28 February 2025

One of the lasting principles evident in the favour exercised by the Reformers towards the metrical psalms  is reverence for the Word which was central to their life and worship. The Reformers thought that only the words of Scripture should be used in praising God. The book of Psalms was the obvious choice.

It was the hymn book of the Temple. Jesus recited and quoted from the Psalms. The daily offices of the Church were built upon the foundation of the Psalms.  The prose psalms were sung to plain-song in the pre-Reformation Church.

Not only were the metrical Psalms authorised by the General Assembly, they were also supported by an Act of the Scots Parliament. In 1579, gentlemen with a sizeable income not only had to purchase a Bible and a Psalm book but had to register the purchase publickly.

The reverence afforded the Scottish Psalter is evident in the way it didn’t change for over three centuries. When choirs were established, the words of the Metrical Psalms were considered so sacred that they were not sung by the choir in rehearsal. Instead practice-verses were used to learn the tunes:

The high high notes o’ Bangor’s tune

Are unco sair to raise;

An’ trying hard to reach them gars

The lassies burst their stays.