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Adam, de Saint-Victor

1100 - 1146 Author of "O Holy Ghost thou fount of light" Adam of St. Victor. Of the life of this, the most prominent and prolific of the Latin hymnists of the Middle Ages, very little is known. It is even uncertain whether he was an Englishman or a Frenchman by birth. He is described by the writers nearest to his own epoch, as Brito, which may indicate a native of either Britain, or Brittany. All that is certainly known concerning him is, that about A.D. 1130, after having been educated at Paris, he became, as quite a young man, a monk in the Abbey of St. Victor, then in the suburbs, but afterwards through the growth of that city, included within the walls of Paris itself. In this abbey, which, especially at that period, was celebrated as a school of theology, he passed the whole of the rest of his life, and in it he died, somewhere between the years 1172 and 1192 A.D. Possessed of "the pen of a ready writer," he seems to have occupied his life in study and authorship. Numerous as are the hymns and sequences satisfactorily proved to have been written by him, which have come down to us, there would seem to be little doubt that many more may have perished altogether, or are extant 'without his name attaching to them; while he was probably the author of several prose works as well. His Sequences remained in MS. in the care and custody of the monks of their author's Abbey, until the dissolution of that religious foundation at the Revolution; but some 37 of them, having found their way by degrees into more general circulation, were pub. by Clichtoveus, a Roman Catholic theologian of the first half of the 16th cent, in his Elucidatorium Ecclesiasticum, which passed through several editions from 1516 to 1556, at Paris, Basel and Geneva. Of the rest of the 106 Hymns and Sequences that we possess of Adam's, the largest part—some 47 remaining unpublished—were removed to the National Library in the Louvre at Paris, on the destruction of the Abbey. There they were discovered by M. Leon Gautier, the editor of the first complete edition of them, Paris, 1858. The subjects treated of in Adam's Hymns and Sequences may be divided thus :— Christmas, 7; Circumcision, 1; Easter, 6; Ascension, 1; Pentecost, 5; Trinity, 2; the Dedication of a Church, 4; Blessed Virgin Mary, 17; Festivals of Saints, 53; The Invention of the Cross, 1; The Exaltation of the Cross, 1; On the Apostles, 3; Evangelists, 2; Transfiguration, 2. Although all Adam of St. Victor's Sequences were evidently written for use in the services of his church, and were, doubtless, so used in his own Abbey, it is quite uncertain how many, if any, of them were used generally in the Latin Church. To the lover of Latin hymns the works of this author should not be unknown, and probably are not; but they are far less generally known than the writings should be of one whom such an authority as Archbishop Trench describes as " the foremost among the sacred Latin poets of the Middle Ages." His principal merits may be described as comprising terseness and felicity of expression; deep and accurate knowledge of Scripture, especially its typology; smoothness of versification; richness of rhyme, accumulating gradually as he nears the conclusion of a Sequence; and a spirit of devotion breathing throughout his work, that assures the reader that his work is "a labour of love." An occasional excess of alliteration, which however at other times he uses with great effect, and a disposition to overmuch "playing upon words," amounting sometimes to "punning," together with a delight in heaping up types one upon another, till, at times, he succeeds in obscuring his meaning, are the chief defects to be set against the many merits of his style. Amongst the most beautiful of his productions may be mentioned, perhaps, his Jucundare plebs fidelis; Verbi vere substantivi; Potestate non natura; Stola regni laureatus; Heri mundus exultavit; LaudeB cruets attollamus (Neale considers this "perhaps, his masterpiece "); Aye, Virgo singularis; Salve, Mater Salvatoris; Animemur ad agonem; and Vox sonora nostri chori. Where almost all are beautiful, it is difficult, and almost invidious, to make a selection. Of his Hymns and Sequences the following editions, extracts, and translations have been published:— i. Original with Translations: (1) (Euvres Poetiques d’ Adam de S.-Victor. Pat L. Gautier, Paris, 1858. It is in two vols. duodecimo, and contains, besides a memoir of Adam of St. Victor, and an exhaustive essay upon his writings, a 15th cent. tr. into French of some 46 of the sequences, and full notes upon the whole series of them. (2) The Liturgical Poetry of Adam of St. Victor, from the text of Gautier, with trs. into English in the original metres, and short explanatory notes by Digby S. Wrangham, M.A., St. John's Coll., Oxford, Vicar of Darrington, Yorkshire, 3 vols. Lond., Kegan Paul, 1881. (3) In addition to these complete eds., numerous specimens from the originals are found in Daniel, Mone, Konigsfeld, Trench, Loftie's Latin Year, Dom. Gueranger's Annee Liturgique, &c. ii. Translations:— (1) As stated before, 46 of the Sequences are given by Gautier in a French tr. of the 15th cent. (2) In English we have translations of the whole series by Digby S. Wrangham in his work as above; 11 by Dr. Neale in Med. Hymns: 15, more freely, by D. T. Morgan in his Hymns and other Poetry of the Latin Church; and one or more by Mrs. Charles, Mrs. Chester, C. S. Calverley, and the Revs. C. B. Pearson, E. A. Dayman, E. Caswall, R. F. Littledale, and Dean Plumptre. Prose translation are also given in the Rev. Dom Laurence Shepherd's translation into English of Dom Gueranger's works. iii. English Use:— From the general character of their metrical construction, it has not been possible to any great extent to utilise these very beautiful compositions in the services of the Anglican Church. The following, however, are from Adam of St. Victor, and are fully annotated in this work:— (1) in Hynms Ancient & Modern, Nos. 64 and 434 (partly) ; (2) in the Hymnary, Nos. 270, 273, 324, 380, 382, 403, 418; (3) in the People's Hymnal 215, 277, 304 ; and (4) in Skinner's Daily Service Hymnal, 236. -John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ==================== Adam of St. Victor. A second and greatly improved edition of his Œuvres Poetiques by L. Gautier was published at Paris in 1881. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
Adam, de Saint-Victor

