In this article a broad overview of the reception of Scottish hymnody in translation is given. Considering the pivotal role the metrical Psalms used to play in the Scottish churches, they are considered first. Only one metrical Psalm made it to be translated widely and to be included in hymnals over the world. It is the metrical setting of Psalm 23, The Lord’s my Shepherd, paired to the tune of Scottish origin, CRIMOND. It is argued that the metrical psalm owes much of its popularity to the tune. A hymn with a text from the Scottish Paraphrases, paired to a Scottish tune, DUNDEE, and for long the only hymn in the Afrikaans churches with a Scottish connection, is discussed with regard to its reception in these churches. It serves as an example of how a hymn could be translated and relocated and function in a new context. In an overview of Scottish hymns translated and included in the newest hymnals in other countries, such as the Netherlands and Norway, it is shown that primarily hymns and songs of the Iona Community are translated and included in the newest hymnals, with John Lamberton Bell being the main exponent as text, hymn and song writer.
In this article a broad overview of Scottish hymnody in translation is given.
The first Scottish Psalter of 1564 was a psalter based to some extent on the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561, the work of John Knox (ca. 1514–1572) and his assistants. It contained English versions, sometimes modified, but also 46 by Scottish writers (Temperley
The first appearance of CRIMOND in an Afrikaans hymnal in 1976 (Psalms en Gesange
Apart from the version in Afrikaans, translations of this metrical version of Psalm 23, set to CRIMOND, have appeared in many other official hymnals. In hymnals published only after 2000, there is (to name a few examples), a Korean version in
In the first hymnal in Afrikaans (
Tom Troeger (
The translated version of the hymn,
Strictly speaking, the text should not be discussed here, as it is not written by a Scot, but its reception was via the Scottish Paraphrases. Our vows, our prayers, we now present before thy throne of grace: God of our fathers! be the God of their succeeding race.
The meaning attached or assigned to the word ‘race’ in 1745, when the hymn was written, would clearly be ‘succeeding generation’. When this stanza was translated into Afrikaans in the 1930s and 1940s, however, the pitfall of using the word ‘race’ (
It may have been the text, speaking of God’s care in the past, in the present and in the future (
DUNDEE was the only tune of Scottish origin in the first Afrikaans Hymnal (
In the previous official Dutch hymnal,
Apart from the music composed by John Bell, set to his texts and versions of liturgical pieces, the following tunes from Scotland are included in the Dutch hymnal: LIFE OF THE WORLD, BUNESSAN and CRIMOND, as mentioned already, then the meditative LEWIS FOLK MELODY, set to the translation of
The most prolific hymn text writer and translator currently in the Netherlands is Sytze de Vries (1945). The Lord´s my shepherd, Psalm 23 ( As pants the heart for cooling streams, Psalm 42 by Nahum Tate (1652–1715) and Nicholas Brady (1659–1726) ( We lay our broken world, by a song writer who lives in Scotland, Anna Briggs (1947) Come and find the quiet centre, by the text writer from New Zealand, Shirley Erena Murray (1931) ( Will you come and follow me, by John Bell (1949) and Graham Maule (1958) ( This is a day of new beginnings by Brian Wren (1936) (
De Vries made another translation (to my mind more lyrical than the one in Liedboek
In
Hymns and songs are translated, often because texts would speak to people, but even more often because a tune would speak to people in the first place. Tunes touch the inner-beings of people more immediately. Most of the tunes paired with translations mentioned above are quite touching – one could say, tunes containing quite a high level of emotion or nostalgia, which certainly speak stronger to people who have grown up with them. MARTYRDOM is one of the tunes mentioned above, which reminded me of a telling e-mail in 2012, received from Margaret Anderson, a person with a deep interest in the history and culture of Scotland, responding to the article I wrote on the role of the metrical psalms in the Church of Scotland and the similarities with the Afrikaans Dutch Reformed churches. She wrote that she not only appreciates the importance of the Psalms throughout their history, and therefore values the tradition, but also admits that congregational Psalm-singing is not integral to her sense of identity in a faith context. She was raised in the community of Plymouth Brethren, who did not use the Metrical Psalms; therefore, the words of the Metrical Psalms are not part of her conditioning and upbringing. Many of the hymns in the Brethren hymn book, however, would be set to Psalm tunes. These tunes became part of her being. Her description of the role of these tunes in the history of her family and in her life reflects much nostalgia and love for the Psalm tunes. She writes primarily about MARTYRDOM, but DUNDEE is also mentioned:
Although congregational Psalm-singing (though I appreciate it) is not integral to my sense of identity in a faith context, the old Psalm TUNES most definitely are important to me as a daughter, granddaughter, mother – and now grandmother! My maternal grandmother’s roots were in the United Presbyterian Kirk, although her community (the fishing towns of the Moray Firth) were also very influenced by the Moody and Sankey movement of the 19th Century … She was the oldest of 16 children, so she probably often sang to younger brothers and sisters as they went to sleep, and with her own family, and also her grandchildren, her lullaby was always the same Psalm tune – Martyrdom. It was sung to typical lullaby words,
The hymns and songs by John Bell included in the new Dutch hymnal, as well as those by other members of the Iona Community’s Wild Goose Worship Group, are mentioned above. John Bell, the leader of the group, is a Church of Scotland minister, employed full-time by the Iona Community. He certainly has been the most prolific and influential Scottish hymn writer over more than three decades. His songs and hymns (as well as those of other members of the Iona Community) address social issues, suffering, justice, healing, discipleship and many other themes. With his own tunes, or set to traditional Scottish folk tunes, they have been very popular and found their way into most modern hymnals. They appear in Dutch, as shown above, but also in Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish and many other languages. Information from various hymnals published after 2000 are given chronologically. Translations of three songs by John Bell included in the Afrikaans Hymnal,
In
Eight songs from Iona are included in the official Norwegian hymnal, In a Byre near Bethlehem ( Christ has risen while earth slumbered ( O Lord, our Lord, throughout the earth ( Whoever lives beside the Lord ( When God almighty came to earth ( Will you come and follow me ( God to enfold you (
The eighth song from Scotland included in
In the Addendum,
It is interesting that the choice of items from the Iona Community for the various hymnals is fairly random and that there is much variety in what is included. A book with translations into German,
Tunes contribute much to the popularity of hymns and often a tune is the prime reason for a text to be translated and relocated. An overview of Scottish hymns and songs translated and included in the newest hymnals proves that primarily hymns and songs of the The hymns written and sung by Scottish Christians have been generally more rugged, strenuous and theologically nuanced than those of their co-religionists south of the Border, reflecting the harsher nature of their physical landscape, the greater seriousness and intensity of their faith, and the intellectual calibre of their ministry. Scottish hymn writers may not have had the smooth elegance or artistic accomplishment of their English counterparts … but they have made up for this in evangelical fervour and theological depth. (Bradley
The author declares that she has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced her in writing this article.
