Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

The School Song

Editions of Ludemus from the early years of the 20th century showcase a number of poems set to familiar music that celebrate the young country of Canada and Havergal’s place in it. The following verse was sung to the tune of “The Boys of the Old Brigade,” an Irish Republican folk song: We come from the land where the north winds flee  O’er sheets of dazzling snow; We come from the prairies vast and free,  Where myriad flowers blow; Forth from the forests, dark and grim,  From valleys green and fair, From over lake, and sea-marge dim  To seek out knowledge here. However, the 1920s saw the introduction of a song that epitomizes the qualities evoked by the school’s motto. As explained in Girls on the Homefront: A Toronto Girls’ School 1894-1945, the school’s Virtual Museum project: The school song, written in 1924 by Toronto composer Sir Ernest MacMillan, is entitled “Vitai Lampada Tradens.” The words were written by Dr. C.V. Pilcher … It is, of course, no coincidence that the … motto and … song are highly evocative of themes coming out of World War I. Although Toronto and Canada and the larger world are very different from what they were in the 1920s, students and Old Girls demonstrate over and over again how well they understand the value of deep commitment to worthy endeavours, the exhilaration of achievement and the powerful bonds of friendship.

Students singing at Harvest Festival.

The School Hymn

For Havergal’s first 25 years, the school hymn was “Oh, God, Our Help in Ages Past,” a time-honoured song that paraphrases Psalm 90. However, in 1919, a new song was introduced. “Until the Hills” was written by John D. S. Campbell, a member of Parliament and a Governor General of Canada, and it first appeared in 1877. It takes Psalm 121 as its inspiration and emphasizes the comfort religious devotion can bring. Each year the song is sung at August occasions like the first Prayers of the school year, Founders Day and Graduation to remind the school community of the Anglican roots of the Havergal tree and to link a distant past to a vital present.

Unto the Hills Junior School Harvest Festival, 2013

68  HAVERGAL COLLEGE