Sons of the Sea (song)


"Sons of the Sea" is an 1897 English Music hall song by Felix McGlennon.
A parody known as "Bobbing Up and Down Like This" became popular at Boy Scout camps and elsewhere.
It is also the chosen song/anthem for the Highridge Utd Football Club in Bristol, England.
It is also used as the club theme song by the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Rules Football league under the title "Sons of the S'cray", as Western Bulldogs' old name was Footscray, a suburb in Western Melbourne. When they renamed their team to "Western Bulldogs", they changed it to "Sons of the West", also changing some of the words to fit in with the new song and club name. There is a very strong similarity to a 1914 Navy song called sons of the sea sung by Robert Howe.
It has also been known to be sung at Gloucestershire cricket games by a select number of supporters. The words are,
Sons of the seas, when were bobbin' up and down like this.
Over the ocean, when were bobbin' up and down like this.
You can build a ship, my friend, when were bobbin' up and down like this.
But you can't beat the boys of the Gloucestershire, when were bobbin' up and down like this.
There is also an art-song called "Sons of the Sea", lyrics by Sarojini Naidu, music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor of which there is a famous recording by Peter Dawson. There is no literary or musical connection with the folk song discussed above.