The Woad Ode
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Woad Ode" Woad |
|
 |
|
| Written by | William Hope-Jones |
|---|---|
| Music by | Men of Harlech |
| Lyrics by | William Hope-Jones |
| Published | 1921, The Hackney Scout Songbook |
| Language | English |
| Recorded by | Joe Hickerson |
The Woad Ode is a humorous song, set to the tune of Men of Harlech. It recounts the ancient British tradition of fighting naked in woad dye, but is not intended as a history lesson. It first became popular in 1920s as a song in the English Boy Scouts.[1] The author was William Hope-Jones, a housemaster at Eton,[2] who wrote it some time before 1914, as he sang it at a College dinner at that time. "Ho Jo" appears in the M.R. James' ghost story Wailing Well (1928), in which a group of masters take the Eton Scout Troop on an ill-fated camping expedition.
- 1.
- What's the use of wearing braces?
- Spats and hats and boots with laces?
- Vests and pants you buy in places
- Down on Brompton Road?
- What's the use of shirts of cotton?
- Studs that always get forgotten?
- These affairs are simply rotten,
- Better far is woad.
- Woad's the stuff to show men.
- Woad to scare your foemen.
- Boil it to a brilliant hue
- And rub it on your back and your abdomen.
- Ancient Briton ne'er did hit on
- Anything as good as woad to fit on
- Neck or knees or where you sit on.
- Tailors you be blowed!!
- 2.
- Romans came across the channel
- All dressed up in tin and flannel
- Half a pint of woad per man'll
- Clothe us more than these.
- Saxons you can waste your stitches
- Building beds for bugs in britches
- We have woad to clothe us which is
- Not a nest for fleas
- Romans keep your armours.
- Saxons your pyjamas.
- Hairy coats were made for goats,
- Gorillas, yaks, retriever dogs and llamas.
- March on Snowdon with your woad on,
- Never mind if you get rained or snowed on
- Never want a button sewed on.
- Go it Ancient Bs!!
The original last line appears to have been "If you stick to Woad". Other last-line variations: "Bottoms up to woad", "W - O - A - D", "Good for us today". Go it Ancient Brit
This song is also known as Woad, The Woad Song and Woad of Harlech. A filk parody version is Code. Lament of the Ancient Brit
[edit] References
- ^ "Our Pictish Heritage". 2004-12-11. http://www.rook.org/heritage/celt/pict.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
- ^ "National Anthem of the Ancient Britons". UK Commentators. 2007-04-27. http://ukcommentators.blogspot.com/2007/04/national-anthem-of-ancient-britons.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
[edit] Published Versions
- Anthony Hopkins. Songs from the Rear: Canadian Servicemen's Songs of the Second World War. 1979 ISBN 0888301715
[edit] Recordings
- Joe Hickerson with a Gathering of Friends Folk Legacy 2002
