatians 3:13 (“being made a curse for us”), Isaiah 53:5 (“he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities”), or 2 Corinthians 5:21 (“For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin,” ESV).

The third stanza speaks of a forgiving act, as in Hebrews 9:22 (“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins,” ESV) or Ephesians 1:6–7 (“To the praise of the glory of his grace, . . . In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,” KJV; also Colossians 1:14). This act also makes us better, bringing about change (2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,” etc.). As one commentator noted, “We are saved to be sanctified. Jesus wants to make us good women: good sisters, good wives, good mothers, good neighbors, good friends. He died to make us good.”[5] Lastly, the third stanza frames the cross as a gateway to heaven. Jesus himself said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9, ESV).

The image of the doorway to heaven continues into stanza four, where it says only Christ was “good enough / To pay the price for sin.” Hebrews 4:15 speaks of one “who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Likewise, 1 Peter 2:22 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth,” and 1 John 3:5 says, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (ESV).

The last stanza is one of application, calling upon worshipers to “love Him too / And trust in His redeeming blood / And try His works to do.” The first of these is summarized well in the way the greatest commandment in the Bible is the instruction to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5; also Matt. 22:37, Mk. 12:30, Lk. 10:27). The Bible also explains, the one who loves God keeps his commandments (Deut. 7:9, Jn. 14:15,21–24, 1 John 5:3). Finally, 1 Peter 1 tells us to “call on him . . . knowing that you were ransomed . . . with the precious blood of Christ” (1:17–19).

Hymn scholar J.R. Watson noted how this final stanza seems to be a point of emotional arrival:

The simple progress of the hymn makes the repetition of “dearly, dearly” in the last verse even more effective than it might have been: the words convey a deepening of emotion, and also a double meaning—that Christ loved mankind dearly, and in a way that cost him dearly.[6]

III. Tune: HORSLEY

Alexander’s hymn is most frequently set to the tune HORSLEY by William Horsley (1774–1858). The tune was initially published as the third in a set of Twenty Four Psalm Tunes and Eight Chants (London: Addison & Hodson, 1844 | Fig. 2). At the time, he was organist of the Asylum for Female Orphans and organist of The Charterhouse, an almshouse and school for boys. His Common Metre tune was harmonized in four parts with figured bass markings underneath.

Horsley’s tune was paired with Alexander’s text in the first Appendix to Hymns Ancient & Modern (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1868) using Horsley’s harmonization, credited to him in the index. This pairing has endured, even into the most recent edition of Ancient & Modern (2013).

IV. Tune: GREEN HILL

In the United States, the most common setting is by American gospel hymn composer George C. Stebbins (1846–1945), written for this text and first published in Gospel Hymns No. 3 (Chicago: Biglow & Main, 1878 | Fig. 4). At the time, Stebbins was one of the musical associates and editors for evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899).

Stebbins’ tune uses the final stanza of Alexander’s text as a refrain. The name GREEN HILL seems to have been assigned by hymnal editors starting in the mid twentieth century.

V. Tune: MEDITATION

One other notable tune in common use is MEDITATION by John H. Gower (1855–1922), first published in An Evening Service Book for Evensong, Missions, Sunday Schools, Family Prayer, etc. (Denver: Denver Music Pub., 1891 | Fig. 5), where it appeared with “There is a fountain filled with blood” and “There is a green hill far away.”

This pairing of Gower and Alexander continues to be used into the twenty-first century.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
12 March 2020
rev. 5 Sept. 2022

Footnotes:

1. Nicholas Smith, Songs from the Hearts of Women: One Hundred Famous Hymns and their Writers, “Cecil Frances Alexander,” (Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1903), p. 153: Archive.org

2. William Vernor, rector of Termonamongan, 22 Oct. 1895, quoted in Cecil Frances Alexander, Poems (London: Macmillan, 1897), pp. x–xi.

3. Church Family Newspaper, 22 Sept. 1911, quoted in Jane M. King, “There is a green hill far away,” Bright Talks on Favourite Hymns (London: The Religious Tract Society, [1916]), pp. 37–38: HathiTrust

4. Mark Jarman, “The green hill far away,” Stars Shall Bend Their Voices: Poets’ Favorite Hymns & Spiritual Songs, ed. Jeffrey L. Johnson (Asheville, NC: Orison, 2018), p. 92: Amazon

5. Jane M. King, “There is a green hill far away,” Bright Talks on Favourite Hymns (London: The Religious Tract Society, [1916]), pp. 35–36: HathiTrust

6. J.R. Watson, “There is a green hill far away,” An Annotated Anthology of Hymns (Oxford: University Press, 2002), p. 287.

Related Resources:

Nicholas Smith, Songs from the Hearts of Women: One Hundred Famous Hymns and their Writers, “Cecil Frances Alexander,” (Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1903), pp. 153–157: Archive.org

Jane M. King, “There is a green hill far away,” Bright Talks on Favourite Hymns (London: The Religious Tract Society, [1916]), pp. 27–36: HathiTrust

Louis Benson, “There is a green hill far away,” Studies of Familiar Hymns, Second Series (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1923), pp. 220–231: Archive.org

James T. Lightwood, “HORSLEY,” Music of the Methodist Hymn Book (London: Epworth, 1935), p. 133.

Erik Routley, “There is a green hill far away,” Hymns and the Faith (London: John Murray, 1955), pp. 119–126.

“There is a green hill far away,” The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd rev. ed. (NY: Church Pension Fund, 1962), pp. 49–50.

May B. Daw & Hugh D. McKellar, “There is a green hill far away,” The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3A (NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1994), pp. 338–339.

Bert Polman, “THE GREEN HILL,” Psalter Hymnal Handbook (Grand Rapids: CRC, 1998), p. 195.

J.R. Watson, “There is a green hill far away,” An Annotated Anthology of Hymns (Oxford: University Press, 2002), pp. 286–287.

J.R. Watson, “There is a green hill far away,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology:
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/there-is-a-green-hill-far-away

“There is a green hill far away,” Hymnary.org:
https://hymnary.org/text/there_is_a_green_hill_far_away