Martyrs - Gaelic Psalm

Recorded on the Isle of Lewis. Psalm 79, verses 3 and 4. A unique sound in the world of music!

[@TomLawson]

I grew up with this music - except it was not in Scotland but in Lee County in southwestern Virginia among the Old Primitive Baptists of the Appalachian mountains. Powerful to hear it's roots in Scotland.

[@tomwaggener882]

In the summer of 1965 I worked in a remote mountain hollow in Pike County Kentucky. This singing reminded me of the Old Regular Baptists I heard there.

[@justforever96]

Yep. My dad was into Baptist singing. I I found tapes of this in his stuff

[@ronhagg]

In Taibear, Outer Hebrides, Scotland - heard this in a Church - on a bluff - waves crashing against - the church on this bluff. I'm not a Christian - do not know what took me to this church - so beautiful inside - smooth - elegant, but minimal. Upstairs in the balcony - no idea what to except - then this. So blessed. ron hagg

[@JM-gu3tx]

So simple, yet so majestic and sublime.

[@philrockh]

GOD ,LORD JESUS CHRIST the SAVIOUR took you to that church

[@jonathansuhr5631]

I great revival took place in the hebrides . God is real and we can expierience him . Jesus Christ is Lord . His words will never vanish. Heaven and Hell is real . God bless you

[@ruthferguson9300]

Amen , Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life , no man comes to the Father except through me. Jesus died for us it is only by his shed blood as an atonement for our sin we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven .Believe in your heart Jesus is God and he cares for you. Xx

[@Wolfie387]

Beautiful harmonics that lift the spirit and reaffirm your faith.

[@CoherentChimp]

I dont understand a word, but its undeniably powerful.

[@RussinTirnaNog]

Hearing this gets me so emotional. The energy of the song is powerful. The last time I was in a Gaelic church I cried. In a good way.

[@angelamI2day]

Wow, very haunting! Love it! God speaks no matter the language.

[@Closminding]

I lurrrve the messiness of it. 💗💔💜💫

[@matdiassohn-von-mitternach3885]

i wish my people in austria Go Back to our celtic roots and build an celtic orthodox Church! its amazing how beautifull the gaelic chanting is !! god bless You and greetings from the alps!

[@robertroberts2666]

I am a Welsh man and can wholeheartedly say Amen to your comments! We Celtic Christians share a common ancestry that dates back to Noah, despite what the mainstream media and press would have us believe! We are descendants of Noah via his son Japheth and his son Gomer, father of us Gomerians ie Cymmerians of modern day Crimea, Germany and Cymru or Gymru ( Welsh)

[@709913]

The precentor is Alasdair Graham from Stornoway who was affectionately known as Alasdair Ruarachan. He was a gifted precentor.

[@Morningstar-xz5bl]

Beautiful, like the wind mourning in the mountains

[@TheEggmaniac]

Beautiful, stirring and a bit eery. It is authentic Scottish Gaelic music of the islands. It has changed very little in centuries.

[@wyvisben]

This is so heartfelt and so ancient. I hope and pray it can continue, along with the modern world of Gaelic.

[@newlife42day]

Just beautiful. It is so hard to find music like this!

[@louisehogg8472]

Amazing how the gaels can take a simple tune, and turn it into something completely different.

[@WriterToast]

It's so beautiful. People can't seem to work out how everybody singing the tune in their own way sounds great.

[@spritedaway12]

Am I the only one here for credit music? This is truly beautiful.

[@rippingale100]

Hauntingly beautiful

[@robsargent4]

that's what my Dad would call the Free Church at it's best. who needs hymns when you've got the psalms, especially when they're in Gaelic? mind you I'm not really religious any more, but I still have a certain respect for religious tradition

[@davey9955]

wish we had more of this in northern ireland

[@mariannerobertson6877]

We could do with much, much more of this across Scotland

[@McConnachy]

Not sure if some folk in Northern Ireland would like this music, apologies, I don’t want to upset anyone, but I was in NI with a friend, we spoke (quietly) in Gaelic (Scottish) and some nut jobs wanted to kill us,. Never understood their hate for Scottish and Irish Gaelic. Oh, and church wise I don’t care what religion someone has. I’m non practising, but my family are Scottish free church, which is like Presbyterian. The haters of our language were the followers of a blue coloured football team. Not sure what our Irish friends think, but I can tell you that the blue team are not well thought of in Scotland regardless of religion. Intolerance

[@JoeLondon-te3hf]

It will come back.

