Rock of Ages cleft for me
Preserved but no longer current.
It is said that this well-known hymn was written by Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-78) while seated by a great cleft rock near Cheddar, Somerset, Another story, which may belong to the realm of fable, has it that the first verse was written on the ten of diamonds in the interval between two rubbers of whist at Bath. Hence a Toplady ring is a ring set with ten stones in the form of the pips on a ten of diamonds.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Rock of Ages cleft for me” mean?
It is said that this well-known hymn was written by Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-78) while seated by a great cleft rock near Cheddar, Somerset, Another story, which may belong to the realm of fable, has it that the first verse was written on the ten of diamonds in the interval between two rubbers of whist at Bath. Hence a Toplady ring is a ring set with ten stones in the form of the pips on a ten of diamonds.
Is “Rock of Ages cleft for me” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.