225 Onward, Christian Soldiers
S. Baring-Gould, 1834-1924
A hymn of the Christian warfare, written by a Church of England clergyman for a children’s processional, but now having a much wider use. The author gave the following account of the writing of the hymn:
Whitmonday is a great day for school festivals in Yorkshire. One Whitmonday, thirty years ago, it was arranged that our school should join forces with a neighboring village. I wanted the children to sing when marching from one village to another; so I sat up at night, resolved that I would write something myself. “Onward, Christian soldiers” was the result. It was written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty. Certainly nothing has surprised me more than its popularity.
An omitted stanza reads:
What the saints established,
That I hold for true;
What the saints believed,
That believe I too.
Long as earth endureth
Men that faith will hold,
Kingdoms, nations, empires
In destruction rolled.
For comments on the author, S. Baring-Gould, see Hymn 29.
MUSIC. ST. GERTRUDE was written for these words by Sir Arthur Sullivan and dedicated to Mrs. Gertrude Clay-Ker-Seymer, in whose house the composer often stayed. The hymn derived a great part of its popularity from its use with this stirring tune.
For comments on Sullivan see Hymn 113.