Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941

Subject: Songs and poems about the HMS Hood
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 04:02 PM

http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/poems.htm

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: GUEST,#
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 04:56 PM

"Sink the Bismarck" sung by Johnny Horton (written by Johnny Horton and Tillman Franks) is another, but it's done to a marching beat.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 07:29 AM

Roll on the Rodney, the Nelson, Renown,
We used to sing Hood but the b*****d went down! WWII

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 10:32 AM

So, roll on the Rodney, Repulse and Renown
You can't say the Hood cause the bastard's gone down
Tune, last two lines of The Old Orange Flute

I've a notion this was attached, maybe a chorus but maybe a tag at the end, to some song of the sea, but what I cannot recall at present.

I cannot find the above in Grey Funnel Lines by Cyril Tawney, but he does have several more lines for The Sinking of HMS Hood than are on the webpage Joe gives us.
Not in Shanties and |Sailors' Songs by Stan Hugill either.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: GUEST,#
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 11:51 AM

The following link provides some answers for common questions about HMS Hood.

http://www.hmshood.com/admin/faq.htm

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: robomatic
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 07:57 PM

A basic guide to:

HMS Hood

The German operation which led to the Bismarck going to sea and the Royal Navy pursuit of same:

Operation Rheinübung - First and Last Voyage of the Bismarck

A deep dive into the explosion itself:

The Loss of HMS Hood - But why did it blow up?

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: GUEST,Nick Dow
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 04:45 PM

Cyril Tawney sang the song 'HMS Hood' to the tune of silent night.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 05:18 PM

The snippet that I posted I seem to remember was more 'On top of Old Smokey' than Vilikins/Old Orange Flute, but they're probably related anyway.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: GUEST,Louise Burbidge
Date: 31 Jan 21 - 10:11 AM

My husband, Alan Burbidge [1945-2001] wrote the following song, published by Tom Brown at Daylight Press in 2003 -

THE MIGHTY HOOD.
While shells the Flanders trenches flayed,
In John Brown's yard a keel was laid
To arm the Royal Navy, so to gain the victory.
But it was four years after Armistice Day
When first the orders came to say
"His Majesty's ship 'Hood' will proceed and put to sea".

CHORUS: She's the queen of the Fleet,
She's the pride of the Navy,
She is the mighty 'Hood'
Bound away for the sea.

Now she steams through Frisco's Golden Gate
To a welcome fit for a Head of State
And her tower and her turrets stand like a castle on the sea.
And in dry Western towns is seen
Upon the flickering silver screen
The battle cruiser 'Hood' now in harbour from the sea.

And now she lies off Invergordon town,
Her flags in sorrow hanging down,
With her engines still and silent and her crew in mutiny -
For the burning question of the day,
The Treasury cites the Navy's pay,
But the Fleet declared false contract and refused to put to sea.

And now she's pounding for the Denmark Strait
To hold the way and bar the gate,
'Prince of Wales' on her quarter as she hunts the enemy -
And from above the lookouts cry
As out the battle-ensigns fly,
And 'Bismarck' and 'Prinz Eugen' open fire across the sea.

And still her turrets seek and turn,
Though on her decks a fire burns,
And the guns recoil and thunder, hurling shells across the sea.
From a mighty, fighting warship proud
To a broken hull with a smoke-pall shroud,
From a crew of fourteen hundred men, survivors only three.

FINAL [ADDITIONAL] CHORUS] -
She was queen of the Fleet,
She was pride of the Navy,
She was the mighty 'Hood'
Gone forever in the sea.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 May 21 - 03:17 PM

David Kidman sang a song I think is called "Ted Briggs Lament." Want to post lyrics, David?

