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Teach Me Thy Way

The words and music of a sacred hymn can be a way to express what the heart feels during challenging times of life, and especially in the loss of a loved one. One English composer was longing for the Lord’s comfort during such a time.

Benjamin Mansell Ramsey (1849-1923) was born in Richmond, Surrey, England. He married Edith Fairbrother and together they had six children – Bernard, Percy, Lilian, Harold, Wilfred, and Lawrence. As an adult, he became a well-known music teacher at Bournemouth Grammar School. He was a composer of part-songs, piano pieces, and mostly secular music. His works for children included Robinson Crusoe, A Cantata or Operetta for Boys in 1896 and Clouds and Sunshine: A Fairy Play. He helped establish an amateur orchestra which later became the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He was secretary of the Bournemouth Musical Association.

Benjamin Ramsey retired from public life in 1916 and in 1919, four years before his death, wrote the words and music for the hymn “Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord.” He called the hymn tune Camacha. The hymn is based on Psalm 27:11 which reads, “Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path…”. The first verse of the song is as follows:

Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford, teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav’nly light, teach me Thy way!

Benjamin lived in England during World War I. Though he was too old to serve in the military during the conflict, his youngest son, Lawrence, did. He was a 30-year-old, unmarried poultry farmer and enlisted in December 1915.

No personal notes have been found about what may have motivated Benjamin Ramsey to write this hymn. However, there may be a “rest of the story” to shed some light on this from an entry on the Roll of Honour website, concerning the West Wittering War Memorial for 1914-1918.

According to this record, Lawrence was a Rifleman for the 5th (City of London) Battalion (Rifle Brigade). While fighting in France on October 9, 1916, he suffered shrapnel wounds to the head and hand from a high explosive shell. He spent three weeks in a hospital and convalescent camp and then was returned to England on a hospital ship on November 6, 1916. Lawrence spent several more weeks in a hospital in England and was discharged from the military on December 28, 1916. Records show that due to his wounds, he was no longer physically fit to serve in the army.

The year in the military was not kind to Lawrence. According to his family, his discharge was on account of his nervous disposition caused by the injury. His hair had turned completely white. He was pale and tremulous, suffering from headaches and dizziness. He slept badly and his memory and concentration were affected. Records in 1918 show that he was living with his brother Wilfred in Surrey. Sadly, he died on January 7, 1919 at Camberwell House in London – which was a mental hospital.

The hymn “Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord” was written within months of the death of Benjamin Ramsey’s son. The final three verses of the hymn, when put into the context of the heartbreaking time for their family, seem very poignant.

When I am sad at heart, teach me Thy way!
When earthly joys depart, teach me Thy way!
In hours of loneliness, in times of dire distress,
In failure or success, teach me Thy way!

When doubts and fears arise, teach me Thy way!
When storms o’erspread the skies, teach me Thy way!
Shine through the cloud and rain, through sorrow, toil and pain;
Make Thou my pathway plain, teach me Thy way!

Long as my life shall last, teach me Thy way!
Where’er my lot be cast, teach me Thy way!
Until the race is run, until the journey’s done,
Until the crown is won, teach me Thy way!

One more clue is left in this story. Ramsey called the melody Camacha, which was a village in Madeira, Portugal. However, it was also the name of the farm of Lawrence Ramsey – a place he left to fight for King and country, and made the ultimate sacrifice for.

Sources:
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-midweek-hymn-teach-me-thy-way-o-lord/
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/WestWittering.html