Jane Borthwick
1855–1897 · Scotland · Romantic
Scottish translator of German hymns, co-author with her sister of Hymns from the Land of Luther; translator of 'Be Still, My Soul'.
Life
Jane Laurie Borthwick was born in Edinburgh in 1813, daughter of an insurance manager, and with her family belonged to the Free Church of Scotland after 1843. During a stay in Switzerland her interest in German hymns was awakened. With her sister Sarah Findlater she published Hymns from the Land of Luther (four series from 1854) under the initials 'H. L. L.'. She was a generous supporter of home and foreign missions. She died in Edinburgh in 1897.
As a Hymn Writer
Borthwick's translations are freer than Winkworth's but warm and graceful. Her best known is 'Be Still, My Soul', from Katharina von Schlegel; her original hymn 'Come, Labor On' is a call to work in the harvest. Like Winkworth and Frances Cox she helped make German Lutheran and Pietist hymnody part of English-speaking worship.
In The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Service Book (4)
- Halleluia! Jesus Lives!
- Jesus, Lead Thou On
- My Jesus, As Thou Wilt
- Be Still, My Soul
Sources: Wikipedia, 'Jane Laurie Borthwick'.