Dame Elizabeth Wordsworth › Hymnals

Wordsworth, Elizabeth, daughter of Bp. C. Wordsworth, of Lincoln, was b. at Harrow in 1840, and is now (1907) the Head of the Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The following of her hymns are in common use:—
1. God is our Stronghold and our Stay. [Ps. xlvi.] This is a metrical rendering of the Book of Common Prayer version of the forty-sixth Psalm in the Metre of "Ein' feste Burg." It was written for and first published in Church Hymns, 1903. Miss Wordsworth's translation direct from the German of "Ein' feste Burg," is given under that hymn.
2. Great Ruler of the Nations. [For Peace.] Written during the South African war, and included in Church Hymns, 1903.
3. O Lord our Banner, God of Might. [In Time of War.] Miss Wordsworth wrote concerning this hymn: "To the best of my knowledge and belief, I wrote it in the winter of 1884-5, when the excitement about General Gordon was at its height. . The lines ‘Jehovah-Nissi' appeared in the Guardian of Jan. 21, 1885, feigned ‘Veritas.' This is our family motto, and as such was well known to my own famiiy circle" (Church Times, Nov. 17, 1899). The hymn was frequently printed as a leaflet, and entitled "Jehovah-Nissi. A hymn for our Soldiers." It was included in Church Hymns, 1903.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)