This is another silly and bizarre tradition in
Oxford University. This one is a song sung in
Balliol College. For some reason, going back to a
boat race in the
dark ages, Balliol has been at war with neighbouring
Trinity College for the last few hundred years. After sports dinners,
bops, etc, we all gather at the wall by the gardener's shed and sing this song. It doesn't seem so strange in
the small hours of the morning when you're
drunk.
Trinity presumable has some sort of equivalent, but I've never been inside it's gates, so I wouldn't know.
The Gordouli
Gordoooooley
He's got a face like a ham
Cos' Bobby Johnson says so
And he should know!
Bloody Trinity!
Bloody Trinity!
Bloody Trinity!
Menaites once, Menaites twice
Holy jumping Jesus Christ
Flim, flam, wham, bam, oh shit
Bloody Trinity...
If I were a Trinity man, I would I would
I'd go to a public weir, I would I would
I'd pull the chain and disappear, I would I would
Bloody Trinity...
I don't give a fuck or a damn
Who the hell or what I am
As long as I'm not a Trinity man!
Bloody Trinity...
I'm a bastard, I'm a bastard, I'm a bastard yes I am
But I'd rather be a bastard, than a bloody Trinity man.
Bloody Trinity...
Trinity's burning, Trinity's burning
Fetch the engine, fetch the engine
Fire, fire! Fire, fire!
Pour on petrol, pour on petrol.
Bloody Trinity...
Goodnight Trinity. Goodnight Trinity.
We'd going to leave you now.
But before you go...
Bloody Trinity...
As for what it all means, I haven't got a clue. All I know is that it dates from about 1600, and the "Gordouli" of the title was an Italian student at Trinity.
The word "Menaites" is even more obscure. It returns no hits at all on Google, which is pretty amazing all by itself.
Trinity, historically an all-white college, would insult Balliol over admitting blacks and other such unthinkable people, and I think the slag was "What is nice clean Trinity doing with this dirty Italian student?". So, not very PC!
Amazing how little insults have changed in 400 years.
Well, I suppose a institution can't be around for a thousand years without picking up a bit of weird historical baggage.
Balliol boat club is also now called the "Gordouli Boat Club"