THE BANKS OF THE OL' RARITAN

 

 

 

Did you know that the school hymn was originally written as a song against Washington?  Set to the tune of "On the Banks of the Old Dundee", a popular Scottish drinking song, the lyrics described the commander's "army of wolves," revealing the true nature of his false teeth and excoriating him for "turning" his men, then leaving them behind after the war was won, as he went onto the power and prestige of the presidency.

"On the banks/of the old Raritan, my boys.
Was a wolf/that walked just like a man,
And so we shot it down/in this little river town,
On the banks/of the old Raritan.

On the banks/of the old Raritan, my boys
Where a wolf/on his back two legs did stand
It was from a wolf that stood/and not a plank of wood
That teeth/were made for a certain man.

To those men/'neath his rash command, my boys
A life of doom/and of torment soon began
For after his mad plan/to free this wild land
He left them all behind/in Raritan.

On the banks/of the old Raritan, my boys.
Was a wolf/that walked just like a man,
And so we shot it down/in this little river town,
On the banks/of the old Raritan."