Olney Hymns (1779)

Olney Hymns is a collection of hymns compiled in 1779 by John Newton. Newton had been a slave ship captain until he had a change of heart in 1748 and completely disavowed the whole slave industry in England. Ordained as an Anglican priest in 1764, and became the curate at Olney, a small hamlet southeast of London. In 1769, the poet William Cowper settled in Olney and they became friends. It was Newton's original intention to compile a collection of hymns consisting entirely of Cowper's work. However, Cowper suffered from severe depression and eventually became so debilitated that he was institutionalized. Consequently, Newton decided to finish the collection himself. Much to his surprise, Newton discovered that he actually had a natural give for poetry and consequently he went on to write many of the best know hymns in the collection, including the perennial favorite, "Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound." Newton moved from Olney in 1779 to London where he became Rector of St Mary Woolnoth. Of course it is no coincidence that Olney Hymns was published in 1779.

Here is a short list of some of the most well-known hymns by both John Newton and William Cowper:

Cowper:

There is a fountain filled with blood UMH 622
God moves in a mysterious way
Sometimes a light surprises

Newton:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound UMH 378
Glorious things of the are spoken UMH 731

The significance of Olney Hymns includes:

As a collection, it was an early representative of what later became a myriad of parish hymnal, most of which were not close to the quality of Olney Hymns.

Its success was indicative of the changing tastes of British congregations toward the whole idea of singing hymns.

Many of the hymns contained in Olney Hymns are representative of a kind of "new" hymn which was "evangelical" in character, that is -- not liturgically conceived.

Olney Hymns could rightly be called the first collection of "gospel songs."

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