When a Knight Won His Spurs is a children's hymn written by Jan Struther and set to a folk melody (Stowey) and harmonised by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The hymn first appeared in Songs of Praise in 1931.
The tune was collected from Mr Robert Dibble of Bridgwater, Somerset (30 miles from Stowey) on the 15th of August 1905 by Cecil Sharp. The title of the song collected from Mr Dibble was given as âÂÂSweet Europeâ by Sharp, with the first line âÂÂAs I walked out one morning in Springâ (CJS2/10/555).
The hymn is sometimes performed by folk singers on account of the folk origins of its tune, notably by Martin Simpson during Prom 5 (Folk day - part 2) in the BBC Proms on July 20, 2008.
An up tempo version can be found on Blyth Power's 1990 album Alnwick and Tyne.
The lyrics in their original form are:
Libera (2004), Free, EMI Classics cat. no. 57823. Emilia Dalby (2009) "Emilia" Signum Classics cat no. SIGCD 141
This hymn was used as part of the poem entitled "Headmaster's Hymn" by Alan Ahlberg in his book entitled Please Mrs Butler. The poem is about the hymn being sung by the school in an assembly, with constant interruption from the headmaster as a few children are misbehaving.
Signum Records SIGCD141 2009