Things Bright & Beautiful: C F Alexander's story Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The author of some 400 hymns, the writer Mrs. C. F. Alexander is often also credited under her given names. What were they?

Answer: Cecil Frances

Fanny Humphreys was born in Dublin - some sources say Wicklow - in the early 1800s. In some sources you will see the date given as 1823, but it is said that her birth record was altered to 1818 when she married a man six years her junior; which would have been regarded as scandalous in polite society at that time.

As a child, she was a gifted poet and was encouraged by her father, Major John Humphreys, who became land agent to the Marquess of Abercorn and they moved to Strabane, Co Tyrone.

Many of her early poems and hymns were written while she lived at Milltown House, just outside Strabane.

In 1848 or 1850 (sources differ) she married a cleric, William Alexander, a church of Ireland rector. He was later to become Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, and Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland.

2. "The purple-headed mountains, The river running by, The sunset and the morning That brightens up the sky." From which well known hymn by Mrs C. F. Alexander are these lyrics taken?

Answer: All Things Bright And Beautiful

Sources differ on the inspiration for the lines the purple-headed mountain, the river running by.

Some say that it was something that the then Fanny Humphreys would have seen as she looked out from her family home over the mountain and River Mourne at Strabane.

Numerous other works have been cited as inspirations, including Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

3. "There is a green hill far away, Without a city wall, Where the dear Lord was crucified, Who died to save us all..." are familiar words to a hymn written by Mrs. C. F. Alexander. Which walled city is said to be the inspiration for the verse?

Answer: Londonderry

The words were written in about 1847 or 1848 for her book "Hymns For Little Children".

At that time she was living at her family home in Strabane, Co Tyrone, and is said to have noted a grassy hill close to the walled city of Londonderry while visiting there. This, it is said, reminded her of the hill at Calvary where Christ was crucified.

The city of Londonderry, aka Derry, at the start of the 21st Century had one of the most complete sets of walled fortifications remaining in Europe. They proved their worth in the 17th Century when they helped the city withstand a siege by the deposed King James II.

If you visit today, you can see a stained glass window dedicated to Mrs. Alexander in the Church of Ireland St Columb's Cathedral at London Street. (There are two cathedrals in the city: the second is St. Eugene's.)

An Ulster Historical Society blue plaque marks her marital home on the wall of what is now the Freemasons' Hall at Bishop Street.

A similar plaque can be seen at her family home at Milltown House, Strabane.

4. One of the best known hymns by Mrs. C. F. Alexander celebrated the birth of Jesus and remains one of the most popular carols still sung today. Which of these was it?

Answer: Once In Royal David's City

The words were written by Fanny Alexander and published in her "Hymns For Little Children" in 1848.

Alexander was a poet/lyricist, and not a composer. The music was added by the English organist Henry John Gauntlett.

5. From which hymn by Mrs C F Alexander are these words taken: "Christ is kind and gentle, Christ is pure and true; And His little children Must be holy, too..."?

Answer: Do No Sinful Action

This was included in "Hymns For Little Children" in 1848.

Mrs. Alexander asked the composer James Armstrong to write music for it.

6. "Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me..." These are words from a prayer with an Irish origin to which Mrs. C. F. Alexander gave a metrical version. What is it now well known as?

Answer: St Patrick's Breastplate

St Patrick's Breastplate was a prayer that is said to have been written by Ireland's patron saint in AD433, although some scholars dissent from this attribution.

In 1889, Mrs. Alexander was asked to write a hymn based on the prayer. In 1902, Charles Villiers Stanford added the music that is known today, using two traditional Irish tunes.

7. Mrs. C. F. Alexander was a noted hymn writer and philanthropist. However, one of her best-known hymns was to be abridged because sentiments in a verse seemed to approve of class divisions. Which of these was it?

Answer: All Things Bright And Beautiful

The verse now often ignored was:

"The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate."

Some critics said it endorsed the divisive class system.

Along with her sister, Mrs. Alexander set up the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in 1846. It was based in Strabane, where the family lived before her marriage.

Royalties from her hymn books went to good causes and charities.

8. From which hymn by Mrs. C. F. Alexander are these words taken: "There is one truth, the truth of God, That Christ came down from heaven to show, One life that His redeeming blood Has won for all His saints below...."?

Answer: There Is One Way And Only One

Written in 1875, this was one of her later hymns.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Alexander was noted as a philanthropist. Royalties from her books were donated to charities and good causes, particularly those that helped children.

9. "There was tumult in the street, and a rush of many feet- There was discord in the Council, and Lundy turned to fly, For the man had no assurance of Ulstermen's endurance, Nor the strength of him who trusteth in the arm of God Most High..." Which great 17th Century Irish historical event was the subject of a stirring poem by the hymnwriter Mrs. C.F. Alexander?

Answer: The Siege of Derry

As the wife of the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe and a resident of 'the Maiden City', Mrs. Alexander would have been well acquainted with the story of its successful defence of a siege.

In 1689, Londonderry was besieged for nearly four months by the troops of King James II.

Derry almost fell to the deposed king. The city's commander - Colonel Lundy - was set on surrendering to the advancing enemy army until a group of 13 young apprentices shut the city gates.

As the poem puts it:
"'Twas the Lord who gave the word when his people drew the sword
For the freedom of the present, for the future that awaits.
O child! thou must remember that bleak day in December
When the Prentice-Boys of Derry rose up and shut the gates."

That event is still commemorated (by some) in Derry-Londonderry into the 21st Century.

10. "By Nebo's lonely mountain, On this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely grave. And no man knows that sepulchre, And no man saw it e'er; For the angels of God upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there." These are words from Mrs. C. F Alexander's poem "The Burial Of Moses". Which great contemporary English poet famous for battlefield imagery said he would have been proud to have written it?

Answer: Tennyson

As well as her hymns, Mrs Alexander wrote many poems.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson is said to proclaimed it as a poem he wished he had written himself. It also became a favourite of a certain Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), who was fond of quoting it.

The battlefield imagery clue alludes to Tennyson's "Charge Of The Light Brigade".

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor 1nn1 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Mrs. C. F. Alexander was a prolific hymnwriter who particularly wrote with children in mind. Some of her hymns are still widely sung long after her death. See what you know about them, and about her.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>