Gather round and sing proudly of our College

It is an Ormond tradition to sing the college song at the end of a formal dinner and after a sporting or other victory. But the choice of song has varied over time.

The earliest song to be sung at Ormond seems to have been traditional Scots folk song Auld Lang Syne, perhaps because many of Ormond’s founders were Scottish Presbyterians. This song continued to round out Ormond alumni celebrations for many decades.

Ormond’s first official song was the Ormond Chorus, which was in use by 1940. The song is based on a satirical Scottish ballad called The Massacre of MacPherson, which has the same tune and ends with ‘and that’s a Gaelic chorus’ where Ormondians sing ‘and that’s the Ormond Chorus’. 

The first two verses of the Ormond Chorus praise the College, noting its excellence ‘in prowess and in knowledge’ and the ‘mighty men and women’ who have gone before. The final verse is sometimes thought to be in Scots Gaelic and concludes ‘Kai pokai! B’Dunga!’. However these words are not known in Scots and the text seems in fact to be nonsense.

Ormond gained a new college song around 1971 when an Ormondian decided to test his new record player with a vinyl recording of Edward Elgar’s patriotic song Land of Hope and Glory. The high-volume, early morning-rendition was repeated several times and the grand song became the college’s favourite. It was sung by Ormond students at victories and celebrations until recently.

In 2021 the Students’ Club considered whether Land of Hope and Glory still reflected its values and priorities. The Club acknowledged that the song was significant to alumni and had been an important part of the Ormond experience for previous generations.

However, students noted that the song was an ode to British nationalism composed for and performed at patriotic events in the UK such as coronations and national sporting team matches. In fact, the lyrics identify the singer as British (‘who are born of thee’), praise the UK (‘how shall we extol thee’) and champion the expansion of the British Empire (‘wider still and wider / shall thy bounds be set’).

The Students’ Club decided that it wanted a song with lyrics that were about Ormond rather than Britain, and one that Ormondians from all backgrounds could sing without reservations. For this reason, they voted to remove Land of Hope and Glory from the Students’ Club Constitution and reintroduce the Ormond Chorus instead.

Kai pokai! B’Dunga! will again echo through the College grounds in future years.