Sounding ChildhoodMain Menu30 Selections from the Top Ranking Hymns for ChildrenAlphabetical Index of Hymn TitlesScoresRecordingsTimelineCredits, 2015 Recording & WebsiteCredits, Permissions and CopyrightWorks CitedRehearsal VideosPart 2--Songs for School and PlayPart 3--Bands of Mercy SongsAlisa Clapp-ItnyreAlisa Clapp-Itnyre ea81b58f96dc50ac6f0312cb8dfd4bbc7d5bfddcSOUNDING VICTORIAN Project 2016
Lift aloft our banner (Band of Mercy)
12017-06-23T17:30:06+00:00Donal Hegartyd91ac6951fc09687a65f62d6a62eb9d3c37c260311Score from: Eddy, Sarah J. Songs of Happy Life for Schools, Homes, and Bands of Mercy. Providence, R.I.: Art and Nature Study Publ., 1897. Google Scholar. Web. 20 July 2012.plain2017-06-23T17:30:06+00:00Donal Hegartyd91ac6951fc09687a65f62d6a62eb9d3c37c2603
With a recognizable tune, the folk tune used for America's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862), “Lift aloft our banner” was another song from the Bands of Mercy movement, and even today it is enjoyable to march to it swinging a flag! Within this context, its tune evoked a militancy, not of fighting, but of collective unity to bring justice and kindness to the earth. The words by Rev. Thomas Timmins encourage singers to “join all nations, with peace, mercy, right, and love” (v. 2), to “protect the weak and helpless” (v. 2), and “Scatter freely seeds of kindness” (v. 3).
More discussion on this song can be found in Chapter 5, British Hymn Books for Children.
