Quite correct in estimating how nationalist and (importantly) un-pan-Celtic the Scots are likely to be. You are an amazingly well-informed person. Brief beef: The Church of Scotland (called "The Kirk") *is* definitely Presbyterian and is indeed the ancestor of all other churches calling themselves "Presbyterian" (means ruled by Elders). It's *not* Anglican, which is derived from the Church of England (i.e. Anglican churches in Scotland are, as they put it, 'in full communion with the Church of England'). When I was a member of the Dunfermline Abbey Choir (Very Presbyterian, despite its pride in its very long history)the minister was considered very open-minded in allowing us to sing music of Roman Catholic origin, but since he loved music we even gave (non-liturgical) performances of much Latin church music including an Haydn Mass. Modern Scotland has seen a great reduction in the proportion of religious belief in its people, and a consequent reduction of the once mighty power of the Kirk. The extreme Calvinism that formerly characterised Scottish Presbyterianism has seemed, quite frankly, ridiculous and amazingly comfort-free to an increasingly secularly-oriented population, and it is now possible to lead the life of a bon vivant in good and multitudinous company. john an expat Scot
At 05:45 PM 5/23/01 -0400, you wrote: ...the Scots >have been a fervently *Protestant* people. In this, they actually have >much more in common with the Welsh than with the profoundly (one might >even say primitively) Catholic Irish, though the Scots have tended to be >Calvinists, Presbyterians, and Church of Scotland (i.e., Anglican), while >the Welsh have tended toward Chapel (Methodist) and Church of England >(also Anglican, but with a different accent). I mention this because it's >likely that the sentiments of any Irish sacred text set to music are >likely to be entirely too "papist" for Scottish consumption. > >Then also think about the nature of the event. It's *VERY* Scottish. I'd >be extremely hesitant to sing anything that isn't also *very* Scottish at >an event that is so strongly and clearly celebrating SCOTTISH culture. >You'd be far better off just singing a hymn by the great Scottish >hymnodist Horatius Bonar - in the absence of a more sophisticated choice - >than to go looking around for an Irish, Welsh, or English song. By the >way, there's a page devoted to Bonar and his hymns in the Cyberhymnal at: > >http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/b/o/bonar_h.htm > >Or you might consider singing "O God, Thou art the Father" - which was >originally written by Saint Columba, the Christianiser of Scotland, and >later translated by the very Scottish poet Duncan Macgregor, albeit sung >to the tune "Aurelia" by the very English Samuel Sebastian Wesley, a >member of the notorious Wesley clan of chronic hymnodists. > >Another Scottish hymnodist of note was John Ross Macduff. > >Karen Mercedes >............................ >NEIL SHICOFF, TENORE SUPREMO >http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html > >My Own Website >http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > + I sing hymns with my spirit, + > + but I also sing hymns with my mind. + > + - 1 Corinthians 14:15 + > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > > > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > John Blyth Baritono robusto e lirico Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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