More school songs

I remember Strawberry Fair. I think it may well have been a Singing Together song.

absent

My school's song was in Latin. It had several verses and began
"Mater nostra quae securus…". As first years didn't have Latin lessons, it was complete gibberish to me. We still had to learn it word for word.

Ours was in Latin as well

But then we found out it was used as a drinking song in The Student Prince so we enjoyed it much more 😁

HelterSkelter1

I loved Mairi's Wedding.
Blow the Wind Southerly
And the one which begins
Jacky Boy, Master,
Sing thee Well
Very well. Which was sung on an episode of Larkrise when they were harvestin.g

I've just rewatched that episode of Larkrise to Candleford, lovely rousing song called The Keeper and the Doe.

"Hey down, ho down, derry derry down..."

In another episode the villagers sang
The Postman's Knock....

"every morning as true as the clock,
somebody hears the postman's knock..."

Should be made part of the curriculum in all schools in my humble opinion

My favourite song from junior school was
When a knight won his spurs in the stories of old.
Reading all the songs mentioned here brings back so many memories.

Oh this is a lovely thread! It brings back so many memories I can almost smell the polish on the wooden floors.

We also used to listen to the radio programme with most of the songs already listed.

My GD loved singing in the choir at her primary school and has been very disappointed to find there is not one at the secondary school.

We listened to the BBC’s Singing Together with William Appleby on a large classroom ‘wireless’ and sang old songs like John Barleycorn, I’ll go no more a-roving, Dashing away with the smoothing iron, Drunken sailor, etc etc.
I’m sure such 50s education led to the folk revival of the 60s!

I loved Mairi's Wedding.
I loved that as well. It was written for a real Mairi and is not a very old song, about 1930s I think.

I have found the programme "Jarvis Cocker Archive on 4" on the BBC website all about Singing Together and how it influenced his childhood. I will listen to it this afternoon. May sing a long.

HelterSkelter1

I have found the programme "Jarvis Cocker Archive on 4" on the BBC website all about Singing Together and how it influenced his childhood. I will listen to it this afternoon. May sing a long.

I listened to it a few years ago. It is very interesting. One of the songs highlighted towards the end was from the summer, 1975 booklet. Hearing it again was very moving as I remembered it so well. I may even have had a speck of soot in my eye.

When a knight won his spurs
Daisies are our silver
We thank you, Lord of Heaven
& Lord of all hopefulness

All had words written by Jan Struther (Joyce Anstruther). They appear in the blue book Songs of Praise, with the two deer on the front, that is so fondly remembered from school by me and many other GNs.

I went to a catholic school and only remember singing hymns. I haven’t heard most of the songs you are talking about.
Lovely thread though.

I listened to one of the very few recordings of Singing Together this morning with William Appleby presenting it. He had a lovely friendly Yorkshire accent which must have been a surprise on the BBC radio at that time where the clipped received pronunciation was king. I expect any child outside London and the Home Counties felt very at home and safe.

Magenta8

When a knight won his spurs
Daisies are our silver
We thank you, Lord of Heaven
& Lord of all hopefulness

All had words written by Jan Struther (Joyce Anstruther). They appear in the blue book Songs of Praise, with the two deer on the front, that is so fondly remembered from school by me and many other GNs.

I have that book on my bookshelf.

I ‘accidentally’ forgot to hand it in when I left my grammar school, but seeing as many other pupils had long since lost theirs or were in such poor condition, I don’t think hymn books were re-used.

You had a sticker in the front of all text books for your name and date of issue, plus a stern warning.

‘This book is the property of the community. It is entrusted to you as a member of the community. Treat it well. You are responsible if it is damaged or lost’.

Back in 1964, that made a real impression on me.

Can you imagine what today’s youth would make of it?

I was in the choir and had a sweet tuneful voice -now I can't sing at all.
I'm croaky !

I do recall singing Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill .
And every single time we sang it - the choir mistress used to clap her hands together and berate us ,
"Girls ,girls it's not Sweet Lass of Richmond Dill ."
It's the only song that I remember !

Esmay

I was in the choir and had a sweet tuneful voice -now I can't sing at all.
I'm croaky !

I do recall singing Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill .
And every single time we sang it - the choir mistress used to clap her hands together and berate us ,
"Girls ,girls it's not Sweet Lass of Richmond Dill ."
It's the only song that I remember !

I remember that one because the second verse mentioned zephyrs sweet. At nine years old, I remembered the Ford Zephyr my grandparents had had.
Does anyone remember singing Summer is a-comin̈g in? We sang it in choir as a round. It dates back to the twelfth century. However, there is a second verse, which l only discovered in a poetry book as an adult. The words include the choice lines: Cows starteth/Bullocks farteth. No wonder we were only taught one verse as eleven year olds!

At infants school we just copied what We/I thought we heard, amazingly-similarly with The Lords Prayer😀
However in junior school there was a giant eisal (sp?) and though a proficient reader by then I had absolutely no idea what When A Knight Won His Spurs was about, just liked the tune with it’s rousing chorus.

I went to a C of E primary school so we had lots of lovely hymns but I also remember one trainee teacher getting us to sing "a-roving, a roving" which I'm not sure was totally appropriate 🤣
At the end of the day we sang a little song something like this -
"Hands together, softly so
Little eyes shut tight.
Father, just before we go,
Hear our prayer tonight"

Or words to that effect.

My favourite was The Three Craws..

My favourite was the Three Craws.

Bobby Shafto's gone to sea bonny Bobby Shafto!
Or
Cherry ripe, cherry ripe
Ripe I cry
Full and fair ones
Come and buy.

Oh yes! I have gone on about Lieutenant Keejay for years! We did the radio programme too!

The Ash Grove, a beautiful sad song. Anyone remember it?

And I have the blue hymn book. We were given ours

Our school song was the Athenian path set to a rousing tune.
“We will never bring disgrace to this our city,
By any act of dishonesty nor cowardice in the ranks” etc.
Very appropriate for a girls’ school!

Oath not path!