The hymn celebrates the Battle of Preston (1648), which ended with a victory of the Parliamentarians under the command of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots led by the Duke of Hamilton during the Second English Civil War. It is noted in what seems a calligraphic hand of Sir William Dugdale (1605-1686), an antiquary, herald and Royalist. For further details of Dugdale's life and work see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The title uses the Middle English version of the word 'hymn', ‘ympne’. Although the hymn was clearly recorded for historical reasons, its brief introduction betrays Dugdale's sentiments towards the composer John Roe, whose identity is not easy to ascertain. It could be the John Roe recorded as a pupil of Thomas Dugard, the Master of Warwick School, preaching when on vacation from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in December 1638 and 1639; the chaplain to the parliamentary garrison under Colonel George Fenwich at Tynemouth Castle, near Newcastle in 1649 or another.