[3] Known as Dora, she was the daughter of Frederick George Blomfield, Rector of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London.
[6] "A shy, devout girl with an inner passion for nature and began writing short poems at an early age.
[9] Gurney's Poems (London: Country Life, 1913) include "In God's Garden", "Moon Spell (or Dolly)" in 1882; "Shearing Day", "To the Immortals" and "Waggon Bells" in 1883; " Grandpapa's Wooing" in 1885; "Daffodil Time" in 1886; "Love's Service" in 1888; "When the gorse is all in blossom" in 1889; "Down here the lilacs fade" in 1893; and "North Country Songs" with Strang and Hadley in 1894.
[10] The tune in question was "Strength and Stay", composed in 1875 by John Bacchus Dykes.
The words were subsequently set as an anthem, by Joseph Barnby, for the 1889 wedding of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and Louise, Princess Royal.