Low Country Boys - a group in Northern Ireland that does "Ulster Scots, Scots and old-timey hillbilly gospel music"

"did christ o'er sinners weep?" from Southern Harmony



was included on a CD put out by the Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission - New Folk, Roots and Traditional Music from Northern Ireland - released October 2005



We were amazed to be chosen for this - a showcase double cd compilation with 31 tracks highlighting the best of Northern Ireland music. We were particularly delighted that the other performers from the Ulster-Scots tradition were Robert Watt and Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band - both of whom have been crowned as World Champions in their piping disciplines many times over many years. The superb Brian Houston was also on it.

"Did Christ O'er Sinners Weep" is probably the one track we've had most feedback about. We learned it from the Doc Watson album "On Praying Ground", and it dates from the early 1800s, having been made popular through the old Kentucky hymnbook "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion". The book was compiled by William "Singin Billy" Walker, a Baptist from Spartanburg, South Carolina, and it became the most popular hymnbook in the South, selling over 4 million copies. "Did Christ O'er Sinners Weep" also appeared in the hymnal of the Confederate army during the American Civil War of 1861 - 1865. A great revival swept through the army, just two years after the great Ulster Revival of 1859.

You can find out more about the Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission here. (but the link's broken)