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Idumea

[ Roud 6678 ; Sacred Harp 47b ; Ballad Index LoF125 ; Charles Wesley, Ananias Davisson]

The Young Tradition sang Idumea in 1968 on their last LP, Galleries. They also sang it on 17 November 1968 at their concert at Oberlin College, Ohio, that was published in 2013 on their Fledg’ling CD Oberlin 1968. Heather Wood noted:

An American Sacred Harp hymn. We were taught several of these by some devotees in Washington, D.C. They are also known as shape-note hymns because the music was written out with triangles, squares etc., instead of the usual oval chrotchets and quavers, to enable the musically illiterate to sightread easily.

The Watersons sang the Sacred Harp hymn Idumea in 1977 on their album Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy. This recording was also included in the 1990 CD reissue of Frost and Fire, in 2003 on The Definitive Collection and on the Topic CD sampler The Season Round. A.L. Lloyd commented on the original album:

The words of this beauty are by Charles Wesley ( 1707-88) who wrote more than 6,500 hymns. To our discredit it early faded out of English hymnals, but it was kept alive in the hymnbooks used on the American frontier. The Watersons’ tune, which is one of several used for the ballad of Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinder, is claimed by Ananias Davisson, compiler of the Kentucky Harmony (1815). Subsequently, Wesley’s words set to Davisson’s tune appeared in several influential hymnbooks, notably Southern Harmony (1835) and Christian Harmony (1866). To this day it remains one of the best-favoured hymns in remoter settlements of the upland Southern states of America.

Frankie Armstrong sang Idumea in 2000 on her Fellside CD The Garden of Love. The liner notes commented:

A shape note hymn with words by Charles Wesley. Frankie says: “Because there is no one voice carrying ‘the tune’, the sound becomes a tonality. Singing these songs, I feel simultaneously myself and taken up in a larger whole.” Incidentally, Idumea is the Latin name for the land of the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who were the target of a good deal of ferocious Old Testament prophesying.

Shirley Collins and several other singers sang Idumæa in 2006 on Current 93’s album Black Ships Ate the Sky.

Lady Maisery sang Idumea at the Royal Oak Lewes on 27 October 2011 as can be seen on this YouTube video:

Andy Turner sang Idumea as the 12 April 2014 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.

Diana Collier sang Idumea unaccompanied on her 2015 album All Mortals ar Rest.

Marisa Jack & Davy sang Idumea in October 2018 live at the Invisible Folk Club.

Sophie Crawford sang Idumea on her 2018 album Silver Pin. She noted:

I came across this from doing Sacred Harp singing.

Piers Cawley sang Idumea on his 2020 download album Isolation Sessions #3 where he noted:

You can rely on Charles Wesley if you want a good lyric for your hymn, and on the evidence of Idumea, you can rely on Ananias Davisson for an excellent tune too. This is another belter from the Sacred Harp, that wellspring of blood and thunder hymns.

Angeline Morrison sang Idumea on her 2022 album The Brown Girl and Other Folk Songs. She noted:

A glorious, rousing Sacred Harp hymn by Charles Wesley [1707-88]. Wesley wrote over 6,500 hymns in his lifetime, most of them absolute bangers. Ananias Davisson composed the mysterious melody. This is my way through the song, having soaked myself in multiple versions with multiple harmonies…

Lyrics

The Young Tradition sing Idumea

And am I born to die
To lay this body down
𝄆 And as my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown 𝄇

A land of deepest shade
Unpierced by human thought
𝄆 The dreary regions of the dead
Where all things are forgot 𝄇

Soon as from Earth I go
What will become of me
𝄆 Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my fortune be 𝄇

Waked by the trumpet’s sound
I from my grave shall rise
𝄆 To see the judge with glory crowned
And see the flaming skies 𝄇

The Watersons sing Idumea

And am I born to die
To lay this body down
And as my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown

A land of deepest shade
Unpierced by human thought
The dreary regions of the dead
Where all things are forgot

Soon as from Earth I go
What will become of me
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my fortune be

Waked by the trumpet’s sound
I from my grave shall rise
And see the judge with glory crowned
And see the flaming skies

Angeline Morrison sings Idumea

And am I born to die?
To lay this body down?
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?

A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought,
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot.

When as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be.

Waked by the trumpet sound,
I from my grave shall rise,
To see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the blazing skies.

Acknowledgements

Transcribed from the singing of the Watersons by Garry Gillard.