“Be Thou My Vision” is a traditional hymn of Irish origin. The original Old Irish text, “Rop tú mo Baile”, is often attributed to Saint Dallan Forgaill in the 6th century. However, scholars believe it was written later than that. Some date it to the 8th century] others putting it as late as the 10th or 11th century. A 14th-century manuscript attributed to Adhamh O Cianain contains a handwritten copy of the poem in Middle Irish, and is held at the National Library of Ireland. A second manuscript is at the Royal Irish Academy, dating from about the 10th or 11th century.
The text of “Rop tú mo Baile”/”Be Thou My Vision” reflects aspects of life in Early Christian Ireland (c.400-800AD). The prayer belongs to a type known as a Lorica, a prayer for protection. The symbolic use of a battle shield and a sword to invoke the power and protection of God draws on St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 6:16-17, which refers to “the shield of faith” and “the sword of the Spirit”. Such military symbolism was common in the poetry and hymnnology of Christian monasteries of the period due to the prevalence of clan warfare across Ireland. The poem makes reference to God as “King of the Seven Heavens” and the “High King of Heaven”. This depiction of the Christian God as a chieftain or High King (Irish: Ard Rí) is a traditional representation in Irish literature; medieval Irish poetry typically used heroic imagery to cast God as a clan protector.
In 1905, “Rop tú mo Baile” was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne in Eriu, the journal of the Schol of Irish Learning. The English text was first versified in 1912 by Eleanor Hull, president of the Irish Literary Society, and this is now the most common text used.
The hymn is sung to the melody noted as “Slane” in hymnals, an Irish folk tune in 3/4, first published as “With My Love on the Road” in Patrick Joyce’s Old Irish Folk Music and Songs in 1909. The tune is a more elemental distillation of earlier forms, such as “The Hielan’s o’ Scotland’ and “By the Banks of the Bann,” also compiled in Joyce (1909). The words of “Be Thou My Vision” were first combined with this tune in 1919 (harmonised by Leopold L Dix, 1861-1935), and in a new version harmonised by David Evans in 1927. A further version was harmonised by Erik Routley for the English Hymnal. In some modern renditions the rhythm of “Slane” is adapted to 4/4.
The original texts of the now-called “Be Thou My Vision” are in Old Irish similar still in style to Modern Irish. The hymn has been translated into Modern Irish many times. The most popular is that by Aodh Ó Dúgain of Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal. Two verses of his translation were recorded by his granddaughter Moya Brennan – the first time any part of his text has been publicly recorded. Since then, those two verses have been recorded by many artists, including Roma Downey, Aoife and Iona.
