ABSTRACT
Liturgical metrical psalmody ingrained the psalms into the minds of exiles and led some to begin to modify and expand upon the Sternhold and Hopkins psalms. It was the exile church in Frankfurt, however, that would most influence the future of metrical psalmody in both England and Scotland. A linguist and translator who had graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford, Whittingham became one of the more influential members of the Frankfurt exile community. A psalter published in Wesel helps to date Whittingham's work. The origins of many of the melodies in the 1556 Forme of prayers remain a mystery, as psalm-tune composers did not identify themselves. Historians have traditionally attributed the volume to Whittingham because he wrote all of the new versifications that were printed in its metrical psalter. The metrical psalms in the Forme of prayers need to be re-evaluated within their original contexts, that is, with their tunes.
