WAR CRIES

Please send your memories to the collection.

A war cry is a chant used by Australian schools in conjunction with their sporting events.

• They are usually reserved for competitions outside of the school.
• Most cries are short, around eight lines.
• The shortness allows the war cry to be repeated ad nauseum - usually whenever the school scores a point or wins an event.
• During the game the war cry is performed by the audience, rather than the players.
• The shortness also provides easy learning.
• As to the origin of the phrase "war cry" I would suggest that it is something we took from the Maori tradition of New Zealand. When Australia was first settled the Maori people, unlike the Australian Aborigines, were aggressive opponents to the British settlements and would employ their traditional war cries in an attempt to scare the British away. These war cries must have made quite an impression on the British who took them back to England and across to Australia, and seemingly adopted them for their schools.
• Many Australian school war cries still incorporate Maori sounding words although they are not necessarily real words.
• Most war cries are not "taught" by schools and appear to be an oral tradition.

St Joseph's College, Nudgee, Brisbane

David Gool, Director Travel Services

Hokatika Hokatika - wish bam whap
Ingo buddy buddy - give it to 'em hot
Pour the boot
Pour the boot
Tackle 'em true
Nudgee Nudgee - Blue white blue

Wesley College, a Methodist (now Uniting Church) school in Melbourne

Bruce Watson

I spent a couple of years at Wesley College, a Methodist (now Uniting Church) school in Melbourne - one of Melbourne's private schools.

Wesley Wesley zim-bah
Wesley Wesley yah yah
Wesley Wesley Wesley Wesley yah yah yah!

But is was said so fast it came out:

Wezza wezza zim-bah
Wezza wezza yah yah
Wezza wezza wezza wezza yah yah yah!

We also had a simple little thing we would say aimed at rival school Melbourne Grammar:

Who are
We are
Gram-ma
Poof-tah!

Charming stuff - but there you are.

The War Cries of Parramatta High School thanks to Sandra Nixon who runs the Loaded Dog Folk Club in Sydney

North Shore Marist Brothers

Stuart McCarthy

Igo Sego Opigo Ango
Chorem Chorem ante far
Race 'em chase 'em
We're the boys to pace 'em
Marist North Shore ra ra ra
North Shore raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

War Cry of De La Salle College Kingsgrove (now defunct?)

Nick Weare

King Gee,
Col la
Here we are
We are the boys from La Salle - a
Bexley Beverly Riverwood Nar
We are the greatest near and far
K-I-N-G-S we are
Salle - a

Sydney Grammar Rugby song

Sydney Grammar
ALIGATOR GRAMMAR
Alligator mincemeat, crocodile pie.....
VICTORY
Are we in,
We say YES,
We are the boys of the SGS.
Spelt;
GRAMMAH....Grammahhhhhhhhh!

Sydney Grammar

Dr Emanuel Vlahakis

Alligator mince meat
Crocodile pie
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
Are we in it
We say YES
We are the boys from the S-G-S
G-R-A-M-M-A-R Grammar!

Enmore Boys High war cry

Dean Thomas

1 2 3 4 we're the boys from En-more
I hope it struck terror into the hearts of all who heard it but I suspect they thought, What a crook war cry.

Technical College

Alan Walker

I attended Sydney Technical High School in Paddington in 1954 and 1955. Each year there was a football match with Cranbrook High School. I managed not to attend these matches so i do not know if this ditty was sung in the presence of Cranbrook boys, but it certainly got an airing in the Tech High school yard.

Tiddly Winks, old man, here's a very simple plan
" Young man get a woman if you can,
If you can't get a woman get a Cranbrook man."

Narrabunda High School, NSW

Bob Fagan

I don't know who put this together, or even why it has these words, but we had to get something together quickly for our first interschool exchange with Northmead High in Sydney. I should imagine the Narrabundah College lot of the early 21st century would think themselves too sophisticated for this. Here it is:

Yah Yah, Ego Yah
Ego Warrego Ego Yah.
Ango Popigo Turramurra Wopigo
Orky Orky Blah Blah Blah.
Hoopra Hoopra Yak Yak Yak
Narrabundah Narrabundah Black Gold Black!

John The Baptist, Hunter's Hill

Leo Schofield

I used to be able to recite BOTH the 'war cry' from St. John Baptist, Hunter's Hill (circa 1945) and the one from Christian Brothers Lewisham, 'pseudo-abo' gibberish both with lines that went something like
...
Yarrangobbie, Yarrangobbie, Yarrangobbie, Yonga
..... but all is now lost.

