More school songs

We played a playground game while singing The Big Ship Sails on the Ally Ally O.
One pair would make an arch and we’d wind our way under.

I can’t imagine something as simple and innocent as that would appeal to children today.

We used to sing The Big Ship Sails on the Ally Ally O as a communal skipping song. We would have a big rope stretched across the street (not much traffic in those days!) and everyone used to jump in, skip and then jump out. Sometimes more than one would be skipping. It could get quite complicated - timing was all. Woe betide you if you mistimed and stopped the rope!

D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?
Early one morning just as the sun was rising
Speed bonny boat like a bird on the wing

We didn’t listen to the radio programmes at school, but if I was off school for some reason I listened to them avidly.

JackyB - Petrushka is Stravinsky, not Prokofiev, but I loved Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. Too long for a school
broadcast, I think. I learnt it at home, and there was a lovely funny ballet to it.

I sang both Teddy bears picnic and Little drummer boy to my toddler granddaughter for her to go to sleep. She loved the drummer song and I sang it over and over for several years . I loved doing it, .it was something just for us. She’s 16 now how time flies.

I recognise many of the songs mentioned especially Annie’s Welsh ones. I’m having Bread of Heaven at my funeral , sung it many times at rugby matches.

You can take the girl out of Wales but not the Welsh out of the girl

I often say how sad it is that there are no ‘proper’ singers nowadays, and I blame the decline of Marianina in schools! Pupils ( usually girls) who had good voices were identified during renditions of Marianina and similar, and developed and nurtured.
My son is a music teacher, and there are apparently no singing lessons in high schools nowadays. When I say I’m sad that there will be a dearth of people who can sing the great choral works, he just tells me they will just sing other things!

Choirs are very busy these days - two of my daughters sing in one near to them.
Locally, we have a selection, gospel choirs, rock choirs, a classical choir....all well supported, albeit with more women than men.

My father’s name was Ken so for years I thought I was singing about Ken John Peel. 😂

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202506/medium-cukxt-img-2024.jpeg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202506/medium-dh2dev-img-2025.jpeg%3C/span%3E

I still have a copy of Rhythm and Melody from 1963 with The Trout words and music - my mum loved hearing me sing it. When I hear it on Classic FM I’m 10 again 😊

I found singing the Clash "Bank Robber" was the best song to send my son to sleep. It's really a very gentle melody & fortunately he hasn 't grown up to be a Bankrobber.

Clawdy

I remember the school choir singing "Early One Morning".

Couldn’t agree more. We learned most of the songs mentioned when I was at primary school in the seventies. In addition to general singing classes, we also had Singing Together on the radio, where we learned mostly British folk songs but also some from overseas.

Grandma70s

watermeadow

I missed the thread about Schubert’s The Trout but wonder if we all sang the same songs at school? At age ten we sang such nonsense as Drink to Me Only, With Thine Eyes, Where E’re You Walk (lovely Schubert music but ridiculous translation)
Nymphs and Shepherds and Greensleeves.
All traditional old songs but incomprehensible to children.

Where e’re You Walk is by Handel.

I loved all these songs and didn’t find them incomprehensible at all. I think it is very, very sad that children no longer learn them. They are part of our history, every bit as much as Dickens or Shakespeare.

This was the post I meant to quote with my couldn’t agree more comment.

We used to sing a song called “Lovely Moon” when I was in school but nobody else can remember it.
For a while I thought I was going insane or that I had dreamt it.
It haunted me for years.
Then I did some digging online and discovered it is a German folk song called “Guter Mond”.
I don’t know how to put it on here but it’s on YouTube.
Maybe one of you sang it as well.
If you didn’t sing it and haven’t heard it I hope you take a few minutes to check it out. It’s a beautiful little song.

creakingandchronic

To be a Pilgrim was never sure what a Pilgrim was!

All things bright and beautiful

Bladon races

An English country garden

I cannot remember what it was. A lovely hymn started, "Oh Lord," at the break of the day and then went through to the end of the day ... Oh Lord, we beseech you.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

But Christmas was the best.
Away in a manger
Silent night
all the great hymns

i must admit a soft spot for we plough the riles and Scatter.

The hymn that you referred to is - I’m sure, *Lord of All Hopefulness, Lord of All Joy..

Maru

I still have a copy of Rhythm and Melody from 1963 with The Trout words and music - my mum loved hearing me sing it. When I hear it on Classic FM I’m 10 again 😊

We were obviously singing from the same music book!

‘A clear and sparkling brooklet, flowed on its merry way….’

there are apparently no singing lessons in high schools nowadays

My 17 year old GD, who has a good voice (not inherited from me, sadly) has had singing lessons all through her senior school.

But paid for by her parents, as otherwise not available.

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.

In my secondary school at the end of each year we sang the hymn ‘God be with be with you till we meet again ……’
It was a tradition and was only sung in the last two special assemblies.

I don’t remember all the words but I do recall they were comforting when saying goodbye to each other.

So many of these bring back memories of school days. Lillibullero was one of my favourites.

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.

I had a similar experience. During the first term at secondary school we had to learn several verses of a song in Latin "Gaudeamus igitur". We had just started the first year (year 7) and were just beginning to learn Latin so it was just random meaningless words to us.

I have happier memories of my first junior school where we used to sing grace:

Thank you for the world so sweet
Thank you for the food we eat
Thank you for the birds that sing
Thank you Lord for everything

At the end of the school day we sang:

Now the day is over
Night is drawing nigh
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky

Glory to the Father
Glory to the Son
And to thee Oh Spirit
Glory three in one

Did anyone else think that the second line of "All things bright and beautiful" was "All teachers great and small"?

I taught music for a couple of years in a school for children with additional needs. Each Friday morning the head teacher and I led a "singalong" for all the pupils to give the teachers a break.
The children loved this session especially when they sang "she'll be coming round the mountain". The HT, with a right gleam in her eye got the children to sing louder when got to the verse " who she's got a lovely bottom set of teeth". Of course, those lovely youngsters song with great gusto and with glee "oh she's got a lovely bottom " 😂😂

I vividly remember Friday mornings at junior school in the 50s - out would come a massive speaker (as a poster commented up thread),then the Cecil Sharp song book, his collection of British folk songs, would be distributed and we'd have a merry hour singing along to the radio, most of the songs mentioned on this lovely thread plus The Lincolnshire Poacher & Westering Home (with a song in the air).
Delightful!

Lord of All Hopefulness was one of the 8 discs on Desert Island Discs last week. The guest was Prof Lucy Easthope. One of the best episodes I have listened to. This particular hymn took me back to daily assemblies at the grammar school. I am not religious at all, but do love hymns.

I still have my school hymn book. Should have handed it in I suppose!! I doubt if they sing hymns there anymore if they do have assemblies still

Some of the other songs that we sang were
The old grey goose.
Michael Finnegan.
Sospan Bach.
The Ash Grove.
Calon Lan.
Bobby Shaftoe.
Among the Leaves So Green.
Men of Harlech.
Our Father… in Welsh.
The 23rd Psalm… in Welsh.
There’s loads more I’m sure that I can’t remember.

I think that you and I went to the same school "absent" .
Filiae devonienses......
Manus justas
Velut ensis
Honorious causa Maynardi
I wonder if the "gels" still sing it today?
By the way I don't think anyone mentioned the songs Cherry Ripe or As I was going to strawberry fair ( singing, singing buttercups and daisies)