"Ride On, Ride On in Majesty!", also titled "Ride On! Ride On in Majesty", is a Christian hymn written by

Henry Hart Milman Henry Hart Milman (10 February 1791 – 24 September 1868) was an English historian and ecclesiastic. Life He was born in London, the third son of Sir Francis Milman, 1st Baronet, physician to King George III (see Milman Baronets). Educa ...

in 1820. It is a

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

hymn and refers to

Matthew 21 Matthew 21 is the twenty-first chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. Jesus triumphally or majestically arrives in Jerusalem and commences his final ministry before his Passion. Structure The nar ...

:1–17 and Jesus'

triumphal entry into Jerusalem The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is a narrative in the four canonical Gospels describing the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem a few days before his crucifixion. This event is celebrated each year by Christians on Palm Sunday. According to the ...

History

While Milman wrote "Ride On, Ride On in Majesty!" in 1820, it was not published in a hymn book until 1827 when it was published in Bishop

Reginald Heber Reginald Heber (21 April 1783 – 3 April 1826) was an English Anglicanism, Anglican bishop, a man of letters, and hymn-writer. After 16 years as a country parson, he served as Anglican Diocese of Calcutta, Bishop of Calcutta until his de ...

's ''Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year''. This is reported to only have happened after Milman met Heber in 1823 before Heber became Bishop of Calcutta. It was described by composer Stanley L. Osbourne as "Objective, robust, confident, and stirring, it possesses that peculiar combination of tragedy and victory which draws the singer into the very centre of the drama. It is this which gives the hymn its power and its challenge". The hymn proved popular: in 1907, John Julian, in his ''Dictionary of Hymnology'', stated it was the most popular Palm Sunday hymn in the English language at that time. The hymn is viewed to be full of

dramatic irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modern times irony has also come t ...

. The third line of the first verse "Thine humble beast pursues his road" has been disliked by some hymn book editors. In 1852 it was changed to "O Saviour meek, pursue Thy road" and in 1855 to "With joyous throngs pursue Thy road". Some hymn books have omitted the first verse. The unaltered original text, however appears in later collections such as the 1906

English Hymnal ''The English Hymnal'' is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and wa ...

, and in some modern hymnals. The hymn is used as a

processional hymn A processional hymn, opening hymn, or gathering hymn is a chant, hymn or other music sung during the Procession, usually at the start of a Christian service, although occasionally during the service itself. The procession usually contains members ...

during Palm Sunday.

Tune

The hymn is sung to a variety of tunes—the database at Hymnary.org show
39 tunes
paired with it—including ''St Drostane'' by

John Bacchus Dykes John Bacchus Dykes (10 March 1823 – 22 January 1876) was an English clergyman and hymnwriter. Early life He was born in Hull, England, the fifth child and third son of William Hey Dikes or Dykes, a ship builder, and Elizabeth, daughter of ...

, and ''Winchester New''. The last of these is frequently employed in the United Kingdom. It first appears in ''Musikalisches Handbuch der geistlichen Melodien'' (Hamburg, 1690), and was reworked into a long-meter setting by

William Henry Havergal William Henry Havergal (18 January 1793 – 19 April 1870) was an Anglican clergyman, writer, composer and hymnwriter, and a publisher of sermons and pamphlets. He was the father of the hymn-writer and poet Frances Ridley Havergal and the clergym ...

in an 1864 publication, ''Old Church Psalmody''. Named after the county seat of Hampshire, it is appended with "new" to distinguish it from ''Winchester Old'', which is most commonly sung as the Christmas hymn " While shepherds watched their flocks by night". << << \new Staff %%\new Lyrics \lyricsmode \new Staff >> >> \layout \midi

References

{{reflist English Christian hymns Palm Sunday hymns 1820 songs 19th-century hymns Hymns in The English Hymnal Hymns in The New English Hymnal