Edward Caswall

1814 - 1878 Translator of "O Holy Ghost thou fount of light" Edward Caswall was born in 1814, at Yately, in Hampshire, where his father was a clergyman. In 1832, he went to Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1836, took a second-class in classics. His humorous work, "The Art of Pluck," was published in 1835; it is still selling at Oxford, having passed through many editions. In 1838, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1839, Priest. He became perpetural Curate of Stratford-sub-Castle in 1840. In 1841, he resigned his incumbency and visited Ireland. In 1847, he joined the Church of Rome. In 1850, he was admitted into the Congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, where he has since remained. He has published several works in prose and poetry. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872 ===================== Caswall, Edward, M.A., son of the Rev. R. C. Caswall, sometime Vicar of Yately, Hampshire, born at Yately, July 15, 1814, and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating in honours in 1836. Taking Holy Orders in 1838, he became in 1840 Incumbent of Stratford-sub-Castle, near Salisbury, and resigned the same in 1847. In 1850 (Mrs. Caswall having died in 1849) he was received into the Roman Catholic communion, and joined Dr. Newman at the Oratory, Edgbaston. His life thenceforth, although void of stirring incidents, was marked by earnest devotion to his clerical duties and a loving interest in the poor, the sick, and in little children. His original poems and hymns were mostly written at the Oratory. He died at Edgbaston, Jan. 2, 1878, and was buried on Jan. 7 at Redwall, near Bromsgrove, by his leader and friend Cardinal Newman. Caswall's translations of Latin hymns from the Roman Breviary and other sources have a wider circulation in modern hymnals than those of any other translator, Dr. Neale alone excepted. This is owing to his general faithfulness to the originals, and the purity of his rhythm, the latter feature specially adapting his hymns to music, and for congregational purposes. His original compositions, although marked by considerable poetical ability, are not extensive in their use, their doctrinal teaching being against their general adoption outside the Roman communion. His hymns appeared in:— (1) Lyra Catholica, which contained 197 translations from the Roman Breviary, Missal, and other sources. First ed. London, James Burns, 1849. This was reprinted in New York in 1851, with several hymns from other sources added thereto. This edition is quoted in the indices to some American hymn-books as Lyra Cath., as in Beecher's Plymouth Collection, 1855, and others. (2) Masque of Mary, and Other Poems, having in addition to the opening poem and a few miscellaneous pieces, 53 translations, and 51 hymns. 1st ed. Lon., Burns and Lambert, 1858. (3) A May Pageant and Other Poems, including 10 original hymns. Lon., Burns and Lambert, 1865. (4) Hymns and Poems, being the three preceding volumes embodied in one, with many of the hymns rewritten or revised, together with elaborate indices. 1st ed. Lon., Burns, Oates & Co., 1873. Of his original hymns about 20 are given in the Roman Catholic Crown of Jesus Hymn Book, N.D; there are also several in the Hymns for the Year, N.D., and other Roman Catholic collections. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ====================== Caswall, E. , p. 214, ii. Additional original hymns by Caswall are in the Arundel Hymns, 1902, and other collections. The following are from the Masque of Mary, &c, 1858:— 1. Christian soul, dost thou desire. After Holy Communion. 2. Come, let me for a moment cast. Holy Communion. 3. O Jesu Christ [Lord], remember. Holy Communion. 4. Oft, my soul, thyself remind. Man's Chief End. 5. Sleep, Holy Babe. Christmas. Appeared in the Rambler, June 1850, p. 528. Sometimes given as "Sleep, Jesus, sleep." 6. The glory of summer. Autumn. 7. This is the image of the queen. B. V. M. His "See! amid the winter's snow,” p. 1037, i., was published in Easy Hymn Tunes, 1851, p. 36. In addition the following, mainly altered texts or centos of his translations are also in common use:— 1. A regal throne, for Christ's dear sake. From "Riches and regal throne," p. 870, ii. 2. Come, Holy Ghost, Thy grace inspire. From "Spirit of grace and union," p. 945, i. 3. Hail! ocean star, p. 99, ii,, as 1873. In the Birmingham Oratory Hymn Book, 1850, p. 158. 4. Lovely flow'rs of martyrs, hail. This is the 1849 text. His 1873 text is "Flowers of martyrdom," p. 947, i. 5. None of all the noble cities. From "Bethlehem! of noblest cities," p. 946, ii. 6. O Jesu, Saviour of the World. From “Jesu, Redeemer of the world," p. 228, ii. 7. 0 Lady, high in glory raised. From "O Lady, high in glory, Whose," p. 945, i. The Parochial Hymn Book, 1880, has also the following original hymns by Caswall. As their use is confined to this collection, we give the numbers only:— IS os. 1, 2, 3, 159 (Poems, 1873, p. 453), 209 (1873, p. 288), 299, 324 (1873, p. 323), 357, 402, 554, 555, 558, 569 (1873, p. 334). These are from his Masque of Mary 1858. Nos. 156, 207 (1873, p. 296), 208 (1873, p. 297), 518. These are from his May Pageant, 1865. As several of these hymns do not begin with the original first lines, the original texts are indicated as found in his Poems, 1873. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
Edward Caswall

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