When a Knight Won His Spurs is a children's hymn written by Jan Struther and set to a folk melody (Stowey) and harmonised by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

[5] The lyrics in their original form are:[6] When a knight won his spurs, in the stories of old, He was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand, For God and for valour he rode through the land.

No charger have I, and no sword by my side, Yet still to adventure and battle I ride, Though back into storyland giants have fled, And the knights are no more and the dragons are dead.

Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed 'Gainst the dragons of anger, the ogres of greed; And let me set free with the sword of my youth, From the castle of darkness, the power of the truth.

[7] The poem is about the hymn being sung by the school in an assembly, with constant interruption from the headmaster as a few children are misbehaving.