Brooke, Stopford Augustus, M.A., was born at Letterkenny, Donegal, Nov. 14, 1832, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, graduating B.A. 1856; M.A. 1858. He carried off the Downes prize and the Vice-Chancellor's prize for English verse. On taking Holy Orders he was successively Curate of St. Matthew's, Marylebone, 1857-59; of Kensington, 1860-63; Chaplain to the British Embassy at Berlin, 1863-65; Minister of St. James's Chapel, York Street, London, 1866-75; and of Bedford Chapel, 1876. He was also appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen, in 1872. In 1865 he published the Life and Letters of the late F. W. Robertson; in 1874, Theology in the English Poets; in 1876, Primer of English Literature, &c. On seceding from the Church of Engla… Go to person page >
Arm, soldiers of the Lord. S. A. Brooke. [The whole Armour of God.] Appeared in his Christian Hymns, 1891, No. 344, and in The Public School Hymn Book, 1903. It was evidently suggested by C. Wesley's hymn on the same subject, "Soldiers of Christ, arise," p. 1066, i.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
Composed for Bridges's text by George J. Elvey (PHH 48), DIADEMATA was first published in the 1868 Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern. Since that publication, the tune has retained its association with this text. The name DIADEMATA is derived from the Greek word for "crowns."
The tune is lively an…