Hills of the North, rejoice

Hills of the North, rejoice. Charles Oakley* (1832-1865). According to JJ, this first appeared in Hymns adapted to the Christian Seasons, edited by Thomas Valpy French (1825-1891). No date is given for this book, but it was compiled for French’s congregation at St John’s, Cheltenham, where he became the incumbent in October 1864 and where he stayed for a few years, so it can probably be dated ca. 1865-66. French worked for the Church Missionary Society in India, and became the first Bishop of Lahore in 1877, but was in England at various times. The hymn was ‘composed by Mr Oakley for a “lawn meeting” which French addressed’ (Birks, 1895, p. 156). A ‘lawn’ meeting suggests some kind of...