Well a lot of good discussion here.
It was actually the line "Rise, the Woman's conquering Seed", that had the men worried. I should have mentioned that we were singing in a small country town where things change very slowly. It's not so long, out here, since women were not allowed in shearing sheds, for example. You still hear "Ducks on the pond!" sometimes. Women are considered equals now but "conquering" is a bit radical. Cheers, Joy