Hugh Wilson, 1766-1824, the composer of the tune, learned his father’s trade of shoemaking, studied and taught mathematics, and made sun-dials as a hobby. He then held positions of responsibility in certain mills and afterwards became a draftsman. He was interested in Sunday school work and wrote a number of psalm tunes but MARTYRDOM is the only one found in modern hymnals.
109. Throned upon the awful tree
John Ellerton, 1826-93
A solemn dirge of the Passion, written in 1875 in the seclusion of a quiet rural parish and regarded as the author’s best composition. It appeared in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1875.
For comments on John Ellerton see [Hymn 43].
MUSIC. REDHEAD NO. 76, also called “Petra,” and “Gethsemane,” was composed by Richard Redhead, 1820-1901, English chorister and organist, and proponent of the Oxford Movement (not to be confused with the modern Oxford movement headed by Buchman). The tune, without name, appeared in his Church Hymns and Tunes, Ancient and Modern, 1853, as No. 76. In England it has long been sung to the hymn “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.”
110. In the Cross of Christ I glory
John Bowring, 1792-1872
The most popular of John Bowring’s Hymns, published in 1825, and a classic among the hymns of the cross. It is based on Gal. 6:14: “But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Bowring died on November 23, 1872, and the words, “In the cross of Christ I glory,” were placed on his tombstone.
It is remarkable that so great a hymn on the cross should be written by a Unitarian, a communion which denies the deity of Jesus and the evangelical doctrine of the atonement. Yet the hymn can be sung whole-heartedly by every evangelical Christian for it magnifies the cross and makes it the center of the Christian faith. Bowring, in spite of his Unitarian connection, was a devout, evangelical believer.