National Anthem of the Ancient Britons

"National Anthem of the Ancient Britons"
Woad
The Woad plant
Song
Published	1921, The Hackney Scout Songbook
Writer	William Hope-Jones
Composer	Men of Harlech
Lyricist	William Hope-Jones
Language	English
Recorded by	Joe Hickerson

National Anthem of the Ancient Britons, also known as Woad, is a humorous song, set to the tune of "Men of Harlech." It refers to the ancient British tradition of fighting naked in woad dye.

It first became popular in the 1920s as a song in the British Boy Scouts^[1] and appeared in The Hackney Scout Song Book (Stacy & Son Ltd, 1921). The author was William Hope-Jones, a housemaster at Eton,^[2] who wrote it some time before 1914. He sang it at a College dinner that year. "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.

This song is also known as Woad, The Woad Song, the Woad Ode and Woad of Harlech.

Lyrics

1.

What's the good of wearing braces,

Vests and pants and boots with laces,

Spats or hats you buy in places

Down in 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 never 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 wrapped up in tin and flannel:

Half a pint of woad per man'll

Dress us more than these.

Saxon, you can waste your stitches

Building beds for bugs in breeches:

We have woad to clothe us, which is

Not a nest for fleas.

Romans keep your armours;

Saxons your pyjamas:

Hairy coats were meant for goats,

Gorillas, yaks, retriever dogs and llamas.

Tramp up Snowdon with our woad on:

Never mind if we get rained or blowed on.

Never want a button sewed on.

Go it, Ancient B's.

Published Versions

• The Hackney Scout Song Book (Stacy & Son Ltd, ten editions; 1921 to 1972).
• Dick and Beth Best The New Song Fest. Intercollegiate Outing Club Association, 1961. May be in 1948 and 1955 editions also.
• Anthony Hopkins Songs from the Rear: Canadian Servicemen's Songs of the Second World War. 1979 ISBN 0-88830-171-5

It appeared in a YHA Songbook from the Youth Hostels Association in the early 1970s. A version of the song appears in the 2009 novel Skin Overcoat by British author Skee Morif.

Recordings

• Joe Hickerson with a Gathering of Friends Folk Legacy 2002
• Oak Ash & Thorn Sowing Wild Oats & Out On a Limb^[3]

References