"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[1] and appeared in The Hackney Scout Song Book (Stacy & Son Ltd, 1921). The author was William Hope-Jones,[2] a housemaster at
Eton,[3] who wrote it some time before 1914, as he sang it at a college dinner at that time. "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. 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".
Last-line variations include: "Go it, Ancient Britons",[5] "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 (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 Front and Rear: Canadian Servicemen's Songs of the Second World War. 1979
ISBN0-88830-171-5