CHAPTER XII.
VERSES WITH A HISTORY

No story of the Welsh hymns would be complete without a note on the influence of single verses. The hymn-book in the pew is an innovation--quite within recent years--of Welsh church-life. The hymn-book used to be the private property of the pulpit; consequently the people had to learn their favourite hymns by heart--and a very profitable exercise it always is. A hymn within the heart is life. But in learning hymns it often happens that one special verse stands out from among its sister verses. The latter may be forgotten; the one clings to the memory.