Tonight , as President of the Ullans Academy, I had great pleasure in introducing the Gaelic Psalm Singers from the Lewes (Island of Lewis) to a programme at the Skainos Centre in East Belfast organised by the 4 Corners Festival. I had been invited by Linda Irvine of Turas and the event was also attended by our chairman Brian Ervine and members Helen Brooker, Ruairi O Bleine (Co chairman of the ULTACH Trust) and Sammy Douglas MLA, the latter two of whom also took part. I presented my copy of The Book of Common Order, commonly called John Knox’s Liturgy, translated into Gaelic Anno Domini 1567 by Mr John Carswell, Bishop of the Isles, edited by Thomas Mc Laughlin, LL.D., translator of the Book of the Dean of Lismore. This Book of Common Order was dedicated by John Carswell to every Christian throughout the whole earth and specially to the men of Alban (Scotland) and Eireand (Ireland). I explained its significance as being just as much part of the Common Identity of our Islands as the popular tales of the West Highlands, containing as they do more legendary material of Ulster than in Northern Ireland and indeed Ireland as a whole.

Gaelic Psalm Singers from the Hebrides

This is a form of singing now largely restricted to the Western Isles of Scotland. The precentor (literally ‘one who sings beforehand’) sings the line of a psalm, and the congregation sings the line back in a cappella style (without musical accompaniment). The precentor’s duty is to pronounce the words clearly and precisely, but also to give a hint of the melody line. The role of the precentor is very important, as traditionally he or she arrived at church not knowing which psalms were to be sung, and had to think of a melody ‘on the spot’ when the minister announced the psalms. The congregation’s singing is much more ornamental, with many passing and grace notes. The result is a distinctive and emotive swell of sound. This style of singing is also learned from an early age in the home, where it is an integral part of family worship.

This form of singing developed in Britain after the Reformation to help illiterate congregations to sing psalms without needing to read them. The practice died out in most of mainland Britain due to church reform, but survived in the Hebrides as many were unable to read their native Gaelic owing to the hostility of the educational authorities. Today, many Gaelic speakers can read the Bible in their own language and maintain psalm singing in the traditional style. However, there is concern that the tradition is in danger and psalmody classes have been arranged in Gaelic-medium schools.

The Reverend Dr. I. D. Campbell minister of the Free Church in Back, Isle of Lewis, explained the endurance of the Gaelic psalm singing tradition, ‘A lot of the new songs and hymns that are being used elsewhere just don’t have the depth of feeling and the ability to marry theology and personal experience together in the way the psalms do.’

Few who listen to Gaelic psalm singing can fail to be moved. Lesley Riddoch, who is originally from Belfast and is now Radio Scotland’s best-known presenter, declared that listening to the psalms made hairs stand up on the back of her neck and she found the music very moving. When she played a track from this choir’s CD on her show many listeners were amazed – one caller said ‘I did not know that Scottish men could sing with such emotion.’

Professor Willie Ruff, of the University of Yale believes the Hebridean style heavily influenced the black gospel tradition of ‘lining out’ psalms, as Scottish Gaelic speakers and black slaves shared the same churches for many years in the southern United States. Willie played a CD track to an old Black precentor who burst into tears, recognising the similarities immediately. There are also striking similarities to be found in the singing styles of the Coptic Church of Ethiopia , with its association with Bangor in North Down. I spoke of Columba of Iona, of Comgall and Molua of Bangor, and their churches throughout  the Highlands and Islands. Rev Brian Gilmore  of the East Belfast Mission gave the initial Welcome and Alasdair Morrison Director of CeangalG also spoke. They are both actually of the same family as is our own Van Morrison who grew up a few streets away from Skainos and whose own music resonates with the Gaelic Psalm singing itself.

The Free Church of Scotland

Psalm singing is popular with many Presbyterian churches, and in Northern Ireland today, the Reformed Presbyterian Church maintains the tradition of unaccompanied psalm singing. Gaelic psalm singing is a distinctive feature of the Free Church of Scotland, the strongest Presbyterian Church in the Highlands. This Church was borne out of religious controversies during the mid-1800s when Highland lairds were clearing the lands of their crofters (tenant farmers) to make room for sheep runs and hunting grounds. The ministers of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland were often chosen by the landlords and were obedient to them, telling their congregations it was God’s will they were to leave their traditional homes and travel as far as Canada and Australia.

As poor tenant farmers turned to their religion for comfort, evangelists who disagreed with the Church of Scotland’s doctrine were outraged by the landlords’ influence over ministers. One third of the Church of Scotland’s ministers and 60 per cent of the laity seceded to form the Free Church. They endured many years of hardship, having to meet in barns and boats, for example, but eventually they triumphed over the established Presbyterian church in the Highlands. In the Lowlands many Free Churches returned to the Church of Scotland after it was released from Government control in 1874, but many Highland Churches remain ‘Free’. Many Highland Presbyterians came to believe that the distinctive Gaelic church was a bulwark against the irreligious licentiousness of the Lowlands, and the Free Church Presbytery of Lewis can insist on a commitment to learn Gaelic on the part of ministers who do not know the language. Many posts for ministers on Lewis are advertised as ‘Gaelic essential’.

This group of psalm singers have released three CDs, the profits of which go to the Bethesda Care Home and Hospice in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. You can read more about the group’s work at www.gaelicpsalmsinging.com