" Old English Anthem ", also known as " Woad " or " The Woad Ode ", is a funny song, set to the song " Men of Harlech ". It first became popular in the 1920s as a song in the British Boy Scouts and appeared on The Hackney Scout Song Book (Stacy & Son Ltd, 1921). The author is William Hope-Jones, a housewife at Eton, who wrote it sometime before 1914, when she sang it at a dinner on campus at the time. "Hoa Jo" appears in the ghost story of M. R. James the Good Wailing (1928), in which a group of masters takes the Eton Scout Force on an ill-fated camping expedition. This song tells the ancient tradition of England against naked, dyed with woad. It is also known as "The Woad Song" and "Woad of Harlech".
Video National Anthem of the Ancient Britons
Lyrics
- 1.
- What's the use of braces,
- Vests and pants and boots with straps,
- Spats or hats you buy in place
- Get off at Brompton Road?
- What's the use of cotton clothes,
- Unforgettable buttons?
- These affairs are really rotten:
- Much better is woad.
- Woad is the stuff to display, man.
- Woad to scare your foemen:
- Boil into brilliant hue
- And rub it on your back and stomach.
- Old English has never hit
- Anything as good as woad to fit in
- Neck, or knee, or where you sit.
- Tailor, you will be blown up.
- 2.
- Rome finds Channel
- All wrapped in tin and flannel:
- Half pint of woad per man will
- Dress us up more than this.
- Saxon, you can squander your sutures
- Build bed for bugs in britches:
- We have a woad for our clothes, which
- Not a nest of lice.
- Rome keeps your armor;
- Saxon your pajamas:
- The hairy coat is meant for goats,
- Gorillas, yak, dog retrievers and llamas.
- Tramp up Snowdon with our woad at:
- It does not matter if we get rain or blow up.
- Never wanted a button to be patched.
- Come on, Ancient B's.
Maps National Anthem of the Ancient Britons
Variant
The last line variation includes: "Go, Ancient English", "If you stay on Woad", "Take it to woad", "W - O - A - D", "Good for us today", "Be Ancient Brits" , "Woad to us today!" And "Bollocks to the breeze!"
The song appeared in the YHA Songbook of the Youth Hostels Association in the early 1970s. This version of the song appears in the 2009 novel Skin Overcoat by the English writer Skee Morif.
Published Version
- Hackney Scout Songs (Stacy & Son Ltd, ten editions, 1921 to 1972).
- Dick and Beth Best The New Song Fest . Intercollegiate Outing Club Association, 1961. Probably in 1948 and 1955 also editions.
- Anthony Hopkins Songs from Front and Back: Canadian Servicemen Songs on the Second World War . 1979 ISBNÃ, 0-88830-171-5
- Skee Morif Skin Overcoat . ISBN 2009 0-9552841-2-0
Recordings
- Joe Hickerson with Gathering of Friends Folk Legacy 2002
- Oak, Ash & amp; Thorn Sow Wild Oats & amp; Exit on Agency Members
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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