The Story of the Hymns and Tunes, page 259 by Theron Brown
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lwyn," "Y Delyn Aur," or "Capel-Y-Ddol" lending their deep minors to its lines with a thrilling effect realized, perhaps, only in the land of Taliessin and the Druids.
The singular history and inspiring cause of one old Welsh hymn which after various mutilations and vicissitudes survives as the key-note of a valued song of trust, seems to illustrate the Providence that will never let a good thing be lost. It is related of the Rev. David Williams, of Llandilo, an obscure but not entirely forgotten preacher, that he had a termagant wife, and one stormy night, when her bickerings became intolerable, he went out in the rain and standing by the river composed in his mind these lines of tender faith:
In the waves and mighty waters No one will support my head But my Saviour, my Beloved, Who was stricken in my stead. In the cold and mortal river He would hold my head above; I shall through the waves go singing For one look of Him I love.
Apparently the sentiment and substantially the expression of this humble hymn became the burden of more than one Christian lay. Altered and blended with a modern gospel hymn, it was sung at the crowded meetings of 1904 to Robert Lowry's air of "Jesus Only," and often rendered very impressively as a solo by a sweet female voice.
In the deep and mighty waters There is none to hold my head But my loving Bridegroom, Jesus, Who upon the cross hath bled.
If I've Jesus, Jesus only Then my sky will have a gem He's the Sun of brightest splendor, He's the Star of Bethlehem.
He's the Friend in Death's dark river, He will lift me o'er the waves, I will sing in the deep waters If I only see His face. If I've Jesus, Jesus only, etc.
A few of the revival tunes have living authors and are of recent date; and the minor harmony of "Ebenezer" (marked "Ton Y Botel"), which was copied in this country by the New York Examiner, with its hymn, is apparently a contemporary piece. It was first sung at Bethany Chapel, Cardiff, Jan, 8, 1905, the hymn bearing