Redeemed?

Clarence Larkin's drawings and charts are never far wrong. "Feeling is the Fruit - not the Root - of Salvation". Feelings and emotions can take us away from the simplicity of the gospel message. Here's a personal example.

About 15 years ago when I was a student and living in a wee red brick terraced house in Belfast, one Sunday morning I got invited to go to a church I'd never been to before. It was the "cool church" of its generation, very trendy and groundbreaking. I'm sure there were and are some great people there. It still exists, but I'll not mention it by name. Bear in mind that this was in pre-"Ceasefire" Belfast, and the area the church was in was an interface flashpoint where tensions had been stoked up.

So... imagine my surprise when as the service got underway, they said that the "praise group" (which was then a very new concept to me!) was going to play the Orange song The Sash... but that they were going to "redeem" it.

I was baffled - what did this mean? How were they going to "redeem" The Sash? I waited...

For those of you who aren't from Northern Ireland, The Sash is normally performed in one of three ways:
- as a folk song
- by a flute or accordion marching band
- by football supporters (they were still allowed to sing it at football matches back then)

Nope, to "redeem" The Sash they were going to play it (and I quote) "as a slow Irish air". The aran jumper-clad fiddle and tin whistle players took to the stage, and closed their eyes as they swayed meaningfully to the strains of the tune being played dirge-like at about 1/3 of its usual pace and with all sorts of extra notes and "twiddly bits" added on. The sound was weird, my mind was boggling...

I was stunned. Not by the music, but by the misuse and devaluing of the idea of "redemption". You see, in the world I grew up in "redemption" is the singlemost important spiritual experience in our lives, the restoring of the relationship between God and humanity, through personal individual faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Redemption brings about forgiveness of sins (both past and future sins), brings a new nature (which from the point of salvation onwards is in a constant daily struggle with the old nature), leads to ongoing sanctification throughout our lives and results in eternity in the presence of God.

But, for these people in this trendy church, redemption was just another bit of "community relations" speak. Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to teach us to be nice to each other. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" - Luke 19 v 10.

If anyone wants to redeem The Sash, or indeed any other secular song, they can do so by changing the words - from a story about an Orangeman going to Scotland and coming home again to Dromore - to a great old-time gospel hymn with the clear message of Christ and salvation at its core.

So years later, with this whole bizarre experience still ringing loud in my memory, the Low Country Boys redeemed The Sash on our first cd - we recorded the hymn "What a Friend We Have In Jesus" (written by Ulsterman Joseph Scriven) to its famous tune.

Don't get me wrong, improved community relations would be a good thing. I'm not criticising the people at that church - I'm sure they were motivated by the best of intentions, and in the few visits I made there I was warmly welcomed. But for me they missed the point. Redemption is our greatest spiritual urgency, it transforms lives. The results of real redemption are what the Bible calls "the Fruits of the Spirit" - Goodness, Meekness, Faith, Gentleness, Love, Joy, Temperance, Longsuffering, Peace. These are the characteristics of the redeemed Christian - you can read about them in Galatians chapter 5 v 22&23 - and every Christian should examine our lives to make sure we are daily living these out. That's the sort of redemption Northern Ireland needs. That's the message we should always try to present and proclaim.

Another Ulster-Scots hymnwriter, William J Kirkpatrick, co-wrote this hymn about redemption with Fanny Crosby:

"...Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am..."

Goodnight Red Shipley

This name might not mean much to most of you Ulster readers, but will mean a lot to American gospel bluegrass fans. Red Shipley was the presenter of a fantastic gospel radio show in Washington DC called "Stained Glass Bluegrass" on the station WAMU 88.5FM. When Hilary and I were in DC in 1997 on our honeymoon, we listened to the programme absolutely spellbound - it was the perfect soundtrack to our Appalachian road trip. Red played loads of brilliant Country Gentlemen songs that day, and I bought 4 of their CDs as a result. I've bought many more since then!

It was a MASSIVE honour when he played the Low Country Boys version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" on his show when we were at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival back in June/July. It's hard to explain what that meant to me. It's a bit like the gospel bluegrass equivalent of being on "Top of the Pops". I'm sure we have Mary Cliff to thank for that airplay - Mary was one of the presenters at the Festival, and a presenter at WAMU as well.

Red Shipley retired from the show in September, and sadly died earlier this month. Thanks to Denise Graveline for letting me know about his passing.

So in some ways it's significant for me that the man whose show inspired me so much back in October 1997 should both retire and then pass away in October 2007 - at the same time that I decide to take a year off from playing live so that I can have some more family time with Hilary and the kids. All good things must come to an end... for a wee while anyway.

"Some glad morning, when this life is o'er, I'll fly away..."


(PS: Stained Glass Bluegrass is now on Bluegrass Country - it broadcasts over the internet each Sunday afternoon (UK time), so if you register online you might be able to enjoy some good Scotch-Irish hillbilly gospel from our American kinsfolk as you clear up the Sunday lunch dishes!

The Broad Road

Was out last nicht wi' Loughries Historical Society in Newtown, doin a wee talk about King Robert the Bruce. He's probably Scotland's most famous king, who came to the Scottish throne thanks to the achievements of William Wallace (I'm sure you've seen Braveheart!). Bruce's mother owned huge estates in Co Antrim, his wife was the daugher of the Earl of Ulster, and his wee brother Edward became High King of Ireland. Bruce himself hid on Rathlin Island for about 6 months in 1306/1307. Another great Ulster-Scots icon.

Well, Mark Anderson was doin a great quiz showing oul photographs of streets in Newtownards, and the audience had to guess the name of the street. I got ZERO points! I had to explain that, being a country boy, I was at a great disadvantage in a street quiz. Ballyhalbert only has two streets, one along the shore and one that goes inland - even a blind man has a 50/50 chance when doing a Ballyhalbert street quiz!

One of the streets - Francis Street - used to be called "The Broad Road". When the question came up, nobody had a clue, but Jack answered "I don't know where it is, but it leadeth to destruction!" I had a great laugh at this - a quick scriptural quip always tickles me - it was of course a reference to Matthew 7 v 13 "...Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.."

It is sung about in an old old hillbilly song called "The Downward Road" - the chorus is "oh, the downward road is crowded with the unbelieving souls". Here's a quotation I found online about someone being convicted through the words of that old song:

"...Brother and Sister Ray seemed honest and so earnest in song, prayer, and preaching, I couldn't help admiring them for it. They sang, I remember now after twenty-two years, "Oh, the downward road is crowded with unbelieving souls." My hair would rise when they sang it, for I knew it was the truth and that I was on the road. And then they would pray and tell the Lord that the people were lost and how they wanted to see them saved, and would ask the Lord to convict them of sin.

I could see they were interested in me and I began to feel uneasy. The preaching was of such a nature that any one could understand it, and it brought up my past life and revealed the future so clearly that I decided to seek the Lord at the altar of prayer. The evening I made the decision..."

Here's a scan of an old evangelical tract from the 1970s (from my da's collection) depicting the Broad Road and the Pit of Destruction. I love this old evangelical "folk art" - if you have any similar examples please scan or photograph it and email it to me. I'll upload a few more soon.

Another Thousand Folk

Another month on the blog, and close to another 1000 visitors. Hope you're getting something helpful/useful from my ramblings!

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Luke 6 v 26)

You'd hardly believe it. Our trip to Auschwitz has sent me digging up some unbelievable information:

1. In 1938, Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" was.... Adolf Hitler!!

2. In 1939 AND 1942 Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" was.... Joseph Stalin!!

Can you believe that? Arguably the most prestigious news magazine in the World voted these two mass-murderers as "Man of the Year"?!! In the years following these dubious accolades, Hitler killed 11 - 14 million people; Stalin killed 20 - 30 million!! (stats from Wikipedia).

You really have to wonder what's going on in this bizarre world.

(1730)

Scotland the Brave (aye, brave and close tae us!)

I've stolen this from Stephen Jamison's blog - a fantastic image. For those readers who are in far-flung places, this is the Ards Peninsula - the Low Country - and just across the narrow stretch of water is Bonnie Scotland. The distance across is just 18 miles from Donaghadee to Portpatrick, which was the main sea route between the two countries from 1606 until 1862.

At this point the shps were too big to get into the harbours, so a new route from Larne to Stranraer was established. Today, ferry operators (Stena Line and P&O) take about 1.5million people across the water every year. Donaghadee is close to the wee island you can see near the top of the Peninsula, and Portpatrick is about halfway down the Scottish peninsula opposite (its name is the Mull of Galloway)

When Sir Hugh Montgomery brought the first big Scots settlement across to Ulster in 1606 and established Newtownards, Scottish traders would come across every week on market day. They travelled over land to Portpatrick, loaded their goods onto boats, sailed to Donaghadee, loaded their goods onto horses and then went to Newtownards - and were back in Scotland by bedtime that same day.

And during the Covenanters' times of the late 1630s and early 1640s, many Ulster-Scots Presbyterians rowed across the water to attend church services in Scotland, and then rowed back to Ulster by bedtime.

(oh, to explain the title of this post, "Brave" in Ulster-Scots means something like "quite" or "rather", but with a positive/quirky inference. So "Brave and Close" in the title means "rather close")

(1699)

Holocaust

This is a picture I took at Birkenhau concentration camp on Friday morning of last week. Birkenhau is 3km away from Auschwitz and is spread over 300 acres of land. 1.5 million people, the majority of them Jews, were exterminated here by the Nazis. And most of them got off the train just here.

I can't tell you what an profoundly moving experience our trip was. I can't explain what it was like to see mountains of shoes, of suitcases, of clothes, and even of human hair - preserved in the museum at Auschwitz. I can't articulate what is was like to step into a gas chamber, or how it felt to stand next to two ovens in one of the crematoria where tens of thousands of people were turned to ashes just because of their faith.

For all the rubbish that's being taked about a "conflict resolution centre" being built on the site of the former Maze prison near Lisburn here in Northern Ireland (which was a prison where terrorist criminals served out their sentences, and even at that in most cases only a very small portion of their sentences), a visit to Auschwitz puts our recent Troubles into stark perspective.

Our tour guide told us that only about 15% of the senior Nazis were ever convicted for their crimes. About the same percentage of terrorist murders in Northern Ireland were ever brought to (a degree of) justice.

The clear message of Auschwitz/Birkenau is that memorials are for the victims, not the perpetrators.

(1673)

Goin tae Poland themorra

Me and Graeme are taking oor da - Eric - to Poland for a wheen o days. The new direct flights from Belfast International to Katowice make it handy, so we're stayin in a hotel in the middle o Katowice town itsel. We'll arrive there aroon midnight on Thurs night / Fri mornin.

The reason for goin is to take my da to see Auschwitz.

So it'll no be a happy trip, and I'm sure I'll hae thochts an comments tae blog aboot yince I get back hame again, but I'm looking forward to it. My da's had a fascination with, and deep sympathy for, the Jewish people all his life, so this is probably the trip of a lifetime for him. I've noticed throughout my 35 years that many Ulster evanglical believers have a real sense of spiritual connection with God's chosen people, and a deep sympathy for their plight and persecutions. It comes from being reared on generous helpings of the Oul Testament in between the tay an soda breid.

If it goes weel he's thinkin aboot takin ither folk on a repeat visit next year.

We'll be back in Belfast aboot 7.45 on Saturday night, and we're hopin to get doon the road to the monthly Saturday night Gospel Rally in Carrowdore Mission Hall, to tell everybody aboot the trip.

----------

For those of you with a love of literature, here's an interesting book which draws parallels between the similar outlooks and worldviews of the Ulster-Scots folk, the Israeli / Jewish people, and the Afrikaaners in South Africa. (And before someone points out the obvious to me, yes I know that not all Jews are Israelis/Zionists and vice versa. And no, I'm not a "British-Israelite".)

From the endpapers: "...what developments in Northern Ireland and South Africa since the seventeenth century – and in Israel during the twentieth – have in common is that… the dominant peoples of these three nations have based a cultural identity on a belief in a direct covenant or contract with an all-powerful, all-knowing God…”

Football, Faith and Supporter Songs

I've been a long-distance Chelsea fan since 1985. Allegedly, recently-ousted manager Jose Mourinho once said "There is God, then Jesus, then me". Mourinho is a man with an awesome sense of his own worth.

"The Special One's" near-divinity aside, have you ever noticed how many football anthems are based on hymns or gospel songs? Here are a few:

1. "Follow Follow, We Will Follow Rangers" is of course a rewrite of "Follow Follow I Would Follow Jesus" by William Cushing (USA), around 1878. Robert Lowry wrote the tune.

2. "Stand Up for the Ulstermen" / "Stand Up if You Love Rangers" etc is a rewrite of "Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart" by Henry Smith (USA) around 1978. (Village People wrote a song to the same tune, entitled "Go West" which they released in 1979, and which was then covered by the Pet Shop Boys in 1993)

3. "There's not a team like the Glasgow Rangers" is the same as "There's not a Friend like the lowly Jesus" by Rev Johnson Oatman (USA) around 1895

4. "We're Not Brazil We're Northern Ireland" is of course "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Julia Ward Howe (USA) around 1861

5. And I'm sure most of you are well familiar with the version of "Away in a Manger" sung at Northern Ireland matches, with the superb line "...the stars in the bright sky looked down where HEAL-Y, HEAL-Y, HEAL-Y...!"

6. "Glasgow Rangers, Glasgow Rangers, We'll support you evermore" is of course from the hymn "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah" - the end of its first verse is "Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven, Feed me till I want no more".

And there are more. "Abide With Me" by Henry Lyte is still sung at every FA Cup Final in England.

Maybe this list of five is due to a fair proportion of Rangers and Northern Ireland fans having been sent to Sunday School, where they learned these choruses and hymns. The tunes are simple and memorable, they're easy to sing and sound great with hundreds or thousands of voices belting them out.

Back in July I took my oldest boy, Jacob (9), to see a pre-season friendly at Ibrox of Rangers v Chelsea. Rangers won 2-0. Jacob's now daft about Rangers and has a load of supporters songs on his MP3 player - so he's itching to sing "Follow Follow" in Carrowdore Mission Hall some Saturday or Sunday night! (Stephen are you listening?!!)

UPDATE:
"...of the thirty seven clubs that have played in the English Premier League since its inception of the 92/93 season, twelve can trace their origin directly to a church...", quoted from the book "Thank God for Football"

Fenians, Orangemen, Confederates and Ulster Scots.

Now if ever there was a controversial title for a blog posting, that's the one! But behind it lies a tale of propaganda and literature from the late 1800s. Allow me to explain…

Frank Roney (1841 - 1925) was a leading figure in the trade union movement in Belfast during the mid 1800s – he was an active member of the Friendly Society of Ironfounders, and was also a committed Irish nationalist and Fenian organiser. Roney’s family background was varied – he was a Catholic, but his mother had been raised as a Presbyterian, one of his uncles was an Orangeman, but his grandfather had been a committed United Irishman. Quite a cocktail of influences.

Roney was arrested in 1867 for his Fenian activities and, after a period in prison in Dublin, was allowed to emigrate to the USA on the condition that he never return to the UK or Ireland. He became heavily involved in the union movement in the USA, and died at Long Beach, California in 1925, aged 84.

A portion from his 1931 biography “Frank Roney, Irish Rebel and Labour Leader” (Univ. of California Press, 1931) was used by the renowned Sam Hanna Bell in his own compilation “Within Our Province – a Miscellany of Ulster Writing” (Blackstaff Press, Belfast 1972).



In the book, Roney describes the scene of the arrival in Belfast of the famous Confederate steamship the CSS Alabama, presumably at some point during the American Civil War (1861 – 1865). She was by far the most successful Confederate raider of the Civil War, sinking 58 Yankee ships. There is even a famous folk song about her history and exploits called "Roll Alabama Roll".

Here is the portion of Roney's book, quoted by Sam Hanna Bell:

..........

