Twas in the Moon of Wintertime

Author (English Text): Jesse Edgar Middleton

Middleton, Jesse Edgar. (Wellington County, Ontario, November 3, 1872--May 27, 1960, Toronto, Ont.). United Church. Although he trained as a teacher, he turned to journalism in 1895. After learning his new trade, he became the Montreal Herald's correspondent in Quebec, and was there when Ernest Myrand brough out Noels anciens de la Nouvelle-France (1899), containing a French version of the carol which Father Brebeuf, S.J., had written in 1641 for the Huron, whose descendents had handed it on by oral tradition. He then came to Toronto as a special writer for The Mail and Empire, and from 1942 onward, for Saturday Night as well; meanwhile, he served Centennial Church as choirmaster for about 40 years. With all this, he managed to produce s… Go to person page >

Author (Huron): St. Jean de Brébeuf

Jean de Brébeuf, Jesuit missionary, born at Condé-sur-Vire in Normandy, 25 March, 1593; died in Canada, near Georgian Bay, 16 March, 1649. His desire was to become a lay brother, but he finally entered the Society of Jesus as a scholastic, 8 November, 1617. According to Ragueneau it was 5 October. Though of unusual physical strength, his health gave way completely when he was twenty-eight, which interfered with his studies and permitted only what was strictly necessary, so that he never acquired any extensive theological knowledge. On 19 June, 1625, he arrived in Quebec, with the Recollect, Joseph de la Roche d' Aillon, and in spite of the threat which the Calvinist captain of the ship made to carry him back to France, he remained in the… Go to person page >