COTTAGE PIE Cottage Pie was a Boarding House theatrical revue named after the
Warrinn boarding facility and originally produced by the Warrinn boarders though in more recent years some elements such as the song 'Cottage Pie' were adopted by Mackie House boarders. Warrinn had been nicknamed ‘The Cottage’ many years earlier.
‘Cottage Pie, as the show was aptly called, was a type of show never before seen in the College, being a kind of ‘non-stop revue’ , and the large audience clearly showed how much this change from the regular concert fare was appreciated.’ Thus, did the editors of
Pegasus describe the first 'Cottage Pie' production of 1941 which was produced as a fundraiser for the war effort .
The centenary history of the College referred to its origins as a
‘daring revue presented by the staff and students of Warrinn’ . The revue also spawned the song 'Cottage Pie' sung in more recent years to the music of the song 'Botany Bay' which, in a number of variant forms, has been part of the
Mackie House culture for many years. The theatre revue 'Cottage Pie' was a regular feature from 1941 to 1945 and was revived briefly as Slice VI on 5 August 1955, and Slice VII on 3 August 1957 to raise funds for the proposed new Preparatory School.
Cottage Pie Program, p 1, circa 1941.
Cottage Pie Program, p 3, circa 1941.
Cottage Pie Performance, circa 1941.
A song sheet from about 1945 donated by Fred Elliott includes the lyrics for several parts of the Mackie Revue. These included:
The Grand March (Tune:The Legion of the Dead).
Ballyhooligans they call us,
Jolly Cottage boys are we,
Cottage boys we all are, a bright lot and full of glee,
Marching on the stage here we come singing,
Marching on the stage with the drum playing,
Listen to the drum, what's the drum saying?
Come, Come every tap of the drum
Says Come to the Pie, Come to the Pie, Cottage Pie,
We hope you'll like our Cottage Pie,
Ballyhooligans are we.
Cottage Chorus (Tune-The British Grenadiers).
Some talk of Senior House and some do talk of Mackie too
Of Lester Square and Rolland, but this we say to you
Of all the School's fine houses there's none better to live in
than that old ramshackle Cottage that some do call Warrinn.
At night the wind doth whistle about our sleeping heads
And when it starts a-raining the water soaks our beds
The roof of this old Cottage is made of rusty tin
Sing Towrow-row row-row row-row for the boys of old Warrinn.
Whenever we are ordered to get back into bed
The M.O.D is grounded with a pillow on the head.
Although he struggles gamely he never seems to win
For they're mighty tough and very rough in the house of old Warrinn.
Good people who are present, we hope you will enjoy
This further slice of Cottage Pie brought to you by the boys
So when you leave this hall be careful do not steal
Away without giving an extra bob to the Food for Britain appeal.
Final Scene (Tune-The Road to Gundagai)
There's a track winding back to an old fashioned shack
In the corner of the grounds, and it's there that we run around
As if were a playground until it's time for sleep,
And now that it's all over we'll get along to bed
By the track winding back to that old fashioned shack
It's the Cottage, Warrinn House.
The below version of the Cottage Pie song is more recent.
This version of the Cottage Pie Song was used in 'As Time Goes By': a revue celebrating 21 years of co-education in August, 1995.
THE COTTAGE PIE SONG (Tune: Botany Bay)
If I had the wings of old Pegasus,
Far, far from Warrinn I would fly;
But if I happened to come down in Morrison,
I straightaway would lay me down and die.
Refrain:
So it's "Sic Itur, Oh! Sic Itur Ad Astra",
Though I'd rather 'Ad Backhome' for me;
Be it Vite Vite, Pura Pura or Tatyoon,
Mininera or Badaginnie.
Oh! Warrin it is found in two places,
With Noble Street running between;
When the pubs shut you've the choice of being flattened by,
A hot rod or a big limousine.
Refrain:
Oh! Warrinