Gaelic Psalm singing

Gaelic-speaking congregations of the Presbyterian church confine their congregational praise to the singing of metrical Psalms. This dates from the Reformation in Scotland in 1560, when one of the requirements of reform was that ordinary people should not be deprived of participation in church worship, hitherto the prerogative of clergy and church choirs. For this purpose The Psalms of David, as part of Holy Scripture, were chosen as texts. The folk tunes of British and European origin were chosen for melodies. The psalms were translated into metre, and the metre chosen was that common to those folk songs, especially the English and Scottish ballads. They were in the form of four-line...