[1562 English Psalter] [1564 Scottish Psalter] [All Psalters] [Library]

Authors of the Early
English and Scottish Psalters

[Table of Psalms done by each author]

Thomas Sternhold

Attended Oxford, but did not graduate. He became the "Groom of the Robes" of Henry VIII, and retained this office under Edward VI. Sternhold first began his work on the Psalms for his own "Godly Solace" and is said to have sung them while accompanying himself on the organ. Apparently the young Edward VI heard them and asked for them to be repeated in his presence. Edward later provided patronage for Sternhold to work on his Psalms.
Sternhold composed his Psalms to be sung as ballads, which he hoped would replace the "amorous and obscene" songs commonly sung by the courtiers. Sternhold died in 1549.

John Hopkins

A clergyman and schoolmaster in Suffolk who apparently became Editor of Sternhold's psalter after Sternhold's death. He published a version of the Psalter shortly after Sternhold's death. His name is mentioned as having been one of the exiles during Queen Mary's reign, but his place of exile is unknown, but he re-appeared after the exile and in 1560 he brought a large number of Psalms to Daye's edition of 1560-1561.
Hopkins contributed 60 Psalms to the 1562 Psalter, which is more than any other contributor by a considerable margin. All of his Psalms are in Common Metre, like Sternhold's, but they differ in that Sternhold only rhymed the second and fourth lines of his verses, while Hopkins would rhyme both the first and third and the second and fourth lines.

William Whittingham

Graduated from Oxford in 1545. One of the exiles who fled to Frankfurt, then Geneva during the reign of Mary. Married John Calvin's sister and succeeded Knox as pastor of the Geneva English congregation. He played a major role in the Geneva Bible translation, and was one of those who remained behind to work on the project after the rest of the exiles returned to England. He contributed 12 of the Psalms in the English Psalter, and 16 to the 1564 Scottish Psalter. His Psalm 51 is the first long metre contribution to the Psalters.

John Pullain

Another Oxford student, he was one of the Genevan exiles along with Whittingham and Kethe. He only contributed two Psalms, 148 and 149 (which appears only in the Scottish Psalter). His Psalm 148 was in an unusual metre (6666 4444) that has remained associated with this Psalm ever since, and has also been the basis for several other well known and loved works. (Wesley's "Rejoice, the Lord is King," for example.)

Robert Wisdome

Graduated from Cambridge. He was frequently in and out of trouble for speaking out against Romish doctrines. He is known to have turned some of the Psalms into verse around 1549, but it is not known if the two Psalms of his (67 and 125) that were published in the English Psalter in 1560 were from this time. His versions were dropped in later editions and were not included in the complete Psalters published in England in 1562 and Scotland in 1564.
Our copy of the English Psalter contains a second version of Psalm 125 that is marked "W.W." but since we cannot find any indication that Whittingham ever contributed a Psalm 125, we suspect that this second version may be by Wisdome.

William Kethe

Is often spoken of as a native of Scotland, but this has never been firmly established. Julian (Dictionary of Hymnology) sites two sources who speak of him as a Scotsman. Nothing is known about him before he is mentioned in contemporary accounts of the exiles during Mary's reign, where he is mentioned as being in exile at Frankfurt in 1555 and Geneva in 1557. MacMeeken tells us that he served as Chaplain to the forces under the Earl of Warwick in 1563 and 1569, and that he was probably among those who remained behind with the other exiles to finish the Bible translation and Psalms, and that it would appear that he was mostly engaged in translating the Psalms.
He contributed twenty five psalms to the 1561 English Psalters, but only ten of these were retained in the 1562 English Psalter, while the 1564 Scottish Psalter retained all 25. His Psalm 100 (All People That on Earth Do Dwell) is almost universally known, and his Psalm 104 is considered the best effort to utilize the French metres in English Psalms. Unfortunately, most of his other versions are also translations from French, which rarely turned out well for either Kethe or any others who attempted the feat.

Robert Pont

Native of Culross, Perthshire. Entered College at St. Andrews in 1543. He was a member of the first General Assembly in 1560. He served the church as Commissioner of the Diocease of Moray, Provost of Trinity College and as Minister of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. He also served for some time as a Senator in the College of Justice, but left the seat when an act was passed prohibiting "all persons exercising functions of ministrie within the Kirk of God, to bear or exercise any office of civil jurisdiction."

John Craig

Contributed one Psalm (136) to the English Psalter of 1562, but has several contributions in the 1564 Scottish Psalter.
Was Minister of Holyrood House, and of the King's Household. He was originally a monk of the order of St. Dominic at Bologna, Italy. After he embraced the Protestant faith he narrowly escaped martyrdom. He died on December 4, 1600 at the age of 88.

Thomas Norton

Born in London c.1532, died 1583 or 1584 in Bedfordshire. He was a barrister by profession, but was also called a "forward and busy Calvinist." He was joint-author with the Earl of Sackville, the first blank verse tragedy in the English language, a work that established a pattern that was used even by Shakespeare. He was also the first to translate Calvin's "Institutes of Religion" into English. He contributed 26 of the new Psalms that appeared in the 1562 English Psalter, eight of which also appear in the 1564 Scottish Psalter.

John Markant

A minister in Clacton Magna and Shopland. He contributed 4 Psalms (118, 131, 132, 135) to the 1562 English Psalter, one of which (135) was retained in the 1564 Scottish Psalter.