Henry Newbolt's poem Vitai Lampada - better known to most by its rousing chorus "play up, play up and play the game!"- seems at first sight to be a product solely of its time and place: he wrote it at the end of the 19th century and it features cricket, war and a public school ethos about sport and leadership. However, as Peggy Reynolds unpacks the poem and talks to people who still know it, some surprises emerge. Show less