The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #169224   Message #4202702
Posted By: Robert B. Waltz
19-May-24 - 08:44 PM
Thread Name: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
There are at least two supposedly-traditional songs about the Hood other than the "Roll on the Rodney..." verse (which is very common and floats all over the place): "The Commissioning of HMS Hood," in Tawney's "Grey Funnel Lines" (and nowhere else that I know of) and "The Sinking of HMS Hood," also in Tawney, and supposedly sung to "Silent Night" although I can't make parts of it work. This song is probably the strongest in tradition (though that's not saying much).

Brief notes on the former song at http://balladindex.org/Ballads/Tawn054.html. Detailed analysis of the latter, with a history of the Hood, at http://balladindex.org/Ballads/Tawn067.html.

Incidentally, the "Roll on the Rodney" stanza varies a lot, and many versions don't mention the Hood.