ORIGINAL MESSAGE

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen    Then & Now

DATE: 25 April 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956-1963

In the latest copy of The Elizabethan,the newsletter of the OEs (Barnet) Association, which I received at home, it states that Philippa Flint at the School has unearthed a copy of the School Song in the archives. She asks if any OES have any knowledge of the song and in particular what the chorus and tune it was sung to and why it went out of favour. I pass this on to this site in case there are readers not members of the Association who may know more.

1st REPLY

NAME: Simon T. Lincoln

DATE: 28 June 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1984 - 90

I am the Secretary of The Old Elizabethans Lodge. I unearthed the school song many years ago from the Lodge files. Also, Philippa Flint at the school has done a lot of research and here is the e-mail she has recently sent me:

"Dear Simon, I am writing further to my email to you earlier in the year about the origins of the School Song (and I have seen the clarion call to Old Elizabethans in the last edition of The Elizabethan [OE Association] newsletter to shed some light on it). I have now spoken with the archivist at Harrow School and he has revealed the origin! The belief that the School Song is 'a slight adaptation of one of the Harrow School Songs' (Oct. 1922 edition of The Elizabethan) is exactly right. As you know, there is some interconnected history between QE and Harrow School: e.g. Queen ElizabethⅠ gave John Lyon the charter to build Harrow School in 1572, a year before we, or rather the Earl of Leicester, was given his charter. Our School also purchased some land from Harrow School to extend the buildings at the Wood Street site in 1876. The original song, in its Harrow format, was written by Edward Bowen (words) and John Farmer (music) in 1875. Bowen and Farmer were Harrow school masters and wrote a lot of these sort of songs together. Farmer was the Director of Music and Bowen a Housemaster and amateur poet. The songs were intended to help and encourage the boys to sing, by being rousing with rhyming lyrics and repeated refrain".

2nd REPLY

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 02 July 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64

Many thanks, Simon Lincoln and Philippa Flint for work done unearthing this song. Fascinating! I just hope that the tune was a good one ...

3rd REPLY

NAME: James (Jas) Cowen    Then & Now

DATE: 03 July 2013

CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 56-63

Yes I do agree with Nigel Wood. Thanks for all the interesting info, Simon and Philippa. In relation to encouraging boys to sing, I am reminded of EHJ's rehearsals in the school hall's assembly to get us all to sing in a rousing but correct way the hymns for Founders Day with a varying degree of success, which is told elsewhere. My brother John who was at the school 1958-62 was also at Founders Day and was telling Mr Ryan, the Assistant Head, about those days and it did raise a laugh or two with him.