What songs did you sing at Primary School?

[KurriKurri]

I don't mean playground songs, I mean the sort of thing you'd sing as a class?

This morning I was trying to remember the words to In the Fields in Frost and Snow, and wikkied them here

In the Fields in Frost and Snows,
Watching late and early;
There I keep my Father's Cows,
There I Milk 'em Yearly:
Booing here, Booing there,
Here a Boo, there a Boo, every where a Boo,
We defy all Care and Strife,
In a Charming Country-Life.

Obviously a kind of old version of Old Macdonald. I went to school in the 60's we also sang one about a tiger 'prowling round the forest while the nights were dark and wild' and 'Bessie was a Black cat as old as the house'.

And one which went

'The ladybird and the centipede got married,
the ladybird and the centipede they wed,
on their wedding night I've heard it said,
fifty one pairs of slippers were by their bed,
the ladybird and the centipede - something something (forgotten)'

My headmaster was a great pianist and loved music, and we had singing everyday first thing, and entered lots of festivals etc. I loved it.

Does anyone else have any favourites they remember?

mathanxiety - at 'My sweet little Alice Blue Gown' and 'little Mister Baggy breeches'

My mum taught me loads of old musichall songs, - her dad was a big fan of the musichall and used to take her, so I used to wander around warbling 'The Boy I love is Up in The Gallery' and 'My old man, said follow the van..'

Can only clearly remember one (quite odd for primary school) song we sang in assembly.

It was Ralph McTell Streets Of London.

I remember very much enjoying wailing the " Loooo-oooo-nleeeeey" bit.
or

That's the one mathanxiety - yes, I remember 'oh how he lied' - it's an awful song really, def. a psychopath. 'O Soldier, soldier' is about a complete bastard as well

I loved Ash Grove and When a Knight Won his spurs too. There was also a singing together song about gypsies running away to the woods. I thought it sounded so romantic.
We lived in a farming community so once a week watched a television show about a group of wicked sheep rustlers. I was removed from the school half way through the term and never got to watch the end. I was devastated.

I loved Autumn Days - I asked if we could sing it at our last ever assembly before we left (in what would now by year 6) - as it was July the head said no.

Thankfully I then went on to be a primary school teacher and had another ten years or so of singing to enjoy!

DD doesn't do any at her school.

In primary school we used to sing a lot of old folk songs, such as:
Uncle Tom Cobley
Bobby Shaftoe
Dear Dear What can the Matter be
Green Grow the Rushes-O
Go and tell Aunt Nancy
London's Burning
What shall we do with the drunken sailor
Scarborough Fair
Greensleeves
Londonderry Air
Go no more a-roaming
Lavender's Blue
No John No
Do ye ken John Peel
Old Benbow
Early One Morning
My Bonnie lies over the Ocean
Etc etc!

Do children still sing these?

Was that 'Off with the Raggle Taggle Gypsies' MrsDaiBreadTwo? (Love your name btw -I went to a production of UMW only a couple of weeks ago - I love it)

We sang the alphabet song - the slow one and the fast one. Other than that, I don't remember, except we did a John Betjeman word poem thing with music when we were about 6.

We had the blue come and praise books at our school, I'd love one of them now! I used to play recorder in assembly too :)

I remember the piano teacher once getting us to learn 'lily the pink' and asking a hall full of baffled 7 yr olds what efficacious meant

Ohhh we used to sing Lily the Pink too, BarryLellow!
" For she invented, medicinal compound..."
I really liked that one, so don't know why I didn't remember it.

Blue book for you

Oh how could I have forgotten The Raggle Taggle Gypsies O.

We did Singing Together via the radio, and I remember a slightly odd song that went 'Down from the hills of Brecon flew a hungry heron, in a barrel he bumped his head, and he said said, Boom boom boom boom, apples I hit my neck on.....' (I loved that song!)

I do remember the litter on the pavement song too (clap clap clap clap clap clap - no no no! :) )

We sang
[Dum Dum Dum
Dum Dum Dum Dum]
God Is Good,
His The Care
Tending Each Everywhere
etc etc
Sing Aloud, Loud Loud,
Sing Aloud, Loud Loud
God is Beauty
Praise Him [Bang]

I remember the shiver I used to get when the introductory chords were played, as it was difficult to come in at ^just the right point

and we sang all the Folk Songs Kurri Kurri said
especially Ash Grove
and Charlie is My Darling
And Green Grow the Rushes Oh
Early One Morning

I'm 46, and it has stayed with me. Learning to sing again now, I realised how technically difficult some of those familiar folk songs were. If only we had continued into secondary, instead of for some reason progressing onto some strange 80's curriculum.

Always feel disappointed my children learn mostly pop songs, however catchy in school music and assemblies.

Oh and I loved the Raggle Taggle Gypsies. Especially the poney-o...
or did I just make that up?

Oh, I remember God is Love, Swanriver - so many inadequates people came in at the wrong time, even with Mrs McCusker's exaggerated nod/signal!
You left out 'God is good, God is truth', before 'God is beauty, Praise Him.'

I remember being very moved, aged about 5 or 6, by 'Bring Flowers of the Rarest' - might have also been called 'Flower of the May:'

'Oh Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the angels and Queen of the May,
Oh Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the angles and Queen of the May.'

Think it's a Catholic hymn. Beautiful sung by young, innocent voices .

mildmannered janitor oh wow the Autumn days lyrics, I am transported back in time to 1983 and have a grazed knee, no teeth and my hair in bunches!!!

Can't believe there are schools where no one sings in assembly :( :(

Also, give me oil in my lamp keep me burning...

Thank-you KurriKurri ! It was the Raggle Taggle Gypsies - I have just googled it and found that The Waterboys did a version. It is now stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

I was taught by the nuns, so most songs featured the words mary and virgin. Although credit to them I can actually sing properly because they trained us so well

God is Love is a great - a really driving tune - the 'each' note was hard!

Schools that participate in annual Sing Up (which until this March was headed by Howard Goodall to get kids singing in schools again) use songs from Sing Up song bank on their website - www.singup.org/ - which has modern songs alongside some of the oldies mentioned here - Bobby Shafto, Molly Malone, Jamaica Farewell etc. Depending on the musicality of the teachers in any school, they can use these arrangements free of copyright, I think, at any time, as well as organising a yearly concert of songs.

Barbera Allen is lovely too, and The Lincolnshire Poacher was a favourite.

I think there was one about a fox being chased by huntsmen - can't remember what it was though.

We sang:
Linden Lea
The Ash Grove
Hearts of Oak
Lass of Richmond Hill
Mhairi's Wedding
Skye Boat Song

Daisies are our Silver
The bird has its nest
Jesus bids us shine
When a Knight won his spurs
and the now forgotten........
Over the sea there are little brown children

WhatsWrongWithYou, we used to do a May crowning, with a procession around the neighbourhood near the school, and sing that hymn, as well as Ave Maria.

That's a nice website DandyDan - and what a good idea.

We used to sing loads. We always sang one song in assembly, which we had three times a week and then we had hymn practice on Tuesdays. They were mainly hymns although it wasn't a church school .

I vaguely remember the "come to praise" books when I first started but pretty soon they were replaced by the overhead projector.