Lined-out Hymnody: Music of the Old Regular Baptists

I have had that CD for years and it is a great favorite of mine. My church used to be part of the lined out tradition, but have switched to acapella shapenote over the years. Some other churches of my faith still use lining out, most often in Georgia or Alabama, and when I have visited Georgia I have been blessed to participate in this a bit. Once in awhile we will still line one out in Texas, especially at our annual meetings. If we do it is probably "Jesus, My Savior, I know Thou art mine" or "Guide Me O Thou great Jehovah" or "Amazing Grace." It is an aural tradition which as far as I know is not written down. Traditionally in my faith it was sung out of Lloyd's hymnal most often, which is a words-only hymnal. Thanks to you, convicted, for sharing that with us!

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,
Sin, and Satan and the grave,
Sin, and Satan and the grave.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.

Musing on my habitation,
Musing on my heav’nly home,
Fills my soul with holy longings:
Come, my Jesus, quickly come;
Vanity is all I see;
Lord, I long to be with Thee!
Lord, I long to be with Thee!


William Williams, 1745.
translated from Welsh version by Peter Williams, 1741.


If anyone wants to hear the antecedent of the American lined-out tradition, here are some Gaelic metrical psalms:
http://www.gaelicpsalmsinging.com/index.php

 

amity;
That is absolutely beautiful.

You might want to listen to a few of my songs under "My Web Site" at the bottom of the page. It is not great or anything, but just how some of us sing before we start our sermon. It is not lined out, but we do sing "lined out songs" at our church. I usually sing these when I come to the stand to preach. It is not the same on a CD as at church for some reason, I think that called the Spirit. Convicted1, has heard me before and especially His mother and father. I don't remember meeting him but he was in the congregation. I will probably meet him now sometime if the Lord's will.

 

sorry, double posted in error. see below.

 

Thank you, Bro. Bob! I tried to play each of them, but either keep getting a broken link message for whatever reason, or else they don't open. That is very disappointing, but will keep trying.

Old Regulars are what some folks call Amyraldian, is that right? I hope that question does not offend in any way, but I am curious. The people in my church are not wild about being called "Calvinist" but it is a legitimate question for people to ask.

 

Not really amity;
On my web site is our "articles of Faith". You will find they are almost exactly as the Primitive Baptist with the exception we believe that a man can either believe or reject God, that the Spirit of God strives with all men. We believe that a man can't do nothing without the Spirit of God, but that Spirit strives with all.

Let me know if the songs all play and if not I will check it out. You have to wait a minute or so. (Play "The Letter") and let me know if it plays.

 

Now it does seem to be downloading, Brother Bob. It will take 14 minutes to download The Letter! But I am definitely going to listen to it.

I will read the articles of faith as well. Thank you for your very diplomatic answer.

edit to say.. I did hear it, and it is a very beautiful song. Is that you singing, Brother Bob?

 

I find the "lined" out style of singing...the style in the link in the 1st post here...to be quite moving and uplifting. I've never been in a meeting to hear it live, but from what I've heard from recordings I enjoy it and am blessed by it.

Mike

 

Yes, its me trying to sing amity.

Was wondering why you have to download to listen. I just click on the song and it plays.

 

You have a good voice, Brother Bob. I don't know but it was only when i clicked download that I was able to hear it. This is a new computer and it has proved itself quirky in other respects as well.

 

I had the same thing happen with the links in the 1st post, from the Old Regular Baptist site,.

I clicked to listen...as I usually do...but I had to wait for it to "download" before I could listen.

Then it put it in my documents! :laugh:

Mike

 

Thank you for listening to the songs amity.

 

Wow. One thing's for sure, it's gotta be the preachin' that brings folks into an Old Regular Baptist church.

Seriously, though, I haven't studied a lot about lined-out hymnody except to know that it was used when books weren't readily available. It seems to me the highly ornate style takes the focus off the words of the hymn. I'm for keepin' it simple.

 

Couldn't listen to your songs, Brother Bob. My Internet filter won't let me access the domain your music is on.

 

Lined Out Origins

If anyone is interested, you can purchase Psalms lined out in Gaelic:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000241H/?tag=baptis04-20

The style is different, but you can hear the line and the repeat. I've noticed variances in songs, depending on which church you go to. Old Regulars sing it a little different than Uniteds and they both may sing it different than the Primitives, but either way, it's my favorite style of singing in church.

I don't advertise it much, but I have posted some songs on my research site that my family recorded for me a couple years ago:

http://unitedbaptists.org/downloads.html

They are some of the songs that they normally line out in church.

David

 

It was the decline of congregational singing done by lining out that led to the development of 4-shape notation used in books such as The Sacred Harp.

Another CD you might find interesting is Songs of the Old Regular Baptists published by the Smithsonian. It is particularly interesting to me because the last part of the CD is devoted to statements from the participants on the value of this style of singing to themselves, their families, and their churches.

Tim Reynolds

 

Aaron, I know that many churches didn't (and probably still don't) have access to songbooks and hence the preacher, for example, would be the one to line out the songs to the congregation. But, not having songbooks isn't the reason that lined out singing came about, though, unless the churches in the British Isles were also facing the same dilemma.

Since lined out hymnody traces back to some of the churches in the British Isles, unlike scared harp which is a home grown style from the colonial period (am I right, Bro Vaughn?), then there would have to be a different reason for the lined out style.

One theory I read stated that since the style came about around the time of the Reformation, it was meant to be in direct defiance to the style of a choir singing for the church of that day. Rather than a group of singers singing, the whole church sang as one voice. This is probably where the unison part (rather than harmony) comes in. I wish I kept a tab on that theory.

David

 

Website for lined out hymnody

Here's a website where you can find out more about lined out songs:

http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/resource/chap13.html

Besides the Indian Bottom Associations CDs, there are also Primitive Baptists that line out songs, some, like the ones in Southern GA, line them in the Sacred Harp style. You'll find a link to a .rm file at the bottom of the page.

David

 

Yes, songbooks for everyone did not come about until later. Printed books were not that cheap in those days. But another reason for "precenting" (as I think it was called in Britain) was that the congregations were mainly illiterate.
Congregational singing was developed as an embodiment of the values of the Reformation, yes, but the reasons it took the form it did were largely practical, as I understand it.