(1650)
‘The Psalms of David in Metre according to the version approved by The Church of Scotland and appointed to be used in worship.’
These metrical psalms are the original source of the Old Hundredth (‘All people that on earth do dwell’) and other austerely beautiful hymns with simple four-part harmony. The verse looks a bit wooden, but comes to life when sung.
Should you wish to sing along, I recommend the Cyber Hymnal website.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/
This is searchable by first line, name of hymn tune, by metrical search, or name of composer or author. It is possible to see the words, print the score and listen to a piano version, all at the same time. (There are also online English Hymnals and Hymns Ancient and Modern with similar facilities.)
Incidentally, the little numbers at the top of each psalm are indications of the number of syllables in each line. (8,6,8,6 is the most common and is often abbreviated to CM – Common Metre.)
My late father was Scottish and we grew up with these hymns.
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