Talk:National Anthem of the Ancient Britons

This rocks. Anarchocelt 17:18, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Interesting. I have seen this attributed to Michael Flanders and Donald Swan, but this attribution was disputed by Joe Hickerson. Can anyone find a copyright date?Pustelnik (talk) 02:38, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Since it was published in 1921, Flanders and Swann are out of the question. John W. Kennedy (talk) 02:10, 1 September 2009 (UTC)


 * It’s not their style, either, to use an entire existing tune; although they certainly seemed fond of musical quotations and pastiche, AFAIK their music otherwise comprised original Swann compositions.—Odysseus 1 4 7  9  06:40, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Lyrics
The words were published in a 1935 Australian local newspaper. Anyone found an earlier version on-line? Nedrutland (talk)


 * I have now found an earlier version from 1923; The Daily News (Perth, WA) 19 Nov 1923 Page 6 where it is titled "Woad" and is by 'the scoutmaster of the Eton College Boy Scouts'. Nedrutland (talk) 22:05, 18 July 2016 (UTC)


 * The version I know had “Saxons, you may save your stitches” at 2(5)—which alliterates better than the corresponding line in the article, in keeping with the rest of the quatrain. I can’t provide a proper cite, but I learned it from a large-format paperback collection of folk, college and campfire songs published ca. 1960; it might have been titled Song Fest.—Odysseus 1 4 7  9  06:28, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Title and source
(copied from my talk page): I thank you for your recent edit to "National Anthem of the Ancient Britons"; can I ask which edition of the Hackney Scout Song Book you referred to and which title was used for the song? In a version from 1923 in an Australian newspaper, The Daily News (Perth, WA), it is titled "Woad". Thank you. Nedrutland (talk) 08:50, 21 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I took it from the Eighth Edition (Fouth Impression) dated April 1944, where the title is "National Anthem of the Ancient Britons". There is a copyright acknowledgement to the author, W. Hope-Jones. I can't see any probability that the title or text should have been altered  from the First Edition of 1921. SamuelTheGhost (talk) 19:17, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

Third verse
When I was a Boy Scout in Australia in the 1960s, we had a third verse. Somebody surely must have a copy of the Australian Scout's songbook of that era. From memory it went :

Modern man's become more drastic

Keeps his pants up with elastic

Buys his socks and coats of plastic

Down on Unley Road

Dacron jumpers have no style on

Orlon undies just look vile on

Even we would not wear nylon

Even if it snowed

Keep your vile synthetics

Chesty Bond athletics

Drip-dry shirt collects the dirt

And smells of hair oil, lotion and cosmetics

All together in all weather

Never wear an ounce of cloth or leather

Not a fig-leaf or a feather

We'll just stick to woad!

--TrogWoolley (talk) 12:50, 8 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Another Australian here, also with memories of that third verse. (Perhaps with minor differences, but very much with the same theme.) In my case I was taught it at high school in Victoria in the early 1960s. Sadly, I can find no reference to it anywhere else. HiLo48 (talk) 04:12, 14 July 2020 (UTC)