Eton Boating Song
Encyclopedia
The Eton Boating Song is the best known of the school songs associated with Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 that are sung at the end of year concert and on other important occasions. It is also played during the procession of boats. The words of the song were written by William Johnson Cory
William Johnson Cory
William Johnson Cory , born William Johnson, was an educator and poet, born at Torrington, and educated at Eton, where he was afterwards a renowned master, nicknamed Tute by his pupils...

, an influential Master at the school. The melody was composed by an Old Etonian and former pupil of Cory, Capt. Algernon Drummond and transcribed by T. L. Mitchell-Innes. The piano accompaniment was written by Evelyn Wodehouse. It was first performed on 4 June 1863. Contrary to popular belief however, it is not the school song, that being Carmen Etonense.

Lyrics

Ordinarily only the first, sixth, seventh and eighth stanzas are sung (as shown here):
1.
Jolly boating weather,
And a hay harvest breeze,
Blade on the feather,
Shade off the trees,
Swing swing together,
With your bodies between your knees,
Swing swing together,
With your bodies between your knees.

6.
Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

 may be more clever,
Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

 may make more row,
But we'll row for ever,
Steady from stroke to bow,
And nothing in life shall sever
The chain that is round us now,
And nothing in life shall sever
The chain that is round us now.

7.
Others will fill our places,
Dressed in the old light blue,
We'll recollect our races,
We'll to the flag be true,
And youth will be still in our faces
When we cheer for an Eton crew,
And youth will be still in our faces
When we cheer for an Eton crew.

8.
Twenty years hence this weather
May tempt us from office stools,
We may be slow on the feather
And seem to the boys old fools,
But we'll still swing together
And swear by the best of schools,
But we'll still swing together
And swear by the best of schools.

Cachet

The traditional status of Eton as the training grounds for Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's wealthy elite endowed the song with a peculiar cultural cachet. For instance, writer George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...

, an Old Etonian himself, wrote in his famous autobiographical essay 'Such, Such Were the Joys
Such, Such Were the Joys
"Such, Such Were the Joys" is a long autobiographical essay by the English writer George Orwell. It was probably composed in the early 1940s, but it was first published by the Partisan Review in 1952, two years after Orwell's death...

' that:

Other uses

In 1939 the tune (at a quicker than usual tempo) was used as the theme for the film A Yank at Eton
A Yank at Eton
A Yank at Eton is an American comedy/drama film. It was the 1942 sequel to the 1938 A Yank at Oxford. All of it was filmed in the United States and none of it at Eton...

. In the 1960s, the tune was adopted by Coventry City as their club anthem. The lyrics were rewritten by Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...

 and Derrick Robbins in order to be relevant to the club, and the song is still regularly sung by City fans today.
In his appearance on Inside The Actor's Studio, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...

, an Old Etonian, sang, with great embarrassment, the first verse of the Eton Boating Song. He also dryly commented on the homoeroticism that can be read into the phrase 'With your bodies between your knees.'

The Eton Boating Song features in the 1960s television series The Prisoner
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...

, in the episodes "The Girl Who Was Death
The Girl Who Was Death
"The Girl Who Was Death" is a television episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 18 January 1968...

" and "Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (The Prisoner)
"Once Upon a Time" is the title of the 16th episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan as Number Six...

".

The song appears in the 1951 comedy film The Lavender Hill Mob
The Lavender Hill Mob
The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T.E.B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass...

, sung by the school girls during the school scene.

The song features in the 1953 comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...

and the 1959 adventure film North West Frontier.

It is briefly sung by the Earl of Gurney (Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...

) during his sanity examination in the 1972 movie The Ruling Class
The Ruling Class
The Ruling Class is a 1972 British black comedy film. It is an adaptation of Peter Barnes' satirical stage play which tells the story of a paranoid schizophrenic British nobleman who inherits a peerage. The film costars Alastair Sim, William Mervyn, Coral Browne, Harry Andrews, Carolyn Seymour,...

.

A reworked version of the theme appears as the title music for the satirical 1992 horror movie Society
Society (film)
Society is an American horror film. It was finished in 1989, but not released in the US until 1992. It was Brian Yuzna's directorial debut and was written by Rick Fry and Woody Keith. The film stars Billy Warlock as Bill Whitney, Devin DeVasquez as Clarissa Carlyn, Evan Richards as Milo and Ben...

.

During the 2010 British election the song was parodied as "The Eton Voting Song", with reference to the fact that David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

, Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...

and other leading Conservatives went to Eton.
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