Liberty is Near!, by Garth Hewitt
04 Oct 2013 A tiny 165-year-old pamphlet identified by a University of Manchester academic as the only surviving copy of a Chartist hymn book has been transformed into a CD by a veteran protest singer. After reading in The Church Times that Dr Mike Sanders had discovered the 'National Chartist Hymn Book' at Todmorden public library, Garth Hewitt has brought the 16 hymns to life. Called Liberty is Near!, it is the first time Chartist hymns have been recorded. Hewitt, who has been making records since 1973, was inspired by these Victorian radicals who campaigned for democracy and workers' rights to record 12 tracks based on the hymns. Like the Chartists, Hewitt has used popular tunes of the times for two of the songs, 'Amazing Grace' and 'Rock of Ages'. The other 10 are original compositions. According to Dr Sanders, an English lecturer, the hymn books were designed in an attempt to produce a standard hymn book for the movement, as a Chartist forerunner of 'Hymns Ancient and Modern'.
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