A White Sheet
By E.Welsh, 1872/73
This parody, written by Elizabeth Welsh, is another very early song, from the Hitchin period. it celebrates the 1872 concessions over Tripos entries, which were granted after the success of the three pioneers.
Elizabeth Welsh qualified in the Classical Tripos in 1875, and after a year of teaching, at Manchester High School, she returned to Girton, as Resident Classical Lecturer. She was Mistress from 1885–1903.
Tune: The Mermaid
Lyrics
A white sheet and a flowing pen
And thoughts that follow fast
And fill the white and rustling page
And hold out to the last, the last, the last,
And hold out to the last!
And hold out to the last, my girls,
While, like the eagle free,
We distance all the men and leave
Old Cambridge on the lea, the lea, the lea,
Old Cambridge on the lea.
“Oh for a paper short and mild!”
I heard a freshman cry.
But give to me the deepest depth
And questions tough and dry, and dry, and dry,
And questions tough and dry,
And questions tough and dry, my girls,
While, like the eagle free,
We distance all the men and leave
Old Cambridge on the lea, the lea, the lea,
Old Cambridge on the lea.
There’s thunder black in Trinity,
There’s lightning in St John’s;
But what care we for master’ looks,
For tutors or for dons, for dons, for dons,
For tutors or for dons!
For tutors or for dons, my girls,
While, like the eagle free,
We distance all the men and leave
Old Cambridge on the lea, the lea, the lea,
Old Cambridge on the lea.
The struggle’s o’er, the victory’s won.
Our heritage the “B”,
The world of letters is our own,
And merry maids are we, are we, are we,
And merry maids are we,
And merry maids are we, my girls,
While, like the eagle free,
We distance all the men and leave
Old Cambridge on the lea, the lea, the lea,
Old Cambridge on the lea.