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The Primitive Methodist Hymnal
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March 7, 2025
Can you review a hymn book? Not a recent one either, but one published in 1889? I'll have a go.
Trawling through the Oxfam website, I was taken aback to find, amid the huge variety on offer from modern paperbacks to vintage classics, a book with the very long title of, The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Hymnal with accompanying Tunes. Edited by G. Booth. The harmonies revised by Henry Coward.
Why was I so startled?
The said Henry Coward was Sir Henry Coward, the orchestral conductor, University teacher and founder of choral societies. He was the man responsible for reviving the tonic-sol-fa method (do re mi etc), to enable singers from the mills and factories - workers who could not read music - to sing chorally. He conducted many of the mass Whit Sunday "sings" in parks across Sheffield, including a performance of 60,000 school-children before Queen Victoria. A Bachelor of Music from Oxford University, and later a Doctor of Music, a writer, a traveller, honoured with the freedom of the City. He became a Freeman of the City of Sheffield in 1920, and was knighted by King George V in 1927 for his services to music.
Not a bad achievement for some one whose father was a Sheffield working man — a grinder — with a bent towards music. In the book, "Dr. Henry Coward, the pioneer chorus-master" we learn that as soon as his father's apprenticeship with a firm of cutlers in Sheffield had been completed he
"yielded to his stronger inclination and became a professional banjoist and "nigger" minstrel" (a tradition, and terminology of the day.)
His wife was also a good singer, and she toured with her husband for several years, before they took ownership of a hotel in Liverpool, where in 1849 Henry Coward was born. There was a "singing-room" attached to the hotel, and on special nights, Henry Coward's father used to perform on the banjo.
The adjacent theatre, music hall and a dancing saloon left a great impression on Henry Coward — especially rhythmically. He records how exhilarating he found the lilt of Strauss's waltzes to which he would listen, in all weathers, beneath the windows. He also loved to hear a band, and one day marched six miles, to keep within earshot of a regimental band doing a route march.
However, as so often happened in those days, his schooling was interrupted when Henry Coward was just eight years old, as his father died. His mother returned to Sheffield and Henry had to help make ends meet. He served his apprenticeship as a pen blade maker, and worked 12 years in the industry, all the time educating himself in Music. His determination and talent won through; he was appointed as a teacher of music at a school, and went on to formal studies and degrees at Oxford University.
An inspirational man, for sure, but why such a long digression? Why am I so interested in him? The explanation is simple. Henry Coward was my great great uncle ...
I did not know he was a Primitive Methodist, although I know most of my ancestors were variously Salvation Army, Methodist or Baptist. "Primitive Methodist" was an unfamiliar term to me. Apparently it refers to a society of Methodists who had split from the Wesleyan Methodist church. They saw themselves as "simple" or "relating to an original stage". They had a plainer design of chapels and their worship was more low church. Primitive Methodists sought to practise a purer form of Christianity, closer to the earliest Methodists. "Primitive Methodism" was formed in 1811 and united with the Methodist Church in 1932.
Both Primitive Methodist preachers and communities differed from the Wesleyan Methodists. Although the Wesleyans tended towards respectability, the Primitive Methodists were poor and revivalist. Their preachers were plainly dressed and poorly paid. They were also less educated and more plain speaking. The Wesleyan services, they felt, were "embellished with literary allusions and delivered in high-flown language".
Interestingly, another way in which they different from Wesleyan Methodists, was in their their support for so-called "Camp Meetings". These were day-long, open air meetings, involving public praying, preaching and ritual religious meals. This reminds me so much of the Whit Sings. I vividly remember marching through Sheffield behind a banner, collecting gathered singers from other NonConformist churches - each with their own banner - on the way. Perhaps Henry Coward started these "Sings", using Camp Meetings as his inspiration. Here is a photo of an early "Whit Sing":
I opened the book tentatively and read the Preface,
"The Committee desire to recognize the professional ability and judgement of Mr. Henry Coward in the examination and re-arrangement, where necessary of the harmonies of non-copyright tunes, and the skill more especially shown in improving the harmony of many of the old tunes by imparting vigour and melody to the "parts" while retaining the character of the tunes."
It is the fourth version of a hymnbook which collects together many old hymns by Watts and Wesley, but also those of other authors and translations. Some verses have been omitted if the committee considered them to be "weak", although they stressed the importance of not changing for the sake of it, but retaining the hymns as they were for the most part. Double bars at the end of lines had also been discarded,
"In order to remove the tendency to pause at the end of each line, where very frequently the sense of the hymn does not require it."
This made me give a wry smile, as I was still fighting that "dragginess" of choral singers as an accompanist over a hundred years later! The only way I could "correct" this was if I conducted singers and instrumentalists myself from the keyboard.
"Tunes are now much shorter and sung more quickly than formerly, and the service of praise is becoming, and ought to become, a more important and prominent part of public worship ... they need [hymns] for the sick chamber, for the marriage feast, for funerals, for journeys by sea and land, for various social gatherings, for the home sanctuary, for personal and private use, for praising the Lord secretly among the faithful as well as in the great congregation. All these objects the committee have kept in view, hoping that the Hymnal will become a precious companion to all classes of our people in the varying conditions of life."
This is all in keeping with what I know of Henry Coward's work and views, and begins to complete my picture of him. Henry Coward had brought music to those working in mills and factories; he had established the Sheffield Choral Society with members from all walks of life; and he was also responsible for starting a series of concerts in Sheffield, much like the famous "Proms" of Henry Wood, which continue to this day. He was quite a social campaigner in music matters. This reflects the way of the Primitive Methodists.
So how does this hymn book differ from others? It is a lovely old volume, bound in textured brown leather, with gilt edges and fine lightweight paper. It could easily be a companion volume to the Holy Bible.
What strikes the reader first, may be the odd way of laying out these hymns, which number over a thousand. They are grouped by metre!
"While this interferes somewhat with the logical sequence of the Hymns, it is to be thought that the advantage to be gained in the compilation of the Edition with Tunes will amply justify a departure from the ordinary method of arrangement."
Surely only a musician would think of this. I must admit to it not being my preferred way. Thematically might be better, or first lines is the traditional way. Fortunately there is also an index of first lines, plus another index of the name of the tune. But once I had found the alphabetical index, I began to look for hymns I knew. I found some where the tune was the same as those familiar to me from the Baptist church (I always thought the Baptists had the best tunes; although admittedly that is not how the saying goes ...) such as "Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning", "Now Thank We All Our God", "Who is On the Lord's Side" - and others which were different. "Angels from the Realms of Glory" had a different tune from the one I know, for example, although the words are by a Sheffield writer, James Montgomery. And for one hymn, "O Jesus I have promised", although I knew three different tunes, both ancient and modern, the one in this hymnal was unfamiliar.
All those out of copyright had been examined and some re-arranged by Henry Coward, and there were also originals, written by him. It gave me a very odd feeling to play these, knowing that a relative of mine had created them. It was like finding the diaries of an ancestor, and reading their innermost thoughts; there was a connection, and in this case, on another, musical level. Quirky inner parts of the harmony made me smile. They must have been unique to him; I got an impression of his character from these little musical jokes, which the preface had mentioned. My husband (and probably the neighbours too) must have been surprised to hear me playing hymns. Once I dust off the piano, it's more likely to be Chopin, or Debussy, or Satie.
Then I saw one which made me gasp. One tune Henry Coward had entitled "Brocco Bank". This, coincidentally, was the name of the road of my childhood home in Sheffield, where I lived for the first 19 years of my life. Not only that, but there was a bookmark in the book at that place. Some things in life just seem quite inexplicable.
Another mystery baffles me, and perhaps someone can help explain this to me. I knew of one Methodist hymn for sure - or I thought I did - "He Who would Valiant Be". I searched the index ... nothing. Puzzled, I googled it, and found that yes, it was definitely written by John Wesley, and was perhaps the most famous hymn of his. It gave the original version too. Light dawned. Of course the Primitive Methodists would use the original words. So I looked up "Who Would True Valour See" - but still found nothing.
I do appreciate that this is an extremely discursive "review", so thank you, if you have stayed the course. This one was a bit of an indulgence.
"it is doubtful whether England has ever produced a better or more gifted choir trainer than Coward ... He has evolved, formulated and put into practice a method of choral technique which has had the result of bringing about a revival of singing in chorus which has spread through the whole Empire."
Edit:
Several kind people have tried to solve the mystery of why John Bunyan's "He Who Would Valiant Be" was not included in my great great uncle's harmonies.
I suspect it is simply that this hymnal dates from 1889, when John Bunyan's words "hobgoblin" and "foul fiend" in his original text, "Who Would True Valour See", would not be sung in churches - and certainly not in a Primitive Methodist church. "He Who Would Valiant Be" which is more popularly known, was a revised variant on John Bunyan's "Who Would True Valour See" (as my review explains) which omits those words. It was published by the Church of England in 1906.
Both versions seem to be in use now, since some hymn books have returned to the original words, "Who Would True Valour See".
Trawling through the Oxfam website, I was taken aback to find, amid the huge variety on offer from modern paperbacks to vintage classics, a book with the very long title of, The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Hymnal with accompanying Tunes. Edited by G. Booth. The harmonies revised by Henry Coward.
Why was I so startled?
The said Henry Coward was Sir Henry Coward, the orchestral conductor, University teacher and founder of choral societies. He was the man responsible for reviving the tonic-sol-fa method (do re mi etc), to enable singers from the mills and factories - workers who could not read music - to sing chorally. He conducted many of the mass Whit Sunday "sings" in parks across Sheffield, including a performance of 60,000 school-children before Queen Victoria. A Bachelor of Music from Oxford University, and later a Doctor of Music, a writer, a traveller, honoured with the freedom of the City. He became a Freeman of the City of Sheffield in 1920, and was knighted by King George V in 1927 for his services to music.
Not a bad achievement for some one whose father was a Sheffield working man — a grinder — with a bent towards music. In the book, "Dr. Henry Coward, the pioneer chorus-master" we learn that as soon as his father's apprenticeship with a firm of cutlers in Sheffield had been completed he
"yielded to his stronger inclination and became a professional banjoist and "nigger" minstrel" (a tradition, and terminology of the day.)
His wife was also a good singer, and she toured with her husband for several years, before they took ownership of a hotel in Liverpool, where in 1849 Henry Coward was born. There was a "singing-room" attached to the hotel, and on special nights, Henry Coward's father used to perform on the banjo.
The adjacent theatre, music hall and a dancing saloon left a great impression on Henry Coward — especially rhythmically. He records how exhilarating he found the lilt of Strauss's waltzes to which he would listen, in all weathers, beneath the windows. He also loved to hear a band, and one day marched six miles, to keep within earshot of a regimental band doing a route march.
However, as so often happened in those days, his schooling was interrupted when Henry Coward was just eight years old, as his father died. His mother returned to Sheffield and Henry had to help make ends meet. He served his apprenticeship as a pen blade maker, and worked 12 years in the industry, all the time educating himself in Music. His determination and talent won through; he was appointed as a teacher of music at a school, and went on to formal studies and degrees at Oxford University.
An inspirational man, for sure, but why such a long digression? Why am I so interested in him? The explanation is simple. Henry Coward was my great great uncle ...
I did not know he was a Primitive Methodist, although I know most of my ancestors were variously Salvation Army, Methodist or Baptist. "Primitive Methodist" was an unfamiliar term to me. Apparently it refers to a society of Methodists who had split from the Wesleyan Methodist church. They saw themselves as "simple" or "relating to an original stage". They had a plainer design of chapels and their worship was more low church. Primitive Methodists sought to practise a purer form of Christianity, closer to the earliest Methodists. "Primitive Methodism" was formed in 1811 and united with the Methodist Church in 1932.
Both Primitive Methodist preachers and communities differed from the Wesleyan Methodists. Although the Wesleyans tended towards respectability, the Primitive Methodists were poor and revivalist. Their preachers were plainly dressed and poorly paid. They were also less educated and more plain speaking. The Wesleyan services, they felt, were "embellished with literary allusions and delivered in high-flown language".
Interestingly, another way in which they different from Wesleyan Methodists, was in their their support for so-called "Camp Meetings". These were day-long, open air meetings, involving public praying, preaching and ritual religious meals. This reminds me so much of the Whit Sings. I vividly remember marching through Sheffield behind a banner, collecting gathered singers from other NonConformist churches - each with their own banner - on the way. Perhaps Henry Coward started these "Sings", using Camp Meetings as his inspiration. Here is a photo of an early "Whit Sing":
I opened the book tentatively and read the Preface,
"The Committee desire to recognize the professional ability and judgement of Mr. Henry Coward in the examination and re-arrangement, where necessary of the harmonies of non-copyright tunes, and the skill more especially shown in improving the harmony of many of the old tunes by imparting vigour and melody to the "parts" while retaining the character of the tunes."
It is the fourth version of a hymnbook which collects together many old hymns by Watts and Wesley, but also those of other authors and translations. Some verses have been omitted if the committee considered them to be "weak", although they stressed the importance of not changing for the sake of it, but retaining the hymns as they were for the most part. Double bars at the end of lines had also been discarded,
"In order to remove the tendency to pause at the end of each line, where very frequently the sense of the hymn does not require it."
This made me give a wry smile, as I was still fighting that "dragginess" of choral singers as an accompanist over a hundred years later! The only way I could "correct" this was if I conducted singers and instrumentalists myself from the keyboard.
"Tunes are now much shorter and sung more quickly than formerly, and the service of praise is becoming, and ought to become, a more important and prominent part of public worship ... they need [hymns] for the sick chamber, for the marriage feast, for funerals, for journeys by sea and land, for various social gatherings, for the home sanctuary, for personal and private use, for praising the Lord secretly among the faithful as well as in the great congregation. All these objects the committee have kept in view, hoping that the Hymnal will become a precious companion to all classes of our people in the varying conditions of life."
This is all in keeping with what I know of Henry Coward's work and views, and begins to complete my picture of him. Henry Coward had brought music to those working in mills and factories; he had established the Sheffield Choral Society with members from all walks of life; and he was also responsible for starting a series of concerts in Sheffield, much like the famous "Proms" of Henry Wood, which continue to this day. He was quite a social campaigner in music matters. This reflects the way of the Primitive Methodists.
So how does this hymn book differ from others? It is a lovely old volume, bound in textured brown leather, with gilt edges and fine lightweight paper. It could easily be a companion volume to the Holy Bible.
What strikes the reader first, may be the odd way of laying out these hymns, which number over a thousand. They are grouped by metre!
"While this interferes somewhat with the logical sequence of the Hymns, it is to be thought that the advantage to be gained in the compilation of the Edition with Tunes will amply justify a departure from the ordinary method of arrangement."
Surely only a musician would think of this. I must admit to it not being my preferred way. Thematically might be better, or first lines is the traditional way. Fortunately there is also an index of first lines, plus another index of the name of the tune. But once I had found the alphabetical index, I began to look for hymns I knew. I found some where the tune was the same as those familiar to me from the Baptist church (I always thought the Baptists had the best tunes; although admittedly that is not how the saying goes ...) such as "Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning", "Now Thank We All Our God", "Who is On the Lord's Side" - and others which were different. "Angels from the Realms of Glory" had a different tune from the one I know, for example, although the words are by a Sheffield writer, James Montgomery. And for one hymn, "O Jesus I have promised", although I knew three different tunes, both ancient and modern, the one in this hymnal was unfamiliar.
All those out of copyright had been examined and some re-arranged by Henry Coward, and there were also originals, written by him. It gave me a very odd feeling to play these, knowing that a relative of mine had created them. It was like finding the diaries of an ancestor, and reading their innermost thoughts; there was a connection, and in this case, on another, musical level. Quirky inner parts of the harmony made me smile. They must have been unique to him; I got an impression of his character from these little musical jokes, which the preface had mentioned. My husband (and probably the neighbours too) must have been surprised to hear me playing hymns. Once I dust off the piano, it's more likely to be Chopin, or Debussy, or Satie.
Then I saw one which made me gasp. One tune Henry Coward had entitled "Brocco Bank". This, coincidentally, was the name of the road of my childhood home in Sheffield, where I lived for the first 19 years of my life. Not only that, but there was a bookmark in the book at that place. Some things in life just seem quite inexplicable.
Another mystery baffles me, and perhaps someone can help explain this to me. I knew of one Methodist hymn for sure - or I thought I did - "He Who would Valiant Be". I searched the index ... nothing. Puzzled, I googled it, and found that yes, it was definitely written by John Wesley, and was perhaps the most famous hymn of his. It gave the original version too. Light dawned. Of course the Primitive Methodists would use the original words. So I looked up "Who Would True Valour See" - but still found nothing.
I do appreciate that this is an extremely discursive "review", so thank you, if you have stayed the course. This one was a bit of an indulgence.
"it is doubtful whether England has ever produced a better or more gifted choir trainer than Coward ... He has evolved, formulated and put into practice a method of choral technique which has had the result of bringing about a revival of singing in chorus which has spread through the whole Empire."
Edit:
Several kind people have tried to solve the mystery of why John Bunyan's "He Who Would Valiant Be" was not included in my great great uncle's harmonies.
I suspect it is simply that this hymnal dates from 1889, when John Bunyan's words "hobgoblin" and "foul fiend" in his original text, "Who Would True Valour See", would not be sung in churches - and certainly not in a Primitive Methodist church. "He Who Would Valiant Be" which is more popularly known, was a revised variant on John Bunyan's "Who Would True Valour See" (as my review explains) which omits those words. It was published by the Church of England in 1906.
Both versions seem to be in use now, since some hymn books have returned to the original words, "Who Would True Valour See".
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