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Gordon Jackson
Date: 24 May 21 - 05:11 PM

On a personal, and non-musical, note, my father served in the Royal Navy from 1931 to 1946. From May 1932 to August 1933 he was actually a member of the Hood’s crew. He then switched to destroyers, survived the war and was later able to sire me.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Roughyed
Date: 27 May 21 - 09:55 AM

Brian Peters did a brilliant song about the Hood called 'The lost fourteen hundred' on one of his earlier albums.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: GUEST,#
Date: 27 May 21 - 10:07 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJmKM4Xgb0A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJmKM4Xgb0A

Brian Peters - The Lost 1400   (with thanks to Roughyed)

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Brian Peters
Date: 27 May 21 - 12:16 PM

Well, I'd no idea that song was on YouTube. In fact I was just about to mention 'The Lost Fourteen Hundred', and apologise for it not being online anywhere, but now you can hear it for yourselves. Unfortunately the YouTube uploader hasn't credited the writer, the late Dave Rawlinson, who was a good mate of mine and ran folk clubs in Chapel-en-le-Frith and later Salisbury. It is a fine song indeed. I recorded it in 1989.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Roughyed
Date: 28 May 21 - 03:04 AM

As I find myself saying more and more frequently nowadays, good grief was it THAT long ago? Thank you to Guest for the YouTube link and to Brian for the songwriting info. The album went west some time ago but it is not surprising the song stayed with me so long, it's a great song and the arrangement and singing do it full justice. Lovely to hear it again.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 24 - 06:31 PM

Sunk during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hood

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: Robert B. Waltz
Date: 19 May 24 - 08:44 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 24 - 10:17 PM

OK, so Robert Rodriquez and I are hoping that David Kidman (Moorley Man) will sing a song about the Hood at the Mudcat Worldwide Singaround tomorrow. Come join us. Noon Los Angeles time, 8 PM in London.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 20 May 24 - 03:43 AM

A bit late to the party but (ref. Brian Peters post) my first thought was the song by the late Dave Rawlinson. I didn’t know Brian had recorded it never mind the fact that Dave had written it.

Interesting bloke was Dave. Un-tipped Woodbine smoker with cut-off denim shorts and sandals in his folk club life. First Class Oxbridge degree and ended up as Chief Executive of Salisbury City Council.

Anyone have the words to another of Dave's songs - parody of “Ranzo”? - “Have you seen the little dog, squatting in a neighbours garden, Bonzo”

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: GUEST,Derrick
Date: 20 May 24 - 04:57 AM

The link below leads to the sinking of H M S Hood song to the tune of Silent Night.
https://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/sea-songs-shanties/when-hms-hood-went-down-in-the-deep.htm

Copy and paste the link

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 May 24 - 03:13 PM

Poetry about the Hood: https://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/poems.htm

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 20 May 24 - 03:14 PM

As requested previously by Joe Offer (24 May 2021), and sorry for the delay, here it is:

Ted Briggs’ Lament For HMS Hood
(by David & Lynne Edmondson)


Chorus:
Deadly was the shell that blew her straight to hell
Deathly was the fate that doomed my many mates
Long has she been by human eyes unseen
Now I stand alone above their peaceful bones


The mighty Hood stood out, from Scapa we were steaming
Our enemy for to meet, our battle ensign streaming
We fourteen hundred men her massive guns attending
We fourteen hundred men on armour plate depending

The mighty Hood ploughed on, her bows the waves were parting,
To Denmark Strait we came, just as new day was dawning
Then a fearful flash rent her bulk asunder
And pointing to the sky her bows the waves slid under

Chorus>>

The mighty Hood had gone, her death pyre rising higher
The mighty Hood had gone, the pride of all who served her
Our number now but three on cold Atlantic water
Our number now but three beseeched the sea give quarter

The mighty Hood’s at rest three miles beneath our deck
Less mighty than she was, a dark and silent wreck
*Our number now but one, my name it is Ted Briggs
Soon the day will dawn when death my own peace brings

Chorus>>

Subject: RE: Songs and poems about HMS Hood-sank 24 May 1941
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 20 May 24 - 05:30 PM

Link to SONGS ABOUT THE SINKING OF HMS HOOD in Mudcat thread Any May Songs? /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=169613&messages=349#hmshoodsinking:~:text=Subject%3A%20RE%3A%20Any%20May%20songs%3F%0Afro