The Joey's one included a line
Joey's, Joey,s cerise and blue

But not a line of the Lewisham one can I remember although it ended, as yours did, with the name of the loathed joint...
C....B....H....S....L followed by a rousing cheer.

The Kogarah one sounds like a litany of Greek ratepayers.

Ainslie Primary School

Elizabeth Jamieson - Senior Curator, Documents, National Film and Sound Archive

I've always loved the Ainslie Primary School (ACT) sports cry which I don't think exists anymore but was told to me by my brother-in-law who attended in the 1950s:

Ainslie, Ainslie brave and bold
Ainslie, Ainslie dipped in gold

Telopea, Telopea dipped in tar
Telopea, Telopea, yah yah yah!

(Telopea being the other public primary school in Canberra at the time).

Milton Central School c. 1964

Judy Pinder

"Ulladulla, Boolangatta, Narrawallee, Yatte Yattah
Yatte Yattah, Yatte Yattah, Yah! Yah! Yah!
We see the big breeze down among the pine trees
M -I-L-T-O-N - Milton!

Holy Cross Woollahra

Megan

The 'ladies' of Holy Cross College Woollahra NSW, sang the following at our inter school sports and swim meets. Well, we did from the years 1970 to 1975 anyway!

" Where ever we go,
People want to know
Who we are
So we tell them
We are Woollahra, might mighty Woollahra"
Repeat twice, getting steadily louder each time.

Strathfield

Billy, ACT

Rack Rack
Rickety Rack
SPC are on the track
Blue Black
Blue Black Gold
Blue Black Blue Black Blue Black Gold
Worry Me, Worry Me
Strathfield, Strathfield, SPC
S
P
C

Sydney Boys High

Chris Maltby
The "Eh-up" is a long "aaaaaay", short "oop" sound.
Who knows what it may mean. It was just as common to make loud and rude raspberry noises during the polite war-cries of the private schools...

Koomiti, Koomiti, Kara, Kara
Koomiti, Koomiti, Kara, Kara
Eh-up, Eh-up
Up, Up, Koomiti - High!

Sydney High School

Russ Hannah

I think it was this one but I can't vouch for the spelling as I never saw it written down (or I can't remember). Notice the Koomati seems to be from the Haka. There's something not quiet right about it I think there may be lines missing

Koomati Koomati Kara Kara
Koomati Koomati Kara Kara
Higgerty Piggerty Hoop-a-roo
Higgerty Piggerty Mufferty Wiggerty
Koomati Koomati
HIGH

Rockhampton Grammar School

Ian Dearden

The school has subsequently turned co-ed, so I assume there has been some modification to ensure that the warcry is gender neutral. The war cry (phonetically because I don't ever recall seeing it written down) was:

Kar-medi Kar-medi
Kara Kara
Tin-ee-eye Tin-ee-eye
Tin-gan-gara
Hop-ee-go Hop-ee-go
Two to one Whop-ee-go
Whoska Whoska
Ya Ya Boska
Ork-eye Ork-eye
Bah Bah Bah

Grammar boys, grammar boys,
Yes we are.

school myths at Rockhampton Grammar thanks to Ian Dearden

Stuartholme School, Brisbane thanks to Natasha Dearden, Grade 9

All through the city all through the city there's been a lot of talk, about the Stuartholme girls and the wa-ay they walk. wooo woooo they walk through the city, lookin mighty pretty. talkin bout the mighty, mighty re-ed and gold! i said: HEY, ON GAOU, hey hey the power hey hey the beats gonna step on your feet..wooooooooooo step on your feet ...wooooooo clap your hands (two claps) stop your feet (two feet stomps) get on down to the Stuarthome beat.(body/hand percussion on legs)

Ramsgate

WF

Ramsgate, Ransgate, don't be slow,
Be like Elvis and go man go

Kogarah

WF

One , two, three, four,
Who do you think we're barracking for?
Five, six, seven, eight,
Who do you think we appreciate?

KOGARAH!

(Kogarah, Kogarah, yar yar yar
ortta be ortta be
dipped in tar
Ramsgate, Ramsgate, brave and bold
ortta be, ortta be
dipped in gold

Catholics, Catholics,
Ring the bell
While the Proddies go to hell

Publics, publics,
Ring the bell
While the Catholics go to hell.
Catholics stink!