Gerard Moultrie
Church of England
Biography
Gerard Moultrie was an English Anglican priest, schoolmaster, devotional writer, hymn translator, and hymnal editor. Born at Rugby Rectory on September 16, 1829, he was the eldest son of the poet and clergyman John Moultrie. He was educated at Rugby School and Exeter College, Oxford, taking his B.A. in the early 1850s and his M.A. in 1856. After ordination he combined education and parish ministry, serving at Shrewsbury School and in several chaplaincies and curacies before becoming incumbent of Barrow Gurney in 1864, vicar of Southleigh in 1869, and warden of St. James's College, Southleigh, in 1873.
Moultrie's literary work reflects the nineteenth-century Anglican recovery of ancient Christian hymnody and liturgy. He wrote original hymns and produced English verse from Greek, Latin, and German sources. His publications included The Primer Set Forth at Large for the Use of the Faithful, Hymns and Lyrics for the Seasons and Saints' Days of the Church, The Devout Communicant, The Espousals of S. Dorothea and Other Verses, and Cantica Sanctorum. He was also associated with the 1867 People's Hymnal, which contained a substantial number of his pieces.
His most enduring hymnological contribution is his 1864 versification of a Communion text from the Liturgy of St. James. Moultrie worked from the prose English form published in J. M. Neale's 1859 edition of ancient liturgies, shaping it into four stanzas in 8.7.8.7.8.7 meter. The result later entered broad ecumenical use when paired with PICARDY. Moultrie died at Southleigh in April 1885.
Moultrie's literary work reflects the nineteenth-century Anglican recovery of ancient Christian hymnody and liturgy. He wrote original hymns and produced English verse from Greek, Latin, and German sources. His publications included The Primer Set Forth at Large for the Use of the Faithful, Hymns and Lyrics for the Seasons and Saints' Days of the Church, The Devout Communicant, The Espousals of S. Dorothea and Other Verses, and Cantica Sanctorum. He was also associated with the 1867 People's Hymnal, which contained a substantial number of his pieces.
His most enduring hymnological contribution is his 1864 versification of a Communion text from the Liturgy of St. James. Moultrie worked from the prose English form published in J. M. Neale's 1859 edition of ancient liturgies, shaping it into four stanzas in 8.7.8.7.8.7 meter. The result later entered broad ecumenical use when paired with PICARDY. Moultrie died at Southleigh in April 1885.
Hymns by Gerard Moultrie
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Role: Lyricist