Trotting, trotting through Jerusalem

Trotting, trotting through Jerusalem. Eric James Reid* (1936-1970). Written during the Scottish Churches' Music Consultation, of which Reid was a member, and first published in Dunblane Praises No 2 (1967). Its natural, conversational retelling of the Palm Sunday story has particularly recommended it to the children for whom it was intended, as has the appealing setting, also by Reid, which captures the sound and onward movement of the donkey that carried Jesus into the city. Each verse ends with the refrain, ‘Happy is he that comes in the name of the Lord!’ in which the music cleverly moves to focus on the crowd before returning to the regular hoof beat of the donkey, giving the hymn a...