Dyma gariad fel y moroedd/Here is love vast as the ocean

As I currently live in Wales, it's high time I included a Welsh hymn in this blog, although as a non-Welsh-speaker, my knowledge is quite limited.  I must have learned this hymn in my student days, or soon afterwards, and it's always been a favourite - my husband and I chose it as one of the hymns for our wedding in 1997.

I had to search around for information about this hymn, and much of what follows is taken from an article by Chris Fenner in Hymnology Archive.

I'd always understood that Here is love was a Welsh Revival hymn, which I took to mean that it was written during the Welsh Revival of 1904-05.  But in fact, its author, William Rees, died in 1883.  Dyma gariad was first published in about 1847.  William Rees edited a collection of hymns by the great Welsh hymn writer, William Williams (1717 - 1791), and included Dyma gariad in an addendum:

There is a third verse which sometimes appears in Welsh hymn books, which was written by William Williams.  It's a verse of a hymn called Nid oes angel, nid oes seraph, and begins, 'O ddyfnderoedd o ddoethineb!' ('O depths of wisdom!').

Dyma gariad is known as 'the love song of the Welsh revival', because it was then that it became well known.  It was a favourite song of a young woman called Annie Davies of Maesteg.  In November or December of 1904, at a revival meeting in Pontycymer, she "sang, with tears on her face and victory in her voice, the mighty love-song of the revival - the hymn of Dr William Rees (Hiraethog): 'Dyma gariad fel y moroedd' . . . From that night she became an intimate helper and companion, her voice consecrated to the converting and uplifting of souls."  (H Elvet Lewis - this quote is from Chapter 4 - The First Journey).  The Welsh words were sung to the tune Cwynfan Prydain - you can listen to it here.  Another blog adds that when Dyma gariad was sung in North Wales during the 1904-05 revival, it was usually sung to the tune Hyfrydol (Alleluia, sing to Jesus; I will sing the wondrous story).

These days, the Welsh words are more often sung to the tune Ebenezer, but a friend of mine has pointed me to another wonderful tune, Pennant.

The English translation, Here is love, vast as the ocean was first published in The Baptist Book of Praise in 1900.  The translation was by William Edwards (1848 - 1929).  In some hymnbooks, two extra verses in English are included, beginning: 'Let me all thy love accepting' and 'In thy truth thou dost direct me'.  They first appeared in the Redemption Hymnal, published in 1951 by the Assemblies of God Publishing House, without mentioning their author.  More recently, Richard Bewes wrote two new verses, which you can read here.

The only tune to which I've ever sung Here is love vast as the ocean masquerades as a Welsh tune, because its usually called 'Dim ond Iesu', which means 'Jesus only', or 'None but Jesus'.  The composer was Robert Lowry (1826 - 1899), who was an American.  He was born in Philadelphia, and spent most of his life living and ministering in the United States.  Lowry called his tune Cymraeg, which means 'Welsh'.  It was first published in an American hymn book in 1877 with  a hymn called What tho' clouds are hov'ring o'er me (Jesus only).  Apparently, the first time this tune appeared with the words of Here is love was in Christian Hymns, published by the Evangelical Movement of Wales in 1977.   (It is very similar to a Welsh tune called Calon Lân, but I will write about that in a future post). 

These are the English words, as translated by William Edwards:

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
loving kindness as the flood,
when the Prince of life, our ransom,
shed for us his precious blood.
Who his love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing his praise?
He can never be forgotten
throughout heaven's eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God's mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above,
and heaven's peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love.

There are lots of recordings of this hymn available.  You can listen to Robin Mark's version here.