[@fisherodjig]

Just so beautiful to see how similar this culture is with our own First Nations. drums bells all were so soothing to hear.

[@robertroberts2666]

There are no drums nor bells to be heard here! This is New Testament worship. In Spirit and in Truth with no mechanical accompaniments!

[@davisoneill]

Sublime.

[@khankadet]

Gorgeous scenery and a kinda haunting sound (and thanks for the kind wishes). Chris

[@suzannedixon8277]

Wonderful. Thank you so much for posting it.

[@sandycarpenter3952]

My people are speaking to me here. Love this.

[@soloasdubh]

Lyrics/words: Scottish Gaelic (Irish Gaelic) Liricean/faclan: Gàidhlig na h-Alba (Gàidhlig na h-Èireann) Liricí/foclaí: Gaeilge na hAlban (Gaeilge na hÉireann) Sailm 79:3-4 [1] Mu thimcheall fòs Ierusaleim (Mórthimpeall Iarsailéime fós), dhòirt iad am fuil mar uisg’ (dhoirt siad an fhuil mar uisce); Is cha robh neach (Is cha raibh duine {ní}) g’an adhlacadh (dár {ag ár} n-adhlacadh) ‘s g’an cur san uaigh an taisg (‘s dár gcur san uaigh i dtaisce). [2] Ball fanaid (Ábhar fachnaoide) agus maslaidh sinn (agus maslaidh sinn) d'ar coimhearsnachaibh féin (dár gcomharsannaibh féin); Cùis spòrs' is mhagaidh (Cúis spóirt is mhagaidh) do gach neach (do ghach duine {ní}) an ta m'ar cuairt gu léir (dá bhfuil um ár gcuairt go léir).

[@tccccccc277]

Tha seo cho math! :D

[@lewis1936]

When I was very very young and went to a Gaelic service,I thought that the preacher was playing a musical instrument for the sound effect.

[@mh605]

But Scots emigrated to the United States in the 1700's and took their music with them. It still survives in the Primitive Baptist churches in the mountains in Virginia and Kentucky--presumably among descendants of the Scots immigrants.

[@dbadagna]

This "old way of singing" also existed in England.

[@keithmayhewhammond5357]

thanks for posting this beautiful chant. The saddest thing is that rather than just appreciating this style of chanting, so many want to hate on other forms and call them oppressors. It makes much more sense to me to just accept that all forms of Christian chanting are beautiful. I love all the chants.

[@sanjuancb]

So beautiful! I would have given anything to be able to learn Gaelic! My university didn't offer it, so I finally took Arabic, which is also beautiful in its own way, but really doesn't compare to this. That's probably just my Scottish bias...

[@Forysan]

In the Dark Ages the Celtic Monasteries in Ireland and Scotland were the Regent, Bob Jones, and Liberty Universities of their day. They received students from the Middle East and North Africa, many refugees of Muslim military expantion, and from all over Europe. The refugees smuggled copies of the Classics and the Bible in Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, and Aramaic. I can't help thinking they affected Celtic hymnology. Check out Ethiopia-the Ten Commandments on KZbin and listen to it's music

[@saorsa74]

Beautiful!

[@randallmoore1907]

We call this "Lining a song" here in the United States. What mh605 said is true. It still exists in Virginia and Kentucky. I was raised into my adulthood singing this way.

[@JM-gu3tx]

This is an important spiritual tradition that must be maintained on both sides of the pond.

[@impalamama7302]

SO was Johnny Cash...it was called "Shaped Note Singing/Playing,..." I still have my Granny's shaped note song books I learned how to play the piano on when I was a kid...she was born in 1895.....in TN....right up the railroad tracks from the Battle of Parker's Crossroads...

