In this study we take note of two very special things in the study of hymnody. One is the matter of hymns written by women, since most have been written by male clergy. And the second is the matter of hymns written for children, since most have been written for adults.
Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) was an Anglo-Irish hymnwriter and poet. Her love for the Lord and her love for children motivated her to write hymns for little ones, to teach them biblical stories, simplified versions of important doctrines, and most importantly the nature of saving faith and devotion to the Lord Jesus. Three of the best examples of these qualities in her hymns are All Things Bright and Beautiful, Once in Royal David’s City, and There Is a Green Hill Far Away.
Alexander was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her poetic gift was evident from childhood. By the 1840s she was already known as a hymn writer. This was in part because of her association with John Keble and the Oxford Movement. Keble edited Hymns for Little Children, one of her anthologies. This collection had reached its 69th edition before the end of the 19th century. Her hymns soon began to appear in hymnbooks for the Anglican Church in Ireland. In 1850 she married the Anglican clergyman, William Alexander. He would become Bishop of Derry and Archbishop of Armagh.
She was involved in charitable work for much of her life. Money from her first publications helped build the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in 1846. She was involved with the Derry Home for Fallen Women, and worked to develop a district nurses service. She was described as an “indefatigable visitor to poor and sick,” often traveling many miles to do so, bringing food, warm clothes and medical supplies.
While she wrote more than 400 hymns, she is remembered primarily for her hymns for children. Her first book of poetry, “Verses for Seasons,” was a Christian Year for children. She wrote hymns based on the Apostles’ Creed, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Ten Commandments, and prayer, writing in simple language for children. “There Is a Green Hill Far Away” was one of those, connected with this phrase in the Apostles’ Creed: “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.”
In 1913, after the death of her husband in 1911, a stained glass window in her memory was installed in the north vestibule of St. Columb’s Cathedral in Derry, Northern Ireland. The three lights of the windows refer to three of her hymns and show corresponding scenes: “Once in Royal David’s City”, “There Is a Green Hill Far Away”, and “The Golden Gates Are Lifted Up”. Alexander died at the Bishop’s Palace in Derry and was buried in Derry City Cemetery. Her husband is buried beside her.
“There Is a Green Hill Far Away” was first published in Hymns for Little Children (1848), and the profound but simple text reflects well on this original purpose. The hymn would become popular after its publication in the 1868 appendix to the first edition of “Hymns Ancient and Modern.” Her husband considered it among the best of those written by his wife, with later assessments agreeing on the matter. One early 20th century noted the fine poetic skill of the poet and proclaiming that “she surpassed all other writers of sacred song in meeting a growing demand for children’s hymns.” French composer Charles Gounod, who composed a musical setting on the hymn’s text in 1871, reportedly considered that it was “the most perfect hymn in the English language”, due in part to its striking simplicity.
Despite the apparent simplicity, it deals with great theology. The text remains well known today due to its “clear presentation of the redemptive work of Christ.” It appeared in later influential publications such as the 1906 “English Hymnal,” and remains popular to this day, appearing in most compilations. Since the time of its first publication, “it would be hard to find a major hymn book that has not included it.”
Stanza 1 takes us (and the children for whom this was written) to Golgotha. According to legend, the author often went past a “green hill” when walking from her home to Derry, and she might have associated this with the distant – both physically and temporally – location of the Crucifixion. That hill in Jerusalem was outside of the wall, consistent with the Gospel record, and with the Old Testament (Leviticus 4:12) which directed that the body of sacrifices were to be taken outside of the city after they were killed because they were unclean. The final line refers to passages such as 1 John 2 and Isaiah 53:6.
There is a green hill far away, without a city wall,
where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all.
Stanza 2 helps children learn that fundamental gospel truth that Jesus died for us. It acknowledges that Jesus suffered more terribly than we can imagine. But the most important thing is not just that He suffered, but that He willingly endured this for us. Without deep explanation, it teaches the basic concept of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement. Passages like Isaiah 53:5 (“He was pierced for our transgressions”) and 2 Corinthians 5:21 (“He who knew no sin became sin for us”) come to mind.
We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains He had to bear;
but we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there.
Stanza 3 talks of the forgiveness of sin (c.f. Hebrews 9:22, Ephesians 1:6-7), through which believers are made good (2 Corinthians 5:17 – “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”). This teaches children that our greatest need is to be forgiven for our sins and cleansed of our sinfulness. And we show them that it is only because of Christ’s shed “precious” blood that such forgiveness is offered to us. Alexander framed this as the gateway to heaven, an imagery continued in the fourth stanza.
He died that we might be forgiv’n, He died to make us good,
that we might go at last to heav’n, saved by His precious blood.
Stanza 4 teaches our children that there was only one who was qualified “to pay the price of sin.” As in the Old Testament, the sacrificial lamb had to be spotless, so the sacrifice for our sin had to be sinless. And the Lamb of God “was tempted in every as we are, but without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). It also teaches that the price of sin is very high. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). But by paying that price, Jesus has unlocked the gate of heaven. By faith in Him, we can sure that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13), and will be welcomed in heaven with Him.
There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate of heav’n, and let us in.
Stanza 5 challenges children to respond to all of this. They are invited not only to believe all of this as true but to love this Savior and to personally “trust in His redeeming blood.” It is a fitting emotional conclusion to the text. The repetition of the word “dearly” here refers has a double meaning: “that Christ loved mankind dearly, and in a way that cost Him dearly”. The concluding line is a clear call to the Biblical instruction to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
O dearly, dearly has He loved, and we must love Him too,
and trust in His redeeming blood, and try His works to do.
In English hymnals, “There Is a Green Hill Far Away” is set to the tune HORSLEY. But in America almost everyone sings it to the 1890 tune by John H. Gower (1855-1922), MEDITATION. Born in Rigby, England, Bower became an assistant organist at the age of 12. He earned his D.Mus. in 1883 from Balliol College, Oxford University. He was an organist and choirmaster in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) before emigrating to Denver, Colorado in 1887. He worked at two churches in Denver and a church in Chicago. It was while in Denver that he published the MEDITATION tune. He composed some 20 hymn tunes.
Here is a link to a beautiful anthem arrangement of the hymn for men’s voices. (It does not include stanza 3.)