Sue McN., Why is it, every story you tell reminds me of one?? "Shall We Gather at the River." I've got a story for that one, too. My first baptizing at the cove of the river. Folks kept singin' "Shall We Gather at the River," the preacher kept pointin' at people to come out into the river, and I kept scootin' behind my mother's skirttail. I was 5 yrs old. I just knew that preacher was going to point his finger at me next, and push me under the water and drown me. I never wanted to gather at the river again!!!! Pat -----Original Message----- From: Bill and Sue McNaught <pp02570@email.kcc.edu> To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, March 20, 1999 9:04 PM Subject: "Sing me down, brothers" > Remembering the shaped note singers reminded me of the practice of >singing down the preacher. Anyone know what I'm talking about? > As a child visiting aunts in the country I attended many old regular >Baptist gatherings. These would last all day and a variety of preachers >would take the stump. They would preach until they were exhausted or until >the congregation sung him down. It was like he knew he was through, but >couldn't quite wrap it up. At that point the congregation would start to >sing and he could make a graceful exit. > Many of these preachers used a sort of sing-song style of preaching. I >remember so well one of them concluding by singing, "Sing me down, brothers!" > >Sue McN. >"Shall we gather at the river" > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#6 HELP is available from the sysop/owner anytime at: > ehoward@conknet.com or swvaroot@swva.net > >