Hospital Radio: The soundtrack of the Six Nations

On Saturday afternoons between 3-5pm, I make a point of listening to my colleague here at Torbay Hospital Radio, Richard Levesley. The show is The Sports and Social Club, and Richard presents with a dollop of northern humour and a wide knowledge of the sporting world. Of course, last Saturday, he had more to cram in, as one of the oldest and, in my opinion, best, annual sporting spectacles started. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Six Nations is with us once again. Unsurprisingly he handled it with aplomb, but it did get me thinking.

Before and during each match, there is often singing going on; it’s ceremonial before the action commences. These ceremonies include moments of high emotion as the anthems are proudly sung by the players, some with their hands over their hearts. National anthems are relatively young in the scheme of things, but the whole idea of anthems at sporting events is, it would seem, a rugby idea, originating in Wales in 1905 as a counter to the All Blacks’ haka.

Each team has a turn; the visitors always go first. Then the home side, and you may have noticed last week that the Irish actually managed two anthems. The first one in Gaelic, the second a rugby song. The game against England always stirs up emotion and you may have noticed on Saturday the national anthem: Amhrán na bhFiann—or A Soldier’s Song—was sung with gusto.

It was adopted as the national anthem in 1926, a time of Ireland’s bid for freedom from England.

So that one was in Gaelic, they then moved on to Ireland’s Call. This encompasses all of the divided Ireland—Eire in the south and Northern Ireland. Rugby Union was for many years the only sport in which the whole of Ireland was united. These were sung in response to a much shorter anthem, England’s God Save the King, sung with no less pride and vigour.

As Saturday's match unfolded, both sets of fans were in good voice, although the English had to sing loudly to be heard at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. There appeared to be a spontaneous rendition of Swing Low Sweet Chariot by those in white and responses by the Irish supporters with part of The Fields of Athenry, a song about the cruelty of the British in deporting food thieves to Australia during the bitter famine of the mid-19th century.

To think that was just the first weekend of fixtures and there is more to come over the next couple of months. The other four nations are no less proud of their heritage, and you will get to hear some of the best-known anthems in the world. Arguably the best known is that of the French, La Marseillaise, which dates back to 1792, way before the six nations. This was the time of the French Revolution—the people’s uprising against the monarchy. The idea of revolutionaries marching up from the southern city of Marseille to the capital, Paris, gave it its name.

Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia, or Brothers of Italy, delves furthest back, honouring Scipio Africanus (he’s a Roman general) for conquering Carthage in 202 BC. The Scots celebrate the Battle of Bannockburn when Robert the Bruce beat Edward II. That was over a millennium later, in 1314. The Scots, of course, sing Flower of Scotland and, like the Italian song, a much more recent composition, but they are no less rousing.

Which leaves us with Wales; nobody sings like them, in my opinion, and when they launch into Land of My Fathers, it’s enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and join in. They have more than one song in their repertoire—Calon Lân, Delilah, and Sosban Fach—but it is the hymn Cwm Rhondda, often referred to as Bread of Heaven, that is most sung.

Enjoy the rugby and the singing, everyone.