A CIVIC RECEPTION

The Confederate cruiser "Alabama" put into Belfast Lough ostensibly to get provisions, but really to create sympathy for the Southern cause. The aristocracy, Orange magistracy, and men of wealth, whom we classed as the natural enemies of the Irish people, hailed the coming of the vessel, knowing her mission, as an event by which to show, in the reception given her officers, how desirous they were to see the American Republic smashed to fragments.

The town put on its gala garb and with a band playing, and banners flying, the enemies of Ireland boarded a tugboat decorated with bunting, visited the ship and escorted the officers of the cruiser to the city. Carpets were laid from the gangplank of the tug to the carriages, and the sworn enemies of the American Republic were escorted to all points of interest in the city and vicinity, and feted at a banquet where every speaker delivered messages of comfort and encouragement to their Confederate guests. Bumpers were heartily drunk to the destruction of their common enemy, the United States.

No Irish Nationalist could complacently accept the compliments paid these officers as the expression of Irish opinion, and when in after years many of us were forced to leave our country, we naturally attached ourselves to the Republican Party, principally because the South, whose representatives were thus feted by our enemies, was the dominating power of the Democratic Party.

..........

It’s certainly a very romantic story, and heavily loaded with political allegations. The claimed allegiances between Orangemen and the Confederates will confirm the prejudices and suspicions of some readers, and the hopes and dreams of others!

But, the story is utter fiction. Roney invented the whole story, perhaps to try to stimulate pro-Irish nationalist sympathy in the USA in the early years that followed the defeat of the Confederates during the American Civil War. Equating the Confederate foe with the Orange foe in the minds of the American public would be a useful propaganda victory for him, and might secure American support for the Irish republican cause.

The truth of the story is:

1) The man who commissioned the Alabama to be built was Admiral James Bulloch, Confederate Purchasing Agent based in England. For a time the British government seemed to support the Confederate effort. Bulloch's nephew was the future US President, Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt later persuaded Bulloch to write “The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe”. The Bullochs had emigrated to the New World from Glenoe in County Antrim in 1729.

In the book, Bulloch wrote:

… At 2.30 a.m. (31st), we got under weigh, and stood out of the bay under steam alone. At 8 a.m. the ship was off the Calf of Man, the sky clearing and wind dropping. We set all sail to a middling fresh breeze, and bowled along 13 knots, good. By 11 a.m. the wind fell light, and we lost the effect of the sails; at noon passed South Rock**, and steered along the coast of Ireland. At 6 p.m. entered between Rathlin Island and Fair Head. At 8 p.m. stopped the engines off the Giant's Causeway, hailed a fishing-boat, and (George) Bond and I went ashore in a pelting rain, leaving Captain Butcher to proceed with the Enrica, in accordance with his instructions.

During the evening it rained incessantly, and the wind skirled and snifted about the gables of the hotel in fitful squalls. Bond and I sat comfortably enough in the snug dining-room after dinner, and sipped our toddy, of the best Coleraine malt ; but my heart was with the little ship buffeting her way around that rugged north coast of Ireland. I felt sure that Butcher would
keep his weather-eye open, and once clear of Innistrahull, there would be plenty of sea-room ; but I could not wholly shake off an occasional sense of uneasiness. Bond gave me the exact distances from point to point, from light to light, and having been taught at school to work up all sums to very close results, I made the average speed of the Enrica to have been 12*89 from Moelfra to the Giants' Causeway, and felt well satisfied with the performance.

The next morning, August 1st, Bond and I took a boat and pulled along the coast to Port Rush. The weather was beautifully fine, and the effect of the bright sun and the gentle west wind was so exhilarating that I felt no further solicitude about the Enrica. From Port Rush we took rail to Belfast, and then steamer and rail via Fleetwood to Liverpool…


2) The ship that sailed from Liverpool wasn't even called the CSS Alabama. She was built by John Laird and Sons of Birkenhead in Liverpool under the codename Vessel 290, and at the time of her launch had been renamed as Enrica. Enrica was launched on 28th July 1862.

3) The ship never came to Belfast. After leaving Liverpool Enrica did however anchor briefly at the Giant’s Causeway around July 31st, where Bulloch and the ship’s pilot disembarked, stayed a while in Ulster, and then went back to Liverpool.

4) Enrica then sailed round Ireland to the Azores, where she was renamed CSS Alabama on 24th August 1862.

5) When CSS Alabama left Liverpool, she had a civilian crew. Even if she had come to Belfast there would have been no Confederate officers onboard as Roney’s account alleges.

..........

Language

In the chapter “A Soldier of the Irish Republic”, Roney acknowledged the language spoken in the Ards.

…As an evidence of the principles actuating the Newtownards men, the following personal experience may be of interest. I started out with one of them, one lovely Saturday afternoon, to visit the “Greenboys of “Greba” as Grey Abbey was called in the Scotch dialect of that section…

(** - South Rock is just off the coast of the Low Country, near Cloughey)

10 Years Married

This is Hilary. We were 10 years married yesterday. She has survived me well thus far (and the three weans forbye!)

Isn't it amazing how quickly time flies by. We are so fixated by clocks, calendars, by growing up, and by getting old. What will it be like to live in a place where there is no such thing as time?

"When we've been there 10,000 years
Bright shining as the sun
We'll have no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun"

Try to get your time-limited mind around that one!

Look Up!

(We've had 1100 visitors to the blog in the past month. Pretty good going methinks.)


A few years ago the very cool/trendy American gospel group Jars of Clay released an album of old gospel classics called Redemption Songs. Now the style in places is - for my taste - a wee bit overdone. The dancey tempo and drumbeats, the slightly off-key melodies, minor notes thrown in where you're not expecting them, strange instruments mixed in here and there - doesnt quite do it for me. Nothing that an old pump organ wouldnt fix!

Nevertheless, if you've got a spare tenner it's worth buying a copy. The words alone will lift your eyes to where they should be looking!

"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand
And cast a wistful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land
Where my possessions lie

All o'er those wide, extended plains
Shines one eternal day
There God the Son forever reigns
And scatters night away

I am bound, I am bound, I am bound for the Promised Land..."

They say that the early Scots settlers coming to Ulster in the 1600s believed they were on their way to their Promised Land. Then a century later the Ulster-Scots thought the same when they emigrated to the New World (America) - there are 83 places called "Canaan" in the USA alone. They were either being optimistic or deluded. Our promised land is not on earth.

No. 160 in "The Believers Hymnbook" as used in Gospel Halls every Sunday morning sums it up beautifully:

"My rest is in heaven, my rest is not here
Then why should I murmur when trials are near?
Be hushed my sad spirit, the worst that can come
But shortens the journey and hastens me home

It is not for me to be seeking my bliss
And building my hopes in a region like this
I look for a city which hands have not piled
I long for a country by sin undefiled"

[by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) - he was born in Scotland, educated at Portora in Enniskillen and Trinity College Dublin. He also wrote "Abide with Me" and "Praise My Soul the King of Heaven".]

Nae Prootas in Scotlann

Now there are some who say that the Ulster-Scots language doesn't exist, that it's just the Scots language spoken in Ulster.

The Low Country Boys have spent weekends over the last few years performing in Moniaive in Dumfries and Galloway, in Prestwick in Ayrshire, and in Fraserburgh up north of Aberdeen. And many of the folk we stayed with and got talking to were amazed by our Ulster-Scots songs and speech. Many of those same people dispute that there's even such a thing as a single "Scots" language anyway - there are significant regional differences within Scotland. There are many words and expressions used in Southern Scotland that aren't used in North East Scotland, and vice versa.

One of the arguments for the distinctiveness of Ulster-Scots (ie as separate from "mainland Scots") is that over many hundreds of years Ulster-Scots has had a strong influence from the Irish language. And the picture here is what has triggered this post.

The humble spud. My parents, my grandparents, and probably their ancestors for generations before them, always called "potatoes" "prootas". There was the occasional reference to "tatties" (which is of course Scots), but 95% of the time it was "prootas".

So just today I decided to look up "prootas" in the 6 or 7 Scots language dictionaries I have. Wee yins and big brutes o yins. And not a single mention of "prootas" anywhere!!!

So I did an online search. It turns out that the Irish word for "potato" is "práta" - which sounds a lot like "proota" tae me, and gives more support to the claim of the Irish language influence. Here's a wee wheen mair:

- I will always call a potato a "proota" and not a "tattie".
- I also call children "weans" and not "bairns".
- I say "yin" but never "ane".
- I never say "fit like" (which is a very popular figure of speech in NE Scotland).

Any of you have similar examples of words that are used here and not in "mainland Scots"? It would be interesting for someone, or some organisation, to do a project on the differences and on the Irish influence. I wonder which organisation...

God's Gonna Cut You Down

This is an experiment to see if I can post audio files to the blog. May as well use a superb song for you to enjoy - it's an old traditional Gospel song. Elvis recorded a fairly upbeat version on his 1966 gospel album "How Great Thou Art"with the name "Run On". This version was recorded by Johnny Cash just before he died on Sept 12 2003, and is featured on his final album "American V: A Hundred Highways". It's not far short of terrifying.

"...You can run on for a long time.. but sooner or later God's gonna cut you down..."

Oh how awful the cost...

Thankfully not everyone is like "Person X". This wee chorus was recently sent to me by "Mr H", who like me sang it in Sunday School many many years ago. I had forgotten about it until it landed in my inbox last week.

"I've a soul to saved,
May this truth be engraved,
On my heart and my mind
While I'm young,
Oh how awful the cost,
If my soul should be lost,
And I die in my sins as I am
Die as I am,
Yes die as I am
All hope gone for ever
If I die as I am..."

Today's stats

Visits to the blog seem to have doubled today. Must be Person X and his/her network of upset friends ;-)

Ulster and Appalachia

Ok, back to the usual stuff.

Ulster and Appalachia. 3500 miles apart, yet so similar – in landscape, in culture, in people.

This shot of bluegrass banjo legend Dr Ralph Stanley is in the booklet to his self-titled 2002 cd. The cover and most of the rest of the booklet features black and white documentary-style photography (by Mary Ellen Mark) of Ralph outside the church - a little wooden building propped up on blocks, out in the middle of nowhere. Ralph is wearing a suit and is by himself. It looks like the heart of the Appalachian mountains. The CD has eleven tracks, four are gospel. It’s a superb album, recorded in the afterglow of his Grammy for the awesome “O Death” that appeared on the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?", the movie that brought bluegrass to the masses worldwide.

The pic of Ralph inside the church – possibly the Primitive Baptist Universalist Church that he is still a member of in Dickenson County, Virginia – astounded me when I bought the cd. Because the design of the interior is virtually identical to the interior of Ebenezer Gospel Hall, at the Pink Brae outside Portavogie, where I attended until I was about 21 and also Ballyhalbert Gospel Hall too. Virtually identical! Here it is:



Maybe theologically the Primitive Baptists and the (Plymouth) Brethren here in the UK are similar, I don’t know for sure. (see here and here.

Primitive Baptists have no instruments in their churches. For the Brethren, some gospel halls have an organ or piano which is used in gospel/evangelical meetings (its sometimes jokingly referred to as “the wooden brother”) – but never used on a Sunday morning for the “breaking of bread”. Acapella singing only. A strong preference for the King James Version. No salaried ministers, but voluntary elders appointed from the membership. And, importantly, no centralised organisation. Everything is local. Everything is independent.

But what really struck me is that rural Scotch-Irish/Ulster-Scots communities, thousands of miles apart, in a quest for authentic, simple, New Testament worship have used the same style of building. Wooden floor. Single door at the back, right in the middle of the main room. Wooden “forms” (not pews) on either side of a central strip of carpet which leads up to the platform. No curtains (sometimes just simple roller blinds). Praying, preaching and singing. No art. No decoration. Just the people and the Word.

Today there aren’t many of the original, traditional gospel halls or mission halls left in the Ards. Most have been replaced by (sometimes expensive) modern buildings - Killaughey Mission Hall (near Ballycopeland Windmill) and the People’s Hall (beside Portavogie Harbour) might be the only two old style ones left. But some of the newer buildings have also been designed simply and have much of the spirit of the older ones – Maranatha Hall in Carrowdore is a good example of this (top pic of the four below. The hall is run by my da, Ronnie Wilson and Stephen Jamison. Graeme teaches Sunday School here too) The second pic here is of the platform of the old Carrowdore Mission Hall.




The important thing of course is that whether the building is old or new, the message is still the old fashioned gospel.

I wonder if we could ever get Ralph to visit the Low Country? He’d feel right at home. (last two pics are of the People's Hall in Portavogie, run by my uncle John)

About Blogging

Blogs are funny.

I say that because every day the counter on this blog goes up by about 20-odd visits, but only the dedicated few actually post comments. Sometimes people will say to me in passing "oh, yes I saw such and such on your blog a few days ago", and it takes me by surprise because I never really thought that person would even be remotely interested in my ramblings.

So it probably pertains that there are people reading this who:

a) are more or less on the same wavelength as me (which is great)
b) others who are just curious and mildly intrigued (which is fine - I hope you're finding out about things), and
c) also others who are downright opposed and even hostile to my beliefs, views and interests. (I hope you're busy copying-and-pasting plenty of juicy stuff from here about rural mission halls to use against me in the future character assassination you're planning for me. Or maybe just to regurgitate in some tin-pot email forum)

Anyway, I had a conversation today with Person X. Person X was a bit sensitive to my last two posts - because I dared to use the word "Protestant". Person X thought that in our new shiny Northern Ireland, using the "P word" was rather indelicate, and that if I had any sense I should avoid referring to such things. So Person X's advice was for me to deny who I am. What a good idea.

Person X also flatly rejected the notion that there was an unspoken theme that Protestants have no culture. So, Person X, I refer you to Exhibit A - Edna Longley's essay entitled "Ulster Protestants and the Question of Culture" in the book Last Before America, published in 2001. In the very first sentence, she refers to "...the perceived culturelessness of Ulster Protestants..." and that in Northern Ireland there is a tendency to "...erase the cultural presence and cultural memory..."

Exhibit B proves that this is not a new idea, and it's not limited to Northern Ireland. John Fiske in his masterful 1900 book "Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America" he says:

"...The name Scotch-Irish is an awkward compound, and is in many quarters condemned. Curiously enough, there is no one who seems to object to it so strongly as the Irish Catholic. While his feelings toward the “Far-Downer” are certainly not affectionate, he is nevertheless anxious to claim him, with his deeds and trophies, as simply Irish, and grudges to Scotland the claim to any share in producing him. It must be admitted, however, that there is a point of view from which the Scotch-Irish may be regarded as more Scotch than Irish. The difficulty might be compromised by calling them Ulstermen, or Ulster Presbyterians..."

So no doubt Person X will be upset by this post too, but we have to stop walking on eggshells and recognise the reality we live in. There is a widespread view that Protestants have no culture, and there is a tendency, or maybe even an objective, to airbrush Ulster-Scots people away (as Fiske says) "as simply Irish". Neither situation is true, but both are prevalent and should be set straight.

The Greatest Hillbilly Gospel Song of all time

In his great book on the subject, American musicologist Bill C Malone defines the core of old-time country music as "...rural folkways, evangelical Protestantism and political individualism..." Amen to all three!

He also writes about the American musical scholars and song collectors (he calls them "the apostles of high culture") of the late 1800s and early 1900s deliberately ignoring gospel music, and choosing to focus on secular ballads and instrumental tunes. Kinda reminds me of the notion that was dominant in Northern Ireland when I was growing up, which to put it bluntly was "Prods have no culture".

What the people who spout such nonsense really meant was "Prods have no culture that suits my personal tastes or prejudices". These people would feel very comfortable supping a Guinness in the west of Ireland in some country pub, with an aran jumper and a copy of James Joyce. But can you imagine them in rural Ulster, neatly dressed in their Sunday best, with a worn Bible, and a well-thumbed oul hymnbook, and when the meetin is over enjoyin a cup o' tay and a wheen o' egg an onion pieces? (by the way, the egg and onion sandwich is Protestant Ulster's true national dish).

The mission hall / evangelical scene in Ulster even today still has some of the most brilliant gospel music you can experience. Not the U2/Snow Patrol - obsessed jangly over-amplified "praise and worship" bands living out a rock star fantasy, repeating the same phrase over and over and over and over and over again. No, the real mccoy, the "Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb" stuff where everybody of all ages is jammed into a simple wee hall, singing from their boots, with messages that leave you no millimetre of theological wriggle room and with tunes you'll have stuck in your head your whole life long.

The YouTube clip below shows the perfect example of this - "I Saw the Light" performed by Roy Acuff and Hank Williams. Superb archive footage. Hope you enjoy it.



Trust me, no one in Heaven is pondering the wooly sentimentality and false spiritualised intellectual guff of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". They're far more likely to be singing with all their might - "Praise the Lord - I Saw the Light"!! And maybe Hank Williams is leading the chorus. (John Killian has a great post about Hank on his blog, here).

"...And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it..." Rev 21 v 23 and 24

"The Protestant Revolution - BBC4"

This is a new 4 part series on the digital channel BBC4.

The four programmes are:
- The Politics Of Belief
- The Godly Family
- A Reformation Of The Mind
- No Rest For The Wicked

Worth watching. The presenter, Tristram Hunt, recently gave a lecture to the great and the good in Belfast City Hall entitled "Belfast - a Global City", encouraging the "new Belfast" to look back to its Victorian vision as a city of truly global significance.

More info on the series here.

Brian - the 3rd and final part (for the time being)

Brian's funeral was last Sunday, near Carndonagh in Donegal. It's a long story, but the good part is that I met his brother Bill, his friend Ivan and one of Brian's clients (incidentally also called Mark). All three confirmed to me that Brian had professed faith as a young man and took part in many beach missions and open air witnessing in his younger life. I had prayed that morning for some sort of confirmation of Brian's faith, and I got it three times over.

I was one of the four men who carried his coffin from the church and lowered him into the grave, watching the brass nameplate on the coffin lid getting ever smaller as it descended to the bottom. On the nameplate was the quote "I'm just a pilgrim on this road" - a quote from the beautiful Steve Earle song "Pilgrim" from his magnificent bluegrass album The Mountain.

Through the ten years of friendship I shared with Brian, I never once considered that I'd be one of the people to put him into the ground.

I wonder who will lower me into the earth when my time is done?

.................................................

"...ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away..." James 4 v 14

.................................................

UPDATE - BBC Radio Five Live interview with Brian back in June, from his hospital bed, here

Here are the words for the Steve Earle song "Pilgrim":

I'm just a pilgrim on this road, boys
I'm just a pilgrim on this road, boys
I'm just a pilgrim on this road, boys
This ain't never been my home

Sometimes the road was rocky ‘long the way, boys
Sometimes the road was rocky ‘long the way, boys
Sometimes the road was rocky ‘long the way, boys
But I was never travelin' alone

We'll meet again on some bright highway
Songs to sing and tales to tell
But I'm just a pilgrim on this road, boys
Until I see you fare thee well

Ain't no need to cry for me, boys
Ain't no need to cry for me, boys
Ain't no need to cry for me, boys
Somewhere down the road you'll understand

‘Cause I expect to touch His hand, boys
‘Cause I expect to touch His hand, boys
‘Cause I expect to touch His hand, boys
I'll put a word in for you if I can

We'll meet again on some bright highway
Songs to sing and tales to tell
But I'm just a pilgrim on this road, boys
Until I see you fare thee well

Website Stats

The Internet is an amazing thing. I've just had a look at our LowCountryBoys.com website stats for the last month. Absolutely incredible!:

• 4660 unique users visited the site during August
• the average this year is 2,502 people per month
• Shall We Gather at the River is the top download (363 times since it was put on the site in mid-June)
• Most people visit the home page, then free mp3s, then buy cds, then dates

I know that the UlsterScotsAgency.com site only gets just over 5,000 visitors per month, so the LCB site must be doing ok!

Brian - part 2

Brian died at 4.00am this morning. Funeral will be on Sunday afternoon.

"For how do you know, but your soul may be drifting
Over the deadline tonight..."

Have A KitKat

It's the second half of an old advertising slogan, and the first half is of course "Have A Break".

Time for a wee announcement. I've been thinking hard over (at least) the past year that I need to take a break from playing live concerts with the LCBs. There have been many weekends over the past 4 or 5 years when I haven't spent enough time with Hilary and the weans. Travelling the length and breadth of the country is hard work - for my family as much as for me. So I have decided to take all of 2008 off from playing concerts with the LCBs. (I will be playing at all of our remaining bookings this year).

There hasn't been a fallout, there are no problems, it's just time for me to take a breather, to dig up some mair oul songs, to learn to play better and most importantly to put my family first for a change. They have made many sacrifices for me, now it's time for me to return the favour.

Jacob (9), Charlie (4 1/2 - with his first day of school in the morning!) and Maggie Jane (2 1/2) take mair lookin after these days! So my need to spend more time with my "Bairns an Hame" means that - ironically - "Sangs O Bairns an Hame" Vol 2 won't be recorded for the foreseeable future. You'll hiddae fin some ither Christmas present!

I told the Boys about a month ago, and they are planning to carry on in my absence. I'm sure they'll make a great job of it.

Pray for them as they keep the torch burning!

As for me, the next wee while will be a case of "Brighten the Corner Where You Are".

Brian

My friend Brian is going to die in the next few hours.

I got a call this morning to go to Letterkenny General Hospital to see him. 3 hours drive there and the same back again. When I got there he was hardly conscious, only able to acknowledge visitors with the occasional flicker of the eyelids. He will leave a wife and seven year old son. It's very, very sad.

To the best of my knowledge (ie up until a few weeks ago), Brian rejected any form of personal faith, let alone a saving faith in Christ alone. However his wife Terri told me this afternoon that for the last few days he had been trying to talk to her, through his sedation, about "God" and "Heaven". He was brought up in the red brick streets and mission halls of Woodvale in Belfast. We can just hope and pray - I'm asking you to do so.

He has requested that I say a few words at his funeral. It'll be tough going, especially as I have no sense of certainty about his spiritual condition. I've often felt critical of graveside eulogies, but now it's on my shoulders I feel a bit different.

Brian always wanted to make a film about the mission halls. He wanted to put a single camera on a fixed tripod and film the individual members singing their favourite hymn or chorus. We often talked about the wee choruses we both grew up on. Here's one that seems very apt:

"...Away, far beyond Jordan
We'll meet in that Land
Oh won't it be grand?
Away, far beyond Jordan
We'll meet in that beautiful Land

If you get there before I do
Look out for me, for I'm coming too
Away, far beyond Jordan
We'll meet in that beautiful Land.."

Brian is 45. His wee boy will be 8 in the next few days. No matter how long we live, none of us are here for very long. Here's anither great sang:

"...There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be..."

(Illustration of the Heavens taken from Rev Clarence Larkin's famous series)

Hamilton & Montgomery - the Founding Fathers of the Ulster Scots

While I was in Washington, I bought a book called "A History of Ireland" by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry. I was delighted to see the following (brief) account of my two favourite Scots - James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery - and their settlement of east Ulster which began in May 1606. (it only cost me $7.98 - that's the sort of book bargain that Colin Maxwell is famous for!)

"...(King) James also gave his support to two Scottish adventurers, Hugh Montgomery and Sir James Hamilton, who were busily engaged in private colonization schemes in south Antrim, north Down and the Ards. The country around Belfast was almost uninhabited when they took over; in the campaigns of 1602 and 1603 Chichester had, by his own admission, killed all the Irish he came across, irrespective of sex or rank. There was no-one left to remove; and when the two Scots acquired the greater part of the O'Neill estates at Clandeboy, in Down, they were able to offer leaseholds of untrammelled wilderness to their Lowland Scottish countrymen, whom they brought over in large numbers. Both Hamilton and Montgomery were capable, energetic and on the spot; brilliant organizers who rebuilt old towns, founded new ones, established markets, built mills and harbours and set up industries. Within a generation, Scottish settlers had transformed Antrim and Down with their prosperous, peaceful and God-fearing settlements..."

I took a bit of stick during 2006 for over-emphasising the importance of Hamilton and Montgomery's achievements. Their story has for generations been completely ignored, and is often left out of mainstream Irish/Scottish/Ulster history books.

So it's a real boost to see them included in "A History of Ireland", and in the sort of glowing terms that even I might not have had the confidence to write!!

Alexander Peden, Prophet of the Covenant

I'm currently gathering up lots of oul books about the Covenanters - I think we as a people need to rediscover their story.

This evening my friend David Gordon took me to see the monument to Alexander Peden at Glenwherry, County Antrim. Peden was one of the most renowned figures in the Covenanter movement during the 1600s in Scotland. He fled to Ulster for about 5 years during the "Killing Times".

The monument is on the roadside of Douglas Road, at the front of a wee farmstead called "Misty Burn" where Peden is said to have lived. It is impressive in its simplicity, a stone pulpit with a blue plaque on it. David is to email me a wheen o photos o it, which I'll post here yince I get them.

Here's a photo of Peden's cup, and one of his mask. Peden and the Covenanters are yet another Ayrshire/Ulster link, with a solid foundation of faith and the gospel.

When I was a wee nipper my parents took us over to Scotland and we visited the Wigtown Martyrs memorial. Powerful and impressive stuff.

Faith is at the heart of our Ulster-Scots history - shame on us if we should ever forget that.

Shall We Gather At The River

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland / Ulster Scots Agency CD was launched this afternoon. Copies are available free frae baith organisations. 14 sangs an yin o' oors forbye - "Shall We Gather At The River" - which has been available as a free download on oor ain website for a while already.

A Quair Pair

What about this!!

New format

Blogger have asked me to update my template, so you'll see that things look a wee bit different than normal. However I've now mastered adding photos, and will also be adding some links to the "Ither Folk's Blogs" section - suggestions or requests are welcome!

Songs of Victory

Another oul hymn book story.

I bought a copy of "Songs of Victory" years ago in Causeway Books in Bushmills. It's a wee blue/green paperback. Like "Redemption Songs" it was published by Pickering & Inglis and has no date. I'd guess by the style of the typesetting it's probably 1920s/1930s again.

I tend to buy books, set them on the shelf, and then "rediscover" them some time later. Well, just after our second CD "Sangs O Bairns an Hame" came out, I picked up "Songs of Victory" to have a closer look at it. Well...

It had been owned by M Peacock, Moat Road, Ballymena. But the best bit was the inside back cover - there was a list of Sunday School choruses written in faint pencil, in that graceful handwriting that today's generation could never achieve.

In the list of maybe 15 or 20 choruses were 2 that we had just recorded! They are "Jesus Is My Heart's Fond Love" and "Come Awa the Noo My Freens".

The others are:

- He is a Friend of Mine
- Although the Sky be Dark
- Joy Bells Ringing in My Heart
- Joy Bells Ringing in My Soul Today
- I am Going Home To G.L.O.R.Y.
- He's the One I Love At Morning
- Carry Your Bible With You
- God Has Blotted Them Out
- Blotted Out, Blotted Out
- I'm Living On The Mountain
- Wide Wide as the Ocean
- Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest Name i Know
- For I'm So Happy, So Very Happy
- Walking With Jesus By His Side I Stay
- I Have A Friend Who Loves Me
- Why Not, Why Not
- J.E.S.U.S. Yes Jesus is My Friend

80-odd years ago there was a wee Sunday School in Ballymena singin their hearts out to choruses which are mostly now long-forgotten. But a wheen o them hae stood the test o time!

So, as usual, we're no daein ocht new ava - it's aa oul. "'Tis old, yet ever new..."

Redemption Songs

Looking for a wee bit of help. Do any of you know when the hymn book Redemption Songs was first published, or do you know anything about its history?

I have a very oul copy of the music edition that looks to me to have been printed in the 1920s, and is dated March 1929 in the handwriting of a previous owner.

But this one might not be the first edition! The publishers - Pickering and Inglis - seem to have closed down years ago as they don't have a website. Any help much obliged.

2 T-Shirts left!

...so if you want yin, let me know quick!

Brighten the Corner Where You Are

Do songs ever jump out of your memory and hit you between the eyes? ("eyes" is "een" in Ulster-Scots). It happens me all the time, wee songs and melodies and words that I've neither heard nor sung in donkeys years, but all of a sudden they jump up out of nowhere. In many cases I find that the words are perfectly timed to teach me a lesson.

Well, after all our (very enjoyable) globetrotting over to Washington DC for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival a wheen o weeks ago, and having met, sung and witnessed to many hundreds of people, as I was comin back hame on the plane, another wee Sunday School song came into ma heid:

"Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar,
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are..."

(It was written in the USA by a woman called Ina Mae Duley Ogdon [1872-1964]. She also wrote the classic "Living Where the Healing Waters Flow")

So I felt more than a wee bit admonished by that. I've been wondering if the four of us would have been as motivated to play 21 1 hour concerts in Ballyhalbert, as we were about playing 21 1 hour concerts in America.

"Here for all your talent you may surely find a need,
Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;
Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are..."

Every day's a school day. We're always learning lessons.

Charlie Barley

Weans can be very funny. We were talking to our three last night about Christ's return. Charlie (a bright and cheeky wee chappie who's 4 and a half) was astounded by this.

"Really?!" he said "Jesus is coming BACK?!".

I said, "Yes Charlie, that's right. And some people say that the Bible tells us that He's coming back like a thief in the night!".


(stunned pause from Charlie)


Charlie turned to Hilary and said "Mum, is Jesus coming round tonight to steal my stuff?"...

Ricky Skaggs and the Gospel

You may already know Ricky Skaggs - an east Kentucky boy of Ulster descent and a bluegrass legend. This is part post and part experiment of linking to a YouTube video. Hope you like it.

Free LCB T Shirt Offer

If you've seen our Washington photo gallery on Flickr, you'll see that we had t-shirts made for the trip - one blue, one cream. Polo shirt style, with Lowcountryboys.com on the front, UlsterVirginia.com on the sleeve, and Psalm 23 in both English and Scots on the back. We got 5 of each made up to keep us going.

But there's no way I need 10 tshirts, so... I'm going to give 6 of mine away free of charge - on a first come first served basis, three blue and three cream. And yes, they are XL and they have been washed since we came home!

Just email me your postal address to wmthompson@btinternet.com

USA Photo Gallery

Accelerated by Crawford's email of earlier today, I've now uploaded about 50 pics of our Washington trip to our Flickr site here.

Will hopefully add a wheen mair over the next few weeks.

Goodnight Washington

We're back home again, tired but very happy. Settling in to life at home is nice, but it was a shame to have to leave Washington DC. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was a fantastic experience, especially for four farm boys like us with such limited ability. I think we overcame our musical shortcomings though - I hope the faith, the humour, the history and the cultural connections stories that we told onstage helped the US audience make sense of what we're all about.

We honestly did grow up with old hillbilly and country gospel records in our homes, with grandparents who played fiddles, hammer dulcimers and mandolins. We all sang old evangelical revivalist hymns - and for hundreds of thousands of "Ulster Protestants" that was our upbringing, and it's an upbringing very familiar to American people even today.

A big thank you to all the Festival staff; especially to Mike Monseur and his mom Mary (for that huge package of CDs! I'm still working my way through them!); to Rosemary Black for her conversation and the CDs as well; to Gerald Anderson from SW Virginia for his CD; to Brien Fain the wonderful banjo player from SW Virginia (thanks for letting me play with y'all in the hotel that night!).

And a big thanks also to the dozens of American people who came over to talk to us either before or after our performances - you helped us really connect, and reinforced for me just how similar our cultural values are on each side of the Atlantic Ocean. We're Ulster-Scots, and you're Scotch-Irish - separated by a few thousand miles of water and yet connected by so much we have in common. We are proud to have met you all, to have shared our stories and to have made new friends.

In the early 1900s, The Carter Family made the hymn "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" famous in the USA. But before they recorded it, William MacEwan (the singing evangelist from Glasgow) recorded a slightly different version of it here in the British Isles.

Well, thanks to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, I think the Low Country Boys' Circle just got a whole lot bigger!

Half Time Match Report

We're now on our two day break in the middle of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. So far we've done 10 one hour concerts, and it's been great fun. We've met lots of fantastic people who are interested in the culture, history and gospel connections across the Atlantic. Lots of christian folk who are delighted that we're presenting a gospel message. Too many to list here. We even had a track played on the famous Washington DC radio show "Stained Glass Bluegrass" (it was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"), on WAMU 88.5FM. You can listen to it online every Sunday (UK time 11am - 3pm).

The Kennedy Centre went really well, full house with hundreds of folk standing at the back of the long room. An amazing venue and a real privilege to be there. On the wall outside the entrance there's a JFK quote inscribed in huge letters into the stone panelling which reads "...this country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor...". In the midst of all that grandeur, I hope we helped to redress the balance, even if only for an hour.

So tomorrow's the 4th of July - America's National Holiday - and DC will have millions of people descending for the celebrations. I wonder if it'll be as good as the 12th July at hame?!

11 concerts to go... and we'll be live on BBC Norn Irn themorra nicht on John Toal show at 11pm Norn Irn time, which you can listen to here at about 1hr 15minutes in. John was at our show on Sunday afternoon and he told Graeme that as he stood at the back of the tent, he thought it was like being in a mission hall! Soons like we're mebbe no daein sae bad.

(Hooaniver - ....A am far frae ma hame an A'm weary aftenwhiles....)

First Big Night in Washington

It's Friday night here, we've been in DC since Monday night and playing at the Festival since Wednesday. As usual we're pretty rough round the edges, and getting used to the heat has been hard work. But the natives are friendly and things are going ok.

Tonight we had one of our most special nights ever. We played as the "headline act" for the Northern Ireland evening concert at the big marquee called the Lagan Stage. I guess it holds about 600 people. Very scary...

...but it was amazing. The audience were clapping and cheering and really enjoyed the songs, the message, the stories in between and the cultural connections stuff as well. We played half an hour of easily the best reaction we've ever had. Lots of people spoke to me at the end to say how wonderful it was to hear the gospel message at such a huge secular festival; others were keen to hear more about the Ulster-Scots-Virginian-American links. I can't even begin to describe how good it was and how positive the reaction was. Getting 600 Americans to do the actions for "Fu an Skailin" was something special!!

We are very blessed that our limited talent is being used for such positive outreach. Keep prayin' - tomorrow night will be a whole new ballgame . It's the formal setting of The Kennedy Centre. Shirts and ties job (gulp)

Iver an oot fer noo.

Anither wee step for't

Our version of "My Ain Countrie" is on the Smithsonian Folklife Festival cd "Sound Neighbours - Contemporary Music in Northern Ireland".

Exactly 10 years ago I visited the Smithsonian shop to buy this great cd.

10 years on I can buy yin o my ain in tha same shap!

We're fleein oot at half eleeven themorra forenoon. A wunner whit wull happen iver the neext twa weeks? Pits me in mind o "for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth"

Washington here we come...(gulp)

We fly out on Monday 25th June. Just got our performance schedule through.

21 one hour performances in 10 days, plus I have 3 public panel discussions to take part in, plus a number of other important meetings forbye. An fowk in Bangor cannae unnerstan us maist o the time - I dinnae know whit the yins in America'll mak o' us.

This is going to be hard hard work... prayer would be greatly appreciated.

Joel and the Tattoo Parlour

Now, before you reach for your Old Testaments in bewilderment, let me explain.

One of the great things about the LCBs is that we get to meet a fantastic variety of people from all walks of life.

One day a crowd of very cool (and a lot younger than us) metaller types came to see us at Killicomaine Baptist Church in Portadown, having travelled all the way from Larne. They're members of, and friends of, a Christian rock band called Crimson Fight (maybe the translation of that in Ulster-Scots is "Rid Fecht"?!). They've come to see us a few times since and have even posted mobile phone clips of us on Youtube! Really great people.

One of them, Colin Muir, created a Myspace page for us, and just the other day we got an email from Joel Neill. Here it is, totally unedited:

......

Subject: Wee story for you boys...
Date: 30 May 2007

How's it going boys? Haven't seen you or spoken in a while. I just thought I'd e-mail and tell you a funny thing that happened to me last week.

Now, you'll have to enter my heavy-metal world for a moment here (apologies), but I was at my tattoo shop (Skullduggery on the Dublin Rd. in Belfast) getting a few bits and pieces coloured in. They were playing this american Hillbilly gospel music, and when I asked about it they told me that their friend had sent it over for them. They also said it's "a shame we've nothing to send back".

Says I: "...well...I know something."

So, off I go today to a tattoo shop with Gran Time Comin'. Quite a surreal experience for me I'm sure you can imagine!

Just thought I'd let you know, you never know where your music goes!

Joel CrimsonFight
Larne

......

So it's great to know that our music is making it into all sorts of places, ears, heads and hearts. Graeme got a letter the other day from a (probably middle aged) woman who used to attend Killaughey Mission Hall here in the Low Country many, many years ago, and was delighted to hear the gospel in the language her grandmother used to speak. And I got one from Vancouver in Canada a while back saying more or less the same thing.

It goes to show that you can be used for mighty things, even if you're as amateurish as we are! (You can discover Crimson Fight for yourself here)

Night night

Oul Hymns

We're in the studio again, recording a track for a promotional CD. We've been invited to do "Shall We Gather At The River", a great old hymn written in Pennsylvania by Robert Lowry. Some say he was of Scotch-Irish descent. I'll go with that - he wrote many classics that the Ulster-Scots should claim if we can! (eg anyone who can write "Christ Arose", "We're Marching to Zion", "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me" and "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus" is someone we should definitely claim!!)

It's made me think about oul hymns and how expressive many of them are. The beauty of their language can be stunning. They tend to float into my head FAR more often that any of the Mission Praise youth fellowship fluffy singalongs we used to sing 20 years ago. People throughout the years have consciously, with the very best of intentions, tried to keep Christianity relevant to their generation, and music has been "modernised" many times to try to reach out.

However I wonder if this approach - rather than modernise - might actually trivialise? In fact, maybe the Low Country Boys are trivialising the gospel too. Or maybe I'm just getting oul masel. But the MP favourite "Father God I Wonder" has always troubled me as there is no mention of Christ in it! Christianity without Christ??!! And these triumphant "Days of Elijah" style "praise and worship" songs also concern me. "Days of Jeremiah" would surely be far more appropriate for the present age.

Here's one from the Believer's Hymnbook (the Brethren Sunday morning book). It has always humbled me:

I hear the accuser roar
Of ills that I have done,
I know them well - and thousands more
Jehovah findeth none.

Though the restless foe accuses
Sins recounting like a flood.
Every charge our God refuses;
Christ has answered with His blood.

Here is one with some absolutely magnificent wordplay, written in the mid 1800s by the old Anglican vicar Samuel Whitlock Gandy. (sometimes this is added to the one above)

His be the Victor's name
Who fought the fight alone;
Triumphant saints no honour claim,
His conquest was their own.

By weakness and defeat,
He won the meed and crown;
Trod all our foes beneath His feet
By being trodden down.

He Satan's power laid low;
Made sin, He sin o'erthrew;
Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,
And death by dying slew.

Bless, bless the Conqueror slain,
Slain in His victory;
Who lived, who died, who lives again
For thee, His church, for thee!


When the power of those words sink in - wow! So we're thinking about recording a CD of hymns from the Believer's Hymnbook (vocal-only of course). Feel free to make some suggestions of some you'd like us to include.

The Life of Brian

No, not the Monty Python satire (or blasphemy, depending upon your p.o.v.), but rather the life of a friend and former colleague of mine. Brian Richmond was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas a few weeks ago.

(This is a hard post to write. I will probably come back to it and change bits here and there over the next few hours and days, to try to express myself better.) He has been given about 6 months to live (maybe 3, maybe 12 or so). It's not long.

Brian and I used to spend hours every week in GCAS talking about old American music, international politics, and the mission halls that we both grew up in. Brian's was a Woodvale/Shankill urban Belfast childhood - whilst mine was Low Country/rural. He grew up, as we would say, "under the sound of the gospel", but has yet to find salvation.

I think its fair to say that he doesn't believe there is any hope of physical healing, or indeed that there is life beyond this world. I believe in both. Not in a weird, exploitative, "holy roller" Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland give-me-your-money-and-I'll-trick-you-into-believing-you've-been-healed nonsense. I believe in a God who is ultimately in control, who is equally just and merciful, who holds our breath in his hand. I believe that God can reach, heal, and save Brian. If Brian is reading this I know he'll understand my sentiment.

I spent a lovely time with Brian, his wife Terry and their 7 year old son Matthew last Friday evening and Saturday morning, at their home outside Moville in Inishowen, Donegal.

I would ask you to remember Brian, Terry and Matthew in prayer. When my time is up, I hope have the grace and calm that Brian has. When Brian finally passes on, be it this year or in 30 years time, I hope he has the Saviour that I have. Christ is my Saviour through nothing special I have done for Him, but through my simple faith in what He has done for me.

You can read Brian's blog here

Scotland, Washington and Stuff

Just finished our last NI concert for a while - it was at McQuiston Memorial Presbyterian Church in East Belfast. A magnificent building with marvellous acoustics, a great big traditional red brick Victorian church with a balcony on 3 sides and wooden pews. We had a great time - and we hope that the hundred or so folk who were there enjoyed it too!

Next stop is Ayrshire (birthplace of Robert the Bruce, Murdock Nisbet, Hamilton & Montgomery, Robert Burns, William Wallace, William Ritchie - the list is endless) to spend the weekend in Prestwick at the Baptist Church, and then off to Washington DC on Monday 25th June. We'll be practising twice a week to get into shape (musically speaking) before we go. Lots of practical stuff to sort out too.

Just heard tonight that we might be asked to do a 45minute set at The Kennedy Centre in Washington (which describes itself as "America's National Cultural Centre". Maybe a bit like the Royal Albert Hall in London.

No pressure there then. Gulp...

Hugh Moore & The Louvin Brothers

Went to the meetin at Carrowdore Mission Hall tonight - it's in a different building now, but it's where Graeme and I went to Sunday School. Hugh Moore was singing and Roy Ferris preached. It was great.

Hugh was one of the singers who really made a big impact on me when I was wee. He still has a brilliant bass voice. He used to sing with a guitar, now it's backing tapes. Tonight he really blew me away when he sang the old Louvin Brothers song "Thank God for My Christian Home".

Brilliant song, sung really well by a good man tonight. Excellent stuff.

"SOBAH" Volume 2?

Looks like it'll be the autumn before we get this one out; probably not a bad thing as we have some big ideas for it and it'll be better if we take a bit of time to get it right. Sorry if you've been hoping for (what we also hoped would be) a Spring release. We hope it'll be worth the wait.

Draft track list:

1 Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb (Lament)
2 Sin’s Dark Valley
3 Portavogie Boys (instrumental)
4 Portavogie (instrumental)
5 How About You? (Thomas Dorsey)
6 House of Gold (Hank Williams)

BAIRNS
7 Some Say the Divil’s Deid (traditional chorus)
8 Jesus loves the wee wee weans like me (traditional chorus)
9 I love the Gospel rock n roll (traditional chorus)

HAME
10 The Lord’s My Shepherd
11 Sweet Rivers (Big Smith)
12 Hard Trials Will Soon Be Over
13 Ye’re A’ Welcome Hame

DRINK
14 The Drunkards Raggit Wean
15 Wreck on the Highway (Roy Acuff)
16 Jim and Me (Songs of Might version)
17 Down in the Dumps I’ll never go (traditional chorus)

18 Shield of Faith
19 I Hae Gien Masel Tae Jesus
20 Drifting Too Far From The Shore / Haven of Rest
21 Instead of Me (tune: Londonderry Air)
22 Get Thee Behind Me Satan

Real Power Sharing in Northern Ireland?

We're at the start of an election campaign here in Northern Ireland. It looks like the DUP may well agree to share power with Sinn Fein sometime very soon. The political term for this form of government is (surprise surprise) "power sharing".

Here's a spiritual angle on the same idea:

""He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:11,12)

That's liker it.

News Letter 2006 RECORD sales, "SOBAH" Volume 2 & Smithsonian CD for "My Ain Countrie"

Just got word last week that our debut "Gran Time Comin" was the best selling cd for the Northern Ireland daily newspaper the News Letter last year (the print edition is light years better than the online one- they need the services of a good graphic designer! - here's a good overview of the paper's history - it's the oldest English language newspaper in the world, founded in 1737 ). They have a shop facility for readers to buy books and CDs etc. We outsold the next best selling cd by almost 3:1.

The amazing news is that the News Letter have ALREADY ordered more copies of "Sangs o Bairns an Hame" than they sold of "GTC" to fulfil postal orders they've received - and it's only mid-February.

Things are going well. Just need to get back into the studio and get Volume 2 finished. With me having been knocked out of action for most of January we're behind schedule, but hopefully we'll have it out before we head to Washington in June.

•••• STOP PRESS•••• "My Ain Countrie" from "Gran Time Comin" has been selected to appear on the forthcoming Smithsonian Folklife Festival audio cd. It is one of the first gospel songs ever recorded in the world, by William MacEwan the Glaswegian evangelist.

(Apologies to everyone whose email we haven't replied to yet - will try to do so over the weekend)

"Victory in Jesus" and Sixteen Horsepower

What? Strange title eh? Let me explain. I bought a clever turntable (record player) a few weeks ago which will allow me to start to digitise the old 78rpm records that have been in the family for a few generations. Last night I digitised The Gleaner Quartet, an old Belfast gospel group, singing "Victory in Jesus", on the Evangelical Records label. I have no idea what year it was recorded, but it's absolutely magnificent. If all goes according to plan, and if I can get legal advice on copyright, I'd like to produce a CD of some of these old gems called "Fae Ma Granda's Oul Records" later in the year, with the title unashamedly inspired by the Johnny Cash album My Mother's Hymn Book

If you've never heard "Victory in Jesus" you're really missing something special.

David Eugene Edwards is the Colorado-based frontman of a now-defunct American alt-country band called Sixteen Horsepower. For a sheltered Ulster-reared believer like me (and maybe like you) he's a highly unconventional man. But I wonder how John Knox and Robert Blair were viewed in their generation? Did they look as foreboding as that photo of David? Musically, Sixteen Horsepower is impossible to describe - if you think that some of the Johnny Cash "American Recordings" gospel stuff is heavy, it's featherlight compared to Sixteen Horsepower. You can download a wonderful vocal-only recording of David and his grandfather singing "Victory in Jesus" here

"O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood"

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 15:57

In this interview, he says "...“Religion is kind of a weird word today … you know I grew up in the Church. My Grandfather was the preacher of the Church that I went to. It was small and he led the music. Socially that was a major part of my life. There are a lot of people that grow up in the Church or what ever and they don’t care about it or they don’t follow it. Just because your parents believe doesn’t mean you are going to. But I have always believed in it, in the Bible, and it’s a huge part of my life, it affects everything I do. There is no separation between it and my regular life … you know what I mean … That’s what I sing about..."

and also

"...no one wants to be thought of as a Christian because it’s not cool. It’s not the cool thing to be in the world's eyes for the most part, but I can’t do anything about it because that’s what I am. You know it’s not even necessarily a choice really. I mean there is a choice involved, in a sense, but I believe that God took hold of me rather than me taking hold of him. I mean there is that exchange but it starts with him rather than me..."

Here's another interview with David, and here's another, and here's another, and here's another. Worth reading, and worth thinking about.