National Anthem of the Ancient Britons


"National Anthem of the Ancient Britons", also known as "Woad" or "The Woad Ode", is a humorous song, set to the tune of "Men of Harlech". It first became popular in the 1920s as a song in the British Boy Scouts and appeared in The Hackney Scout Song Book. The author was William Hope-Jones, a housemaster at Eton, who wrote it some time before 1914, as he sang it at a college dinner at that time. "Ho Jo" appears in M. R. James' 1928 ghost story "Wailing Well", in which a group of masters take the Eton Scout Troop on an ill-fated camping expedition. The song recounts the ancient British tradition of fighting naked, dyed with woad. It has also been known as "The Woad Song" and "Woad of Harlech".

Variants

Last-line variations include: "Go it, Ancient Britons", "If you stick to Woad", "Bottoms up to woad", "W - O - A - D", "Good for us today", "Go it Ancient Brits", "Woad for us today!" and "Bollocks to the breeze!"
The song 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.

Published versions

The Hackney Scout Song Book.

Recordings

Joe Hickerson with a Gathering of Friends Folk Legacy 2002