This article is the first part of a plenary paper presented in St Andrews, Scotland, at the 80th Anniversary Conference of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland, July 2016.
Earlier translations for churches in China, Taiwan, Korea and India, exported primarily through the work of missionaries in the 19th century, would make the scope too wide and are not included. They are referred to in the second article.
Bradley continues, describing this volume of the psalms as follows: ‘The versions of the psalms contained in this volume, with all their tortuous inversions, have remained definitive and deeply etched on the Scottish psyche’.
In many books the tune has been credited to Jessie Seymour Irvine (1836–1887), but more recent research has suggested that it was almost certainly by an Aberdeen composer, David Grant (see Johnson
The Afrikaans text by Izak de Villiers:
See Kloppers (
The Afrikaans text by Elsabé Kloppers.
One of only two hymns with a Scottish connection in this hymnal – the other is
For example, in
Philip Doddridge was born in London – thus not of Scottish descent, but I was informed by a colleague in Aberdeen, Dr Graham Deans, that Doddridge was in fact the holder of
The name of the tune comes from the city of Dundee, known as the ‘Scottish Geneva’ during the era of the Scottish Reformation. DUNDEE in
In South Africa, Dutch versions probably were sung already in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century it was printed in
I have argued that this hymn and others were used in a religio-political context (
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, ministers of Scottish descent had a prominent influence in the Dutch Reformed Churches in the Cape and broader in South Africa. Van der Walt and Cillié (
Robert Burns may have had this double leap in mind, when he wrote about
Ian Bradley (
Another tune in the 1976 hymnal is indicated as ‘Scottish’ (hymn number 220). It is not Scottish in origin, however. It is the tune WINDSOR, also named DUNDEE in Scotland (where ‘our’ DUNDEE is called FRENCH). Graham Deans sent me the following information on the tune (Deans
AMAZING GRACE was also newly included in the hymnal,
Translation by the well-known Dutch text writer and poet, Willem Barnard (1920–2010) and set to REGENT SQUARE by Henry Smart (1813–1879), Liedboek
Translation Andries Govaart, Liedboek
The song was made popular in the USA by the folk-singer Cat Stevens, who sang it in the 1970s. It has been translated into many languages – among others into German by Jürgen Henkys as
Translation Andries Govaart, set to MALAWI, arranged by Colvin – DZUWA LAPITA, Liedboek 2013: 257.
Translation by Ria Borkent, set to BASQUE CAROL, Liedboek 2013: 583.
Translation Sylvia Kolthof, Liedboek 2013: 880.
Translation by Ria Borkent, Liedboek 2013: 975.
Translation by Roel Bosch, Liedboek 2013: 131a. CH4 89.
GLENFINLAS was composed by Kenneth George Finlay (1882–1974) born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Originally an architect, Finlay switched to a music career in 1928 and studied at the Royal Academy of Music, then at the Teachers’ Training College, Jordanhill, Glasgow, and became Music Master at the Irvine Royal Academy (Watson
An example is
See interview with Sebastiaan ‘t Hart 2015.
There is a much smaller sea between Britain and the Netherlands, than between Britain and South Africa, but because South Africa was colonised by Britain, British influences in hymnody used to be much stronger in the country further away, than in the country just across the channel. The situation has been changing in the past few years.
MARTYRDOM was originally an 18th century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad ‘Helen of Kirkconnel’. Hugh Wilson (1766–1824) (b. Fenwick, Ayrshire) adapted MARTYRDOM into a hymn tune in duple meter around 1800. Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829), rewrote it in triple time, published it, and gave it its name. The tune in triple time gets published more often. (Watson
Originally from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Anna Briggs is a long-time member of the Iona Community.
Set to KINGSFOLD by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
I love to add that their three children, raised on the Psalm tunes, are all now professional musicians, playing in orchestras over the world.
My sincere thanks go to Lionel Li-Xing Hong from Taiwan, who sent me various indices and scans of all material in Seng-Si, which could be of Scottish origin.
Information originally sent by Vidar Kristensen, the Projectmanager for the Norwegian Hymnal, in various e-mails dated from 30 June to 4 July 2016.
Translated by Heidi Strand Harboe in 2005. With the focus on love, ‘the force that no fear can destroy’, it is a choice from the same text writer, quite different from that for the Dutch hymnal,
In the Swedish addendum (