Fascinating! I had no idea!

I sang this song in the Great Hall at Highgate School when I was a senior there in about 1960/61. It was a part of a sketch performed by a small group of us one evening in front of all the school and parents, in turn part of a "fun" evening of such sketches - very rare at Highgate!
I had always thought that it was written specially for that evening by a fellow pupil called Presland. Indeed, Presland positively encouraged all of us to believe that he had written it himself.
Now we know!!