Edward Caswall (1814-1878) was an Anglican clergyman who later converted to Catholicism. Part of his duties as a Catholic priest included writing translations of various Latin texts to be read, and sometimes sung, by the congregation. He soon began writing his own hymns and poems, including “When Morning Gilds the Skies”, “Sleep, Holy Babe”, and “Come, Holy Ghost”. In 1858, while preparing for the upcoming Christmas Eve service, he wrote an original poem titled “See, Amid the Winter’s Snow”. He used the concept of snow as a message of purity against the sins of the world.

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This month’s tab is an arrangement of the hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King”. The original text was written circa 1225 by the Italian friar Francis of Assisi as part of his Canticle of the Sun poem. Nearly 700 years later, English pastor and hymnist William Draper translated the words and adapted them into a hymn intended to be sung by a children’s choir.

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This month’s tab is an arrangement of the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer”. The text was written in 1745 by the Welsh hymnist and evangelist William Williams of Pantycelyn. At the age of 20, while studying to become a doctor, he attended a revival meeting led by the Methodist evangelist Howell Harris. Williams was so moved that he abandoned medical school and started to prepare for life as an itinerant preacher. Taking all of Wales as his parish, for forty-three years he traveled almost 100,000 miles on horseback, preaching and singing the gospel in the Welsh language.

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