Jerusalem, my happy home

Jerusalem, my happy home. Author unknown, ca. 1580. This hymn exists in many versions, most of which come from two sources: British Library Add. MS 15, 225. This is a text of 26 4-line verses, described as ‘A Song Mad (i.e. ‘made’) by F:B:P.’. The initials may have referred to a Roman Catholic priest (the ‘P’ standing for ‘Pater’) persecuted and perhaps imprisoned during the reign of Elizabeth I. For various theories, see ‘F.B.P.’*. A poem entitled ‘Hymn on the New Jerusalem’, by ‘W. P.’, printed in The Glasse of vaine-glorie: faithfully translated (out of S. Augustine his booke, intituled Speculum peccatoris) into English by W.P. (1585). ‘W.P.’ is believed to have been William Prid,...