L are more or less familiar today, as do re mi fa sol la ti do, had been imported into Colonial America by
foreign musicians; but it had not supplanted the old English system in the rural regions of the Southeast
in William Walker's day. Today this solmization system, long since forgotten in Old England, is fol-
lowed in the one Southern Harmony singing still surviving; for these folk prefer to remain true to their
own musical tradition.
Another feature of Walker’s musical system is the shape-notes, the purpose of which is to make
e note-reading easier. This system was introduced in 1800 by two singing masters, William Little and
William Smith of Albany, New York. The idea was to associate each of the four notes with a shape:
fa was a triangular note-head; sol was round, Za was square, and mi had a diamond shape. Within a
few decades the “patent notes” had been adopted by all songbook makers, save those who sold to the
A people of the coastal cities and New England. The use of this notational system is now confined to rural - 4
regions of the South.
The list of contents on the title page is the same as that found on many book covers of that day.
It does not, however, lit the facts entirely. Among the 335 songs in the book, there are practically no
“psalms" and only a few “odes and anthems," selected from popular eighteenth-century American _
¥ composers. The type of song having by far the largest representation is the folk hymn of the Welsh-
Baptist stock songs found by Walker in such books as the Baptist Harmony and the Kentucky Harmony,
and in the oral traditional songs of different denominations. The tunes of the folk hymns were borrowed
_ from secular folk songs and ballads; “Captain Kidd," a folk hymn, even borrowed its title from that
source. The first Hfteen songs in the book are of this variety; others are scattered throughout the work.
By far the most popular type and the liveliest is the fuguing songs, such as “‘]erusalem," “VVhite-
town," "Evening Shade," and a score of others. The revival songs, not listed on the title page, may be
recognized by the repetition of lines and the copious use of refrain and chorus. These traits developed