Horatius Bonar was a Church of Scotland Minister based in Edinburgh ( He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly in 1883). He wrote "Only Remembered" in 1870. The original version has only three verses. The last verse "Who'll sing the anthem..." was added by others for their own reasons. The song has absolutely nothing to do with ship building, trades unions or the First World War.

It has been sung in various modified forms covering different periods (1815 [Sharpe's Justice]; 1914-1918 [War Horse]; 1960s [The Ship])