Brady and Tate
Brady and Tate were both Anglican clergymen who had graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland. Both had moved to England and both wrote poems. Nahum Tate (1652-1715) was a playwright and from 1692 also England’s Poet Laureate. Nicholas Brady (1659-1726) was a clergyman and poet.
Metrical Psalms
Brady and Tate worked together to produce a new edition of the Psalms in metre. New Version of the Psalms of David, a metrical version of the Psalms was first licensed for the Church of England, and printed in 1696. It was improved in 1698 and went through a number of editions until 1839. It was printed separately and also bound with the Book of Common Prayer, where it stated Fitted to the Tunes Used in the Churches. The edition was known as “Brady amp Tate” (or “Tate amp Brady”) or the New Version. It replaced a previous edition of the metrical psalms by Sternhold and Hopkins which then became known as the Old Version.
Some of the items are still regularly sung today, such as their version of Psalm 34, “Through all the changing scenes of life”. As well as the 150 Psalms they also wrote metrical versions of some of the liturgy and some passages of Scripture.
Most well known is Tate’s Christmas carol “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night” which was first printed in A Supplement to the New Version of the Psalms, published in 1700. This is a paraphrase of Luke 2:8-14.
This New Version of the Psalms contains many more long metre renditions than the Old Version did, and also includes some 10 psalms in an 8.8.8. metre not found in the Old Version nor the 1650 Scottish Psalter.
Scripture Selections in Metre
After the Psalms were also some Hymns including other sections of Scripture rendered into verse. The additional passages of Scripture are the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-20, the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, the Benedictus in Luke 1:68-79, the Song of the Angels in Luke 2:8-14, the Nunc Dimittis in Luke 2:29-32, the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and two passages from Revelation 5:12-13 and 19:6-9.
Digital Edition
The Brady and Tate metrical psalms and passages from Scripture, were digitised by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
