Classic Hymns and Their Stories
Puzzle 03 · The Sound of Congregational Song · Page 15 in print
Lining Out
For lining out, an appointed leader reads each line before the congregation sings it. The Westminster Directory recommended this where many worshippers could not read.
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The words
Coleshill
Tune of the preserved 1965 Gaelic psalm recording.
University of Edinburgh: SSSA in 70 Objects (opens a new tab)
Deacon
New England church officer who read the lines.
Directory
Westminster Directory for Public Worship, which recommends reading each line before it is sung.
Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language of the surviving tradition.
Hampton
New Hampshire town with documented lined-out psalm singing. Town whose history records lining the psalm.
Harris
Hebridean island with Presbyterian psalm-singing congregations.
Hebrides
Island region where lining out lasted longest.
Heterophony
Simultaneous varied versions of one melody.
Wikipedia: Lining out (opens a new tab) · Wikipedia: Gaelic psalm singing (opens a new tab)
Highlands
Scottish region where precentor-led psalm singing became ingrained in church worship.
Isle of Lewis
Hebridean island central to Gaelic precenting.
Kentucky
US state where Titon recorded Old Regular Baptist lined-out hymns.
Brown University: Titon recordings inducted (opens a new tab)
North Uist
Hebridean island with Presbyterian psalm-singing congregations.
Parish clerk
Anglican parish official who led the psalm.
Wikipedia: Lining out (opens a new tab) · Grub Street Project: The parish=clerk’s vade (opens a new tab)
Precentor
Leader who gives out each line.
Skye
Island where English lining persisted at funerals.
Sources
- SSSA in 70 Objects: Psalm 118 to ‘Coleshill’University of Edinburgh, School of Scottish Studies Archives
- Joseph Dow’s History of Hampton: Lining The PsalmJoseph Dow, History of Hampton (Lane Memorial Library)
- The Old Way of SingingUniversity of Mississippi, Warren Steel; primary text of the Westminster Directory
- Seinn Spioradail: Sacred Soundscapes of the Gaelic ChurchesFrances Wilkins, Scotland’s Churches Trust
- Lining outWikipedia
- Gaelic psalm singingWikipedia
- Titon recordings inducted into National Recording RegistryBrown University
- The parish=clerk’s vade mecum: or An alphabetical concordance of the most mater…Grub Street Project