Anthology of the American Hymn-Tune Repertory
Tune name: Wells
Composer: Israel Holdroyd
First American appearance: [Untitled collection]. Bound with various eds. of N. Brady and N. Tate, A New Version of the Psalms of David, Boston: 1755
Source of this image: Urania, Philadelphia 1761
Melody in the Tenor part.
Wells as seen here:
The melodic rhythm of Wells in Urania is different than the rhythm found in most later American tunebooks and I can't say for sure that the rhythm in Urania is what Holdroyd intended. It is clear that the Urania rhythm produces odd word stresses in L.M. texts which may explain why the rhythm was altered in later tunebooks. The alternative rhythm solves the problem.
Now just the soprano and bass parts with the rhythm found in most early American tunebooks:
