| "National Anthem of the Ancient Britons" | |
|---|---|
 The Woad plant | |
| Song | |
| Published | 1921 |
| Composer(s) | music from Men of Harlech |
| Lyricist(s) | William Hope-Jones |
"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".
- ^ "Our Pictish Heritage". 2004-12-11. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ^ Broadbent, T.A.A. (October 1965). "Obituary: William Hope-Jones". The Mathematical Gazette. 49: 258–262. doi:10.1017/S0025557200052736 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "National Anthem of the Ancient Britons". UK Commentators. 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2008-08-08.