"The First Indian Tune That Ever Was Wrote Out": An Early Example of "World Hymnody" from the Subcontinent

Abstract

����� ��� One of the most intriguing recent developments in the congregational song of British, Canadian, and American Christian churches is the importation of hymns from former mission lands (chiefly Asia, Africa, and South America). The words “world,” “global,” and “international” have been used interchange ably to describe this hymnody. “World hymnody” describes both hymn texts and hymn tunes, either separately or together. The term also encompasses both items from traditional sources and newly written songs by indigenous peoples. While hymnals issued around 1975 included an occasional tune or text that originated in regions other than Europe or English-speaking North America, publication of such items was scattered and inconsistent. Collections issued during the last quarter of the twentieth century, however, often included a sub stantial body of “world hymnody” (Hawn 1991, 24–32). While the emphasis and scope of this development are recent, however, this is not the first time that such hymns have appeared in English-language hym nals of the West. In fact, the first known example of world hymnody in a West ern hymn collection dates from the earliest days of the modern British missions movement. Furthermore, it was not only a hymn text but also an indigenous tune that was thus made available. However, the process did not come easily. A number of people and some fourteen years were needed to make this hymn available to English-speaking Christians.