| "Amazing Grace" - Ten factoids about this (still) very popular hymn and its author: What’s in a name? 1. First published in Olney Hymns in 1779, the original title was “Faith’s Review and Expectation”. Name that tune!2.
The melody used in 1779 was not the one that we are familiar with
today. In 1835, the words were joined to a tune named “New
Britain”. At varying times, twenty different tunes served as the
score. There is some question whether or not Newton even set
“Amazing Grace” to music when he wrote it in 1773. It pays to schmooze…3.
John Newton (1725-1807) was the son of a fairly well-to-do
shipmaster. He received a good education for that time
period. Having friends in high places helped him get some cushy
jobs after he quit the slave trade. I’ve looked at life from both sides now…4.
Newton was gang pressed (shanghaied) into service in the British Royal
Navy in 1743. (That’s rough; he was only 18 years old.). After a failed
attempt to desert, he received a severe flogging. Five years
later, he became a servant to a West African tribal princess who was
notorious for her abuse of menial laborers. What’s the matter? Weren’t his SAT scores high enough?5.
John Newton applied to several church organizations for religious
education, but was turned down by all except for the Church of
England. As the result, “Amazing Grace” was originally an
Anglican hymn, not Methodist. He was ordained in 1764. Not only sailors jump ship – so do song lyrics!6. Of all the verses, one was not written by Newton. It’s: “When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise, Than when we first begun.” This
verse was first published in 1790 in a different collection with a
different title, but it was added to “Amazing Grace” in Uncle Tom’s
Cabin (1852), thanks to Harriet Beecher Stowe. It hurts to say this.7.
Newton converted to Christianity in 1748, following a particularly
rough and dangerous sea voyage. His ship nearly sank. Even
after his conversion, he sailed the seas as a slave captain three times
after his conversion and did not formally renounce slavery until later
in life. Topping two charts…8. Did
he achieve renown as a songwriter? Not in England. He did,
however, have a best-selling pamphlet published in 1788 that denounced
the slave trade It sold out immediately, necessitating the
printing of a second edition. Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show -9. “Amazing
Grace” became wildly popular in America during the early part of the
1800s as part of the revival movement that occurred during the years
1790-1840. The Methodist Hymnal of 1840 included “Amazing Grace” for
the first time. Better late than never…10. John
Newton was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 1985 and two films
about “Amazing Grace” appeared in 2006: Amazing Grace and The
Amazing Grace. |
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