[@dbadagna]

@@impalamama7302 Shape note singing (which is notated and in multi-part harmony) is what replaced lined-out/precented congregational hymn/psalm singing (which is usually not notated). The composers of shape note hymns considered lined-out singing (the so-called "old way of singing") to be unacceptably primitive and backward.

[@DoodleBugGamerNo00b]

Everypne in my Music class even the teacher finds this REALLY weird n i sit there like "Wow..thats very..intresting..i love it!" n they look at me weirdly XD

[@Moireach91]

i recognise the voice of the presenter, Tormod 'Sguigs' from Ness.

[@Ettoredipugnar]

I am Orthodox , and the chanting is beautiful. A look into the past before the Roman church.

[@presteyqah3963]

Orthodox what?

[@Ettoredipugnar]

+‫ברכי נפשי את אדוני‬‎ Russian Orthodox

[@RidseardMhicCoinnich]

This is Presbytarin chant. Catholicism pre dates it. As does Christianity before the East -West Schism of the Roman church and Constantinople.

[@Ettoredipugnar]

RidseardMhicCoinnich this chant predates Rome / Latin church . The Celtic church in particular , just like in Ireland . Scotland worshiped in their own tongue , and liturgical form . The Irish did so until the Synod of Whitby. When they capitulated to Rome . The Scots , the likes of St. Kentigern . The patron Saint of lGlasgow Who raised St. Serfs cook . from the the dead. Wether it was Rome , or or Cromwell, or the English who sent the scots Irish to America as slaves. Their cultural identity still continues.

[@RidseardMhicCoinnich]

Ettoredipugnar I was always lead to believe that the early Christian church emerged after its founder died in the Middle East. Spreading west through Greece and Rome. And eventually arriving in these islands much later. Or did it somehow bypass Rome earlier to introduce the religion to the Celts. The Presbyterian Free Church psalm singing here can hardly predate Latin or Byzantine chant as the Reformation didn't arrive in Europe until the time of Luther and Knox. Not being a follower of any particular faith or cult but I do enjoy all forms of liturgical music.

[@SailingCartagena]

Quite beautiful.

[@bevsfan]

3. Mu thimchioll fòs Ierusaleim, dhòirt iad am fuil mar uisg' : 'Us cha robh neach g'an adhlacadh 's g'an cur 's an uaigh an taisg. 4. Ball-fanoid agus maslaidh sinn d'ar coimhearsnachaibh féin : Cùis spòrs' 'us mhagaidh do gach neach a ta m'ar cuairt gu léir.

[@seedhillbruisermusic7939]

these songs are so beautiful and unearthly, do folks still sing them in churches up in Lewis? It must be close to dying out by now alas. I'm so grateful some people recorded these psalms before they are lost to us forever.

[@davidmarshallthegoat2737]

No it’s still sang

[@fidemchristo]

Sounds like the Zulus just before they attacked the British in the battle of Rorke's Drift in South Africa

[@WaddedBliss]

Beautiful. Not religious myself, but appreciate the u/l

[@709913]

Yes.....passed away some years ago.

[@ConvincingPeople]

Interesting that the bots flagged this with a movement from the experimental musician Simon Wickham-Smith's suite "Love and Lamentation", and lo and behold, I go back and realise that it is indeed based in part on a recording of a congregation singing this psalm! The man knows true beauty and power when he hears it.

[@bobdeescosmosis]

This is a great example of heterophony. I love to use this concept in my compositions. When you hear different musics from around the world, for me I cannot imagine why it is all people cannot get along together. It's an astounding testament to humanity (and a divine blessing, in my opinion), across the board that there is such diversity in creative music. Why does this not precede all racial barriers?

[@marciamcgrail5889]

Perhaps bc much of ‘different musics’ is quite blatantly satanic? Not to pushback against such dilution is undiscerning of what actually constitutes Divine (or simply Christian) music, imho x

[@bobdeescosmosis]

@@marciamcgrail5889 Say whaaa? Which monkey did what? How many atoms in a milkshake?

[@herringfly]

@Forysan I believe your instinct is correct - my understanding is that this form of psalm singing was common throughout western Europe in medieval times, and was strongly influenced by Middle-Eastern religious vocalising.

[@dbadagna]

It was introduced in the 17th century, and only in Protestant areas (which included England). Aside from the Scottish Hebrides, in North America, it's still practiced in the Appalachian coalfields (among the Old Regular Baptists) and in some African American Baptist congregations, as well as in communities of Scottish descent in Nova Scotia.

[@Jmlatmr87]

@wallish That sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out, Korean music is really quite good in my experience. :D

[@davidstuart401]

You hear exactly same chants in Appalachia, descendants of the Scots and Irish.

[@alistairthompson8311]

Needless to say the Scots Irish are so-called, because at the time of their emigration to America they were considered somewhere between Scottish and Irish or rather a bit of both.

[@D.A.99740]

Not exactly. The "Scots-Irish" of Appalachia are actually descendants of lowland Scots who moved to Ulster in Ireland and wouldn't have spoken Gaelic. However they would have sung in a similar way as this style was once common all over Britain.

[@dbadagna]

This "old way of singing" was also practiced in England.

[@BlueRhythm64]

It's like the start of battlestar galactica

[@DoodleBugGamerNo00b]

@Tim Hannon gaelic Psalms!

[@xMicrowavePopcornx]

Sounds like the mosque in the morning

[@robsargent4]

To be fair, if it's a picture of a place I know well then I'd probably recognise which country it's in, but if that wasn't the case, then it would be very difficult certainly.

[@robsargent4]

@fidemchristo well I think all peoples of the world had a similar tradition of song to the Gaels, Zulus etc. at one time, but it's something that seems to have been lost in today's world of change & global culture.

[@R_McGeddon117]

All the photos are taken on the Isle of Lewis including the Callanish stones, the Carloway Broch, the blackhouse village at Garenin and the Barvas Moor. Gaelic psalmody is a remnant of the old Culdee or Celtic Church also known as the Church of Jerusalem which sadly was swallowed up with the Roman Church after the Synod of Whitby. The Culdee Church had it's origins in Israel and the Essene community of Qummran which ties in with the connection that original Scots came from Israel and who's journey to Scotland is recorded in the Declaration of Arbroath compiled in 1320. The Romans gave the islands their names when they first sailed round them in the 1st. century. Lewis was originally Levis or the island of the Levites and the Hebrides were the islands of the Hebrews.

[@Feedurehed]

Thank you.........with my jaw on the floor!!

[@R_McGeddon117]

Part of the Declaration of Arbroath and the Scots journey from Israel. 'They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today' '

[@AndorianBlues]

"original Scots came from Israel... Lewis was originally Levis or the island of the Levites and the Hebrides were the islands of the Hebrews." What a load of fairy tale British Israelite nonsense! Lewis is from the Norse Ljoðahus, house of song. No one knows where Hebrides is from, but it's probably Pictish, like many ancient place names in Scotland. Sorry, but the ancient Israelites have nothing to do with the Scots. Neither do the Sumerians, Aztecs, Japanese or any other far flung group you might fancy yourself descending from. Scots are mostly descended from Neolithic farmers, Celts (Pictish, Cumbrian and Gaelic), Norse, and Anglo-Saxons; just like the rest of the indigenous peoples of Britain. Boring but true.

[@AndorianBlues]

***** Yes, yes, Scots are Scythians, just like Croatians are Persian, Hungarians are Sumerian, African Americans are Ancient Egyptians, etc., etc. I can find a dozen crackpot articles on the internet to support any one of those claims, but I'm afraid it would all be nationalist nonsense based on coincidence and purposeful misreading to suit a pre-conceived narrative. Even the Declaration of Arbroath itself doesn't contain an authentic account of an actual migration. It's an invented history for a people who were finding their identity, trying to differentiate themselves from their neighbours and define their place in history. It's no wonder they and their contemporaries hit upon an ancient spelling confusion and invented a myth out of it, allowing them to imagine a proud lineage going back thousands of years. People have been creating national mythologies out of wilful misinterpretation for millennia. It's the same reason Virgil cast the Trojans as founders of Rome - he even pulled the same trick with spelling, conflating Iulus with the unrelated Ilios, allowing Augustus to trace his lineage back to the goddess Venus. All complete nonsense, of course, but it served a useful political purpose, which is the important part. We're doing a disservice to people of the past if we pretend that they couldn't bend the truth to suit their needs just as much as modern writers can. Although I suppose I should thank you for that "Evolutionists will deny that" crack to let me know you were coming from cuckoo land right away. I must say I find your channel very entertaining too! Maybe the Jesuit NWO are covering up the truth that the Scots are descended from North Iranians?

[@R_McGeddon117]

AndorianBlues It was the Romans who called the island Levis and the archipelago the Hebridae. The Norse translated Levis into their own language. It's also interesting that modern DNA testing links the Celtic / Pictish gene to Israel and the Levant. Also the Celtic place names throughout Europe like Gaul, Galatea, Galatia, Galloway etc. and the word gaelic all stem from Galilee....hardly a coincidence.

[@timhannon3653]

What is the name of this style? I'd love to hear more like it!

[@jays2877]

It's just a psalm sung in Gaelic but the unique sound is generated by the first line being sung by the precentor with the congregation joining in singing the same words but to each his individual "tune". I believe that it's peculiar to the Church known as the "wee free" prevalent in eg Lewis - very austere: only psalms not hymns because only psalms constitute the word of God, no musical instruments, no ornamentation, the Sabbath strictly observed. If the islanders found themselves in a city on a Saturday night, I imagine they'd be horrified.

[@liamclague]

Hahaha, memories of Standard Grade music :')

[@bigjohn697791]

the land looks so much like ireland where in scotland is this

[@waynekerrgoodstyle]

@Never Unprepared Isle of Lewis is part of Scotland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Lewis

[@waynekerrgoodstyle]

Isle of Lewis is part of Scotland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Lewis

[@nedohamilli]

great stuff , i like the way it is slightly out of tune ,and off time , magical.

[@joellima6561]

What church are sing this psalm in video?

[@NiallMS1]

Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland!

[@robsargent4]

@CaitLovesHorses well to be honest I think it's weird that other people don't find this interesting

[@wallish]

compare this to Aak, traditional Korean court music. type in Su Je Cheon and listen. So much connection from the music of two peoples so far apart.

[@sirchristian12]

@Quixotic300 Go raibh maith agat as an t-aistriúchán

[@irishlongswordboland3114]

Bit like irish sean nos

[@robertroberts2666]

Hauntingly ancient. It stirs my Celtic Christian spirit and unites me with my Gomerian ancestry.

[@robertroberts2666]

No man - made musical instruments needed in New Testament worship as this is worship in Spirit and in Truth! Our ancestors worshipped this way on St Kilda for 1500 years until contact and pollution from the mainland spread like disease unknown to our forefathers. 19th century :- Enter the Rev Neil McKensie and his live in lover ( sorry, housekeeper!

[@davidstuart401]

The music and songs of the Isles before they were corrupted by the Anglo Saxons.

[@joegill3612]

These psalms came from England originally with Cromwell. I think you'll find that the Anglo Saxons never got to the Isles. Although the Kings of Scotland in the lowlands did and destroyed them to unite Scotland under their own rule.

[@JM-gu3tx]

You forgot about the non Celtic Norse who made the Hebrides Norse-Gaels..

[@sufficientgrace8375]

A Dirge and a Prayer for Is rael, Destroyed by Enemies.

[@fergussimpson-duff7853]

stop simping troops

[@_creid2882]

fucking nightmare fuel. this is what you here when you go to hell.

[@planetwalker]

Interesting sound, sounds like the wind. Shame its religious though :(

[@alistairthompson8311]

That sound is deeply spiritual, whether you believe in the precise creed of the Free Church or not.

[@irateofwatford]

If it wasn't religious it wouldn't exist.