A. Cyril Barham-Gould (b. England, 1891; d. Turnbridge Wells, Kent, England, 1953) composed ST. LEONARDS for Wilkinson's text while living at St. Leonards-on-Sea, England; it was published as the setting for that text in Golden Bells. The St. Leonard for whom St. Leonards-on-Sea is named and to whom the tune title indirectly refers is the fifth-century French bishop Leonard of Limosin, the patron saint for pregnant women and prisoners of war. Barham-Gould was educated at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1928. He worked in several churches in and near London and served as vicar of St. Paul's, Onslow Square, from 1936 until his death in 1953.

Sing ST. LEONARDS in two long lines. The first four stanzas can be sung antiphonally by groups within the congregation, but stanza 5 is for everyone together. Reserve the descant, by Emily R. Brink (PHH 158), 1986, and unison singing for stanza 5.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook