De’wch, Unwch a’n Byddin!

I spend rather a lot of time at the British Library these days. I really love it there – you can find every book you need, it’s comfortable, kinda snazzy and I get an awful lot done whenever I’m there. Occasionally, to take a break, I look on the system to see what obscure books they have, so I can have a look.

The other day I typed in ‘Salvation Army’ and there were loads of hits. I began to skim through them until one thing caught my eye: ‘Caneuon milwyr Byddin Iachawdwriaeth yn Nghymraeg a Saesoneg’. Knowing just enough Welsh to know that this meant ‘Salvation Army Soldier’s Songs in Welsh and English’, I ordered it, so that I could have a look (this is the kind of thing that really interests me!). The publication date was 1889 – that’s a pretty old book, just 24 years after the start of The Salvation Army (well, the Christian Mission). It had begun to fall apart unfortunately – it was more of a booklet than a properly bound book – but you could read all the text and the covers and all the pages were still there.

A Welsh Salvation Army band from Wrexham, taken 16 years after the book was published (1905):Skimming through I found classics such as Mi Glywais Lais yr Iesu’n Dweyd (‘I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say’), Fy Iesu Mi’th Garaf Wyt Eiddo i Mi (‘My Jesus, I love thee’) and, of course, De’wch, Unwch a’n Byddin (‘Come Join Our Army’). I love these glimpses into the early days of the Salvation Army.

Some more Welsh Salvationists (from Caerau). This photo is a little later, but I liked it:I recognised a lot of the songs from the book, but there was one entitled ‘We’re Marching on to War’, which I had never heard before, and my Dad wasn’t familiar with it either. It’s a very old fashioned song, but I like it. I guess it should be mentioned that when the Salvation Army talks about ‘war’, it refers to fighting against all the bad things in the world – and there’s still plenty of that around. Here’s the first verse and chorus:

The Army’s on the march
To bring the world to God,
And all the world is wondering
At our watchword “Fire and Blood.”*
They say our mode’s irregular,
Our drums they cannot stand,
And all the mighty work that’s done
Is but a rope of sand.

We’re marching on to war,
We’re marching on to war,
We care not what the people think,
Or what they say we are;
We mean to fight for Jesus,
Who did Salvation bring;
And of his tender mercies
Our voices still shall ring.

*This is a Salvation Army motto, talking about the blood of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit.

I love the whole who-cares-what-people-think? attitude. The whole we-know-we’re-fighting-for-what’s-right-and-we won’t-be-discouraged mentality. They knew that some people thought they were weird, but they had a firm conviction – and they were unbelievably successful. I do sometimes wonder whether some Salvationists haven’t become a little too apologetic, in a time when Christianity is disappearing from society (in a visible sense). Just a thought.

And from 1889 to today. As I mentioned in my last post, we had our Divisional Youth Councils recently (a gathering for young Salvationists from Essex and its surrounding areas). I really got something from it this year. The speaker was Tim Reynolds from Northern Ireland. He did really well. I knew I recognised him somehow, and I was fairly sure it was from the Salvation Army’s International Congress in Atlanta in 2000. He then went on to say that he’d been at the Congress and I was like ‘Yep, that’s it.’ He’d represented the Republic of Ireland on the march through the city and I’d represented the Isle of Man (unfortunately no Manx Salvationists had made it to Atlanta – I’ve never been there myself, but I hope they think I did a good job. I probably shouldn’t go there now, because in my mind I’m a minor celebrity amongst the Manx). I went home to find the photographic proof:

I’m looking a little serious on this one! I promise I was enjoying it! (Man, how funny is the guy holding the United Kingdom sign?)

As I was looking through the album, it brought back all the memories of what was – without a doubt – one of the best weeks of my life. 20,000 Salvationists from 107 countries gathered together. Thousands of different backgrounds and stories, but with one fantastic thing in common. Atlanta had gone all out for us, putting up signs on every lamppost, welcoming posters at the airport, free travel on their public transport. The people of Atlanta could not have missed the Salvationist presence that week.

I met some fantastic people and it’s great to be reminded that we’re little cogs in a much greater wheel. And as I was looking through the photos, it dawned on me that for some of the representatives, this would have been the first time that they would have been allowed to go out publicly on the streets and tell of their Christian faith and love for God. That must have been a fantastic and liberating experience. And that was great to be a part of.

I thought I should put some pictures on here:
The Americans know how to put on a great show!
Some of the nations represented.
Songsters from Zimbabwe.
Dancers from Pakistan (led by Shaw Clifton, who later became General [the world-wide head of the Salvation Army]).
The Koreans.
Latvia (for Evie!)
Some Central Americans.
Can you guess where these guys were from?