Within the last century a flood of new
books of psalms of varying merit and existence has poured out upon the New
England churches, and filled the church libraries and church, pews, the
second-hand book shops, the missionary boxes, and the paper-mills.
XV.
The Church Music.
Of all the dismal accompaniments of public worship in the early days of New
England, the music was the most hopelessly forlorn,--not alone from the
confused versifications of the Psalms which were used, but from the
mournful monotony of the few known tunes and the horrible manner in which
those tunes were sung. It was not much better in old England. In 1676
Master Mace wrote of the singing in English churches, "'T is sad to
hear what whining, toling, yelling or shreaking there is in our country
congregations."
A few feeble efforts were made in America at the beginning of the
eighteenth century to attempt to guide the singing. The edition of 1698 of
"The Bay Psalm-Book" had "Some few Directions" regarding the singing added
on the last pages of the book, and simple enough they were in matter if not
in form. They commence, "_First_, observe how many note-compass the
tune is next the place of your first note, and how many notes above and
below that so as you may begin the tune of your first note, as the rest may
be sung in the compass of your and the peoples voices without Squeaking
above or Grumbling below.
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