Footage contains some audio issues and outdated language used.

Valerie Wallace - a biographer - guides us through this programme about Mrs Cecil Francis Alexander (1818-1895), who left a legacy in terms of her poetry and hymns "that still touch the hearts of countless millions".

With starting scenes of pupils from Strandtown Primary School singing 'All Things Bright and Beautiful', the lasting impact of Cecil's (or as she was known by many 'Franny') work is evident. However, Wallace unpicks her childhood and upbringing, from the city life in Dublin, to one who loved nature and the rolling hills of the countryside, after her father was employed by the Earl of Wicklow. 

Cecil's next move would be to Strabane, where she spent 17 years, which were "important to her as a writer" and for her character. It was also in Strabane where she opened a boarding school for the deaf, that consequently burnt down with fatalities, an incident which stayed with Cecil and impacted her work. In her later years, Cecil married William Alexander who would subsequently become the Bishop of Derry.

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