| To Be a Pilgrim | |
|---|---|
 John Bunyan | |
| Genre | Hymn |
| Written | 1684 |
| Text | John Bunyan |
| Based on | Hebrews 11:13 |
| Meter | 6.5.6.5.6.6.6.5 |
| Melody | "St. Dunstans" by Winfred Douglas, "Moab" by John Roberts, "Monk's Gate" by Ralph Vaughan Williams |
"To Be a Pilgrim", also known as "He Who Would Valiant Be", is an English Christian hymn using words of John Bunyan in The Pilgrim's Progress, first appearing in Part 2 of The Pilgrim's Progress, written in 1684.
The words were modified extensively by Percy Dearmer for the 1906 The English Hymnal.[1] At the same time it was given a new tune by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, who used a melody taken from the traditional song "Our Captain Cried All Hands" which he collected in the hamlet of Monk's Gate in West Sussex – hence the name of "Monks Gate" by which the melody is referred to in hymn books.[2]
The hymn has also been sung to the melody "Moab" (John Roberts, 1870) and "St Dunstans" (Charles W. Douglas, 1917).
For a time, Bunyan's original version was not commonly sung in churches, perhaps because of the references to "hobgoblin" and "foul fiend." However, one commentator has said: "Bunyan's burly song strikes a new and welcome note in our Hymnal. The quaint sincerity of the words stirs us out of our easygoing dull Christianity to the thrill of great adventure."[3] Recent hymn books have tended to return to the original, for example, the Church of England's Common Praise and the Church of Scotland's Church Hymnary 4th Edition (Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise).
- ^ The English Hymnal, London: Oxford University Press, 1906
- ^ "Our Captain Cried All Hands / Fountains Flowing". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music.
- ^ The Hymnal 1940 Companion, New York: The Church Pension Fund, 1949, p. 331.