Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1953.238.A5
Original Tape ID
Summary
A hymn that the contributor learned at her family church, the Old Regular Baptist Church, near her home in Kentucky. The singing there is old fashioned, but she likes it. The closest analogy in Scotland would be what Hamish Henderson called the "Wee Free Kirk".
She sings this hymn, 'Guide me, o thou great Jehovah', to the tune the Kentucky parishioners put to it.
Item Notes
Opening verse only.
'Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah' or in the original Welsh, 'Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch', was written in 1745 by William Williams (February 11, 1717 - January 11, 1791) and later translated into English by Peter Williams (January 15, 1723 - August 8, 1796) (no relation).
The hymn first appeared in a hymnal published by Williams in Bristol, England, in 1745, and was originally a song of five verses under the title 'Strength To Pass Through the Wilderness'. Peter Williams translated verses one, three and five into English for another publication in 1771, which served as the basis for a second English translation by the original author shortly after.
Only three of these verses are commonly sung today.
Jean Ritchie was born in 1922 in Viper, Kentucky, the youngest of the fourteen children of Balis and Abigail Ritchie. She was already well known in America, where she had performed with Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger among others, before a Fulbright Award brought her to the British Isles to study folk music. She is recognised today as one of America's finest tradition bearers.
Language
English
Genre
Collection
Classification
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Fair