Introduction

Biography

Edward was the son of Ro­bert Clarke Cas­wall (per­pe­tu­al cur­ate of Yate­ley, and lat­er vi­car of West Lav­ing­ton, Wilt­shire). His mo­ther was a niece of Tho­mas Bur­gess, Bi­shop of St. Da­vid and lat­er of Sal­is­bu­ry.

Caswall at­tend­ed Chig­well Gram­mar School in Es­sex; Marl­bo­rough School; and Brase­nose Col­lege, Ox­ford (gra­du­at­ed with hon­ors, 1836).

Before leav­ing Ox­ford, he pub­lished, un­der the pseu­do­nym of Scrib­ler­us Re­di­vi­vus, The Art of Pluck, in imi­ta­tion of Ar­is­to­tle, a sa­tire on the ways of the care­less col­lege stu­dent.

In 1838, Cas­wall was or­dained a dea­con, and 1839 an Ang­li­can priest. In 1840, he be­came per­pe­tu­al cur­ate at Strat­ford-sub-Cas­tle near Sal­is­bu­ry.

By 1847, he had switched to Ro­man Ca­tho­li­cism and went to the Ora­to­ry of St. Phil­ip Ne­ri at Edg­bas­ton, where he did most of his hymn work.

Caswall is best re­mem­bered as a trans­lat­or of an­cient hymns, though he al­so wrote orig­in­al lyr­ics.

Works

• Sketches of Young La­dies
• Morals from the Church Yard, 1838
• Sermons on the Seen and the Un­seen, 1846
• The Child’s Ma­nu­al
• Lyra Ca­tho­li­ca, 1849
• Hours at the Al­tar, 1855
• Verba Ver­bi; or, The Words of Je­sus, 1855
• The Masque of Ma­ry, and Oth­er Po­ems, 1858
• Confraternity Ma­nu­al of the Most Pre­cious Blood, 1861
• Love for the Ho­ly Church, 1862
• A May Pa­geant and Oth­er Po­ems, 1865
• The Ca­tho­lic’s La­tin In­struct­or in the Prin­ci­pal Church Of­fices and De­vo­tions