8 Higgins ⦁ Anglo-American Psalmody the New England socialite.47 Even when rural musicians blended their traditional style with the modern style, they were criticized for creating an artificial, even plastic, form of psalmody.48 The dominant composers of this era were diverse—a mix of farmers, tradesmen, and musicians— showing that more people were willing to engage and place their mark on the style.49 The poetry, too, was put under contention. Isaac Watts, a poet and pastor, called for a reform in the lyrical quality of psalmody at the time, commenting on the “dullness…of expression” and “ugly hymns.”50 Watts published his Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1706) and The Psalms of David (1719) as remedies to this, and many Reformed Christians in England and America received his hymnody and incorporated it into their congregations.51 However, the works of older poets and other contemporaries still held a large sway over the general population, as Watts’s hymns competed for space in the tune books of composers and publishers.52 Watts was not the only poet to decry the poetry of Sternhold and Hopkins, as Nahum Tate called the Old Version “barbar[ic]” and out-of-fashion in its style.53 Tate’s paraphrase of the Psalter was therefore heralded as a “New Version” of the Psalms.54 Alongside of this, the eighteenth century was fraught with contention, both culturally and politically. The dominant religious factions in England were Catholics, Anglicans, and nonconformists of different Reformed strands from which Watts and other psalmodists hailed. These factions constantly vied for power and ruled over Great Britain at various times, causing religious instability. This led to men such as Isaac Watts’s father being imprisoned for nonconformist beliefs, and Watts himself declining an invitation to join an Anglican university.55 Many nonconformists, such as the Puritans, set their courses to the New World and brought with them their cultural experiences. In 47 Turner, 31–32. 48 Marini, 184–185. 49 Macdougall, 68–89. 50 Bond, Poetic Wonder, 15. 51Bond, Poetic Wonder, 58. 52 Crawford, “Watts for Singing,” 142. 53 Marini, 180. 54 Macdougall, 28. 55 Bond, Poetic Wonder, 4–11.
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