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Sacred Harp always sounded more Irish to me, not country. And I do like it.

In "Be Not Afraid" (if I never hear it again, it will be too soon), they took out all the men but the "wicked men" in verse three. I didn't think that was very nice. Changing the words is SOOOOOOO annoying. I used to complain about it all the time and the feminists would stomp me. Well, not literally, but I finally gave up.

I think if you went back into the mists of time, you'd find that Sacred Harp is heavily Irish-influenced. It's most popular in the hill communities that were settled by the Scotch-Irish immigrants that couldn't get along with the flatlanders . . . that would be my ancestors. :-D

While the tradition originally came out of the New England Congregational singing masters (like Justin Morgan who is better known for owning the foundation sire of the Morgan breed - but he composed some anthems that would tax a good choir, his "Judgment Anthem" is a killer) it headed South in a hurry, and the Sacred Harp and Southern Harmony are heavily influenced by the minor-modal harmonies of Irish tradition.

I annoy our feminists too. . . . it's good exercise and it amuses me. Most of them are so flabby intellectually though that it's like slapping a baby . . .