Hymn #18: Guide Me, O My Great Redeemer | First Congregational Church

William Williams (1717-1791) wrote this hymn in Welsh in 1744. The hymn became popular in the United States before it was widely accepted in England. This is the only Welsh hymn to gain international favor, and it has been translated into more than seventy-five languages.

William Williams was known as “the Isaac Watts of Wales” and “the sweet singer of Wales.” Although his evangelical views kept him from the ministry of the Church of England, Williams became an itinerant evangelist of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church.

John Hughes (1873-1932) composed this tune, CWM RHONDDA, pronounced “koom rrhawn-tha.” Cwm means “valley” in Welsh, and Rhondda is the name of a river that runs through the heart of the coal mining industry in Wales. Hughes was inspired to compose this during worship one Sunday morning.

John Hughes was born in Dowlais, Wales, in 1873 and became one of that country’s most prolific hymnwriters, although he spent much of his life working for the Great Western Railway. CWM RHONDDA is by far his most famous tune, and it is even sung at football matches in Wales.