Hymn Trivia
FIRST HYMN IN ENGLISH WRITTEN FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP
Behold the Glories of the Lamb (Isaac Watts, circa 1688).
OLDEST HYMN FOR WHICH WE KNOW THE AUTHOR
Shepherd of Tender Youth (Clement of Alexandria, circa 200).
MOST POPULAR HYMN
Based on NetHymnal traffic, Amazing Grace is the runaway winner. Blessed Assurance is the runner up.
HYMNS SUNG IN MOVIES THAT WON OR WERE NOMINATED FOR ACADEMY AWARDS
- Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid?
- Blessed Assurance
- Blest Be the Tie that Binds
- Children of the Heavenly King
- Eternal Father, Strong to Save
- Fight the Good Fight with All Thy Might
- For the Beauty of the Earth
- Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
- In the Garden
- In the Sweet By and By
- Jerusalem
- Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
- Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
- Nearer, My God, to Thee
- Old Time Religion
- Onward, Christian Soldiers
- Shall We Gather at the River?
- Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling
- Son of God Goes Forth to War, The
- When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
HYMNS SUNG AT CELEBRITY WEDDINGS & FUNERALS
- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
- Abide with Me
- As Shadows Cast by Cloud and Sun
- Battle Hymn of the Republic
- Beautiful Isle of Somewhere
- Eternal Father, Strong to Save
- Faith of Our Fathers
- Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer
- Hark! from the Tombs a Doleful Sound
- Ho! Reapers of Life’s Harvest
- How Firm a Foundation
- I Vow to Thee, My Country
- King of Love My Shepherd Is, The
- Master, the Tempest Is Raging
- Nearer, My God, to Thee
- O Love of God, How Strong and True
- Onward, Christian Soldiers
- Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
- Peace, Troubled Soul
- Rock of Ages
- Safe in the Arms of Jesus
- Shall We Gather at the River?
- Sing with All the Saints in Glory
- Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling
HYMNS WHOSE AUTHORS NEVER HEARD THEM SUNG
- Abide with Me
- Beneath the Cross of Jesus
- Great God of Wonders
- Happy the Home When God Is There
- Into the Woods
- My Redeemer
- This Is My Father’s World
HYMNS WRITTEN SHORTLY BEFORE THE AUTHOR’S DEATH
- Abide with Me
- All Creatures of Our God and King
- All Glory, Laud and Honor
- Forward! Be Our Watchword
- Holy, Holy, Holy
- Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
- This Is My Father’s World
HYMNISTS THAT WERE MURDERED
HYMNS INSPIRED BY MURDERS
HYMNS THAT FIRST APPEARED IN NOVELS
HYMNS WRITTEN BY NON-CHRISTIANS
TUNES SHARED WITH SECULAR SONGS
- Afton (Flow Gently, Sweet Afton)
- Auld Lang Syne (traditional Scottish melody)
- Austria (from a Croatian folk melody)
- Danby (The Water Is Wide)
- Erie (World War I)
- Greensleeves (Middle Ages; lyrics rumored to have been written by King Henry VIII)
- Landås (Norwegian folk melody)
- Londonderry (Irish melody)
- John Brown’s Body (19th Century American)
- Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (American civil war)
MOST PROLIFIC HYMNIST
Probably Frances Jane (Fanny) Crosby (1820-1915): she wrote over 8,000 hymns. It’s said editors didn’t want to publish so many hymns by the same lyricist in one book, so they asked her to use pseudonyms (she used over 200). For a list of Fanny’s hymns that we have, click here.
Runners up for most prolific hymnist include Charles Wesley, George Matheson, and Isaac Watts.
YOUNGEST HYMNIST
Our guess is John Milton, who was 15 years old when he wrote Let Us with a Gladsome Mind. Runners up include:
- William Ralph Featherstone, 16, My Jesus, I Love Thee
- Anna L. Coghill, 18, Work, for the Night Is Coming
- Henry K. White, 19, When Marshaled on the Nightly Plain
OLDEST HYMNIST
The current contender is Fanny Crosby: The day before her death at age 95, she wrote her last hymn, to console a neighbor who had lost a child. Another work from Fanny’s later years is The Blood-Washed Throng, which she wrote at age 86.
BLIND HYMNISTS
HYMNISTS WHO DIED OUTSIDE THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY
- Maltbie Babcock
- Philip Doddridge
- Henry Gilmour
- Reginald Heber
- Adoniram Judson
- Haldor Lillenas
- Henry Lyte
- Edgar Park
- Adelaide Pollard
- Joseph Scriven
- Horatio Spafford
- Theodulph of Orleans
- Ghevont Tourian
- Howard Walter
NOBEL PRIZE WINNING HYMNISTS
- Rudyard Kipling (Literature, 1907)
HYMNISTS WITH FOSSILS NAMED AFTER THEM
HYMNISTS WITH WELL KNOWN SECULAR ACHIEVEMENTS
HYMNIST WITH THE MOST UNUSUAL LIFE STORY
A very subjective category, but our vote goes to Daniel de Marbelle.
DENOMINATIONS WITH FORMAL HYMN PROCEDURES
John Wesley’s singing rules for Methodists (he had a Method for everything!):
- Learn the tune.
- Sing them as they are printed.
- Sing all. “If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.”
- Sing lustily and with a good courage.
- Sing modestly. Do not bawl.
- Sing in time. Do not run before or stay behind.
- Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually.