Pete, yes some hymns are dreary, though in my experience not the very old ones, there are some great hymns and tunes in Piae Cantiones for example. Later, some folk songs were adapted as Hymn tunes, obviously by Vaughan Williams, but also others. And there are some great Welsh hymns of the 19th century. But there are also some dull ones, that true, the 1880s seemed to be the worst. But they are largely singable by someone who doesn't know them.