While no one in their right might would point to Christianity in England, Scotland, or Wales as being the model for a resurgent faith, there are bits and pieces -- little tid bits -- that every now and then show us a remarkably different culture at work than the one we know here across the pond.
You can hardly get a singer to actually sing the National Anthem without turning it into some pop wannabe's audition on American Idol. Half of them forget or butcher the words and the other half make us wish they had not sung at all (okay, so I exaggerate). As bad as it is, it is the best we can hope -- a National Anthem sung at great patriotic occasions like sporting events.
Apparently in jolly old, where rugby and soccer replace baseball and football, in addition to the obligatory "God Save the Queen," they also sing a hymn before the game. "Guide Me, O Thou, Great Jehovah." Our own Lutheran situation got muddled when Jehovah was replaced with Redeemer. A ton of folks were made sorrowful by the wisdom of musicologists (since LW) in replacing the glorious and beloved words of TLH with "Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer" and stealing the tune from "God of Grace and God of Glory." While this disappointed many, the upside is that now we can sing with those across the pond, as they say, when they gather for rugby.
So watch them sing and listen to the worlds. Take note of Tom Jones down on the field leading the song. No hymn books. No jumbo tron with a bouncing ball to lead the song. Just a people who know and love these words as much as they know and love the game itself.
...a Welsh song that's been a great consolation and strength 'round these parts for many years -- the national hymn that doubles as a rugby anthem, sung here on the pitch... and led by the land's best-known export... For the record, when was the last time you heard a hymn at a sporting event? (And, no, "Fly, Eagles, Fly" doesn't count.) So England VS Wales, Wembley Stadium, April 11, 1999....
Did I ever tell you I have a fascination for things British (if Welsh can be considered British)? So watch it already...
HT to Whispers in the Loggia
Bread of heaven feed me till I want no more!
ReplyDeleteI love this hymn, and it is remarkable and inspiring to hear it sung at so secular an event as a rugby match. But the Welsh love nothing better than to assemble as large a chorus as possible and sing the hymns of their heritage.
ReplyDelete(if Welsh can be considered British)
The real question is not whether the Welsh can be considered British, but whether anybody else can really be considered British. The Welsh were the native population of Britain when the Anglo-Saxons were still worshiping Thor and Odin in Frisia, Saxony, and Jutland.
Cymru am Byth!
It warms the heart to hear that many men singing. You will find the Welsh, Irish and Scots are not afraid to be heard singing together in public, Americans are uncharacteristically reticent. This is what you get when hymns are a part of the culture and the fabric of life.
ReplyDeletePS; got a kick out of the fellow singing along holding a plastic cup of beer.
Well Chris, I suppose one could say everything went to hell after the Romans left. Hell, hoist one for Boudica! But you know we Angles were invited over, and Angle-land, England, gets it name from us.
ReplyDeleteThe UK is as much a melting pot as the US, but the melting largely happened centuries ago so it doesn't seem that way now.
Except in the somewhat uneasy relationship of Wales and Scotland, not to mention the Irish, in the UK. But the singing of the hymn is hardly religious event; it is laden with cultural and national pride.
Nonetheless the hymn is also part of English big deals, most recently the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which in turn echoed its use at the funeral of the Duke's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales (though the title has no significance in Welsh governance).
... the wisdom of musicologists since LW in replacing the glorious and beloved hymn of TLH with "Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer" and stealing the tune from "God of Grace and God of Glory."
ReplyDeleteI suspect the wisdom was linked to the fact that the (American) tune in TLH was an American peculiarity, whereas the rest of the Empire has been singing this hymn to Cwm Rhonda more or less since the tune was written (in the 1910s). "God of Grace..." is a later text (1930s, I believe).
One should also note when England plays rugby, the stands ring with a slow, majestic "Swing low, sweet chariot".
Oh, and as for the title of the post, you should be very careful about what you wish for!
ReplyDeleteSt. Ambrose would be please. This sent chills down my spine. Thanks so much for posting such evidence for the power of hymnody!
ReplyDelete