Bruce Blunt was an English poet, journalist and wine merchant best known for his collaborations with the composer Peter Warlock

Peter Warlock

Peter Warlock was a pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine , an Anglo-Welsh composer and music critic. He used the pseudonym when composing, and is now better known by this name....

. In Frederick Delius and Peter Warlock: a friendship revealed he is described as a "bon viveur

Bon viveur

A bon viveur is a person who enjoys the good things of life, especially food. The phrase is derived from the French bon vivant, meaning good living, a bon viveur being a "good liver", or one who lives well. The phrase is not derogatory but conveys a sense of overindulgence...

, poet, journalist, and writer on wine, gardening, and the turf

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

." His poetry is included in the 1932 anthology Modern Poets edited by J. C. Squire

J. C. Squire

Sir John Collings Squire was a British poet, writer, historian, and influential literary editor of the post-World War I period.- Biography :...

.

For Warlock he wrote a number of short song texts including the carol "Bethlehem Down

Bethlehem Down

Bethlehem Down is a choral anthem or carol composed in 1927 by Anglo-Welsh composer Peter Warlock and set to a poem written by journalist and poet Bruce Blunt . It is a popular anthem used in the Anglican church during the liturgical seasons of Christmastide and Epiphany...

" (1927) and the songs "The Fox", "The Frostbound Wood" (1929), "The First Mercy" and "The Cricketers of Hambledon" (1928). It has been commented that Warlock's settings of Blunt are amongst his finest. His poem "The Long Barrow" was also set by Bernard van Dieren

Bernard van Dieren

Bernard Hélène Joseph van Dieren was a Dutch composer, critic, author, and writer on music.Van Dieren was the last of five children of a Rotterdam wine merchant, Bernard Joseph van Dieren, and his second wife, Julie Françoise Adelle Labbé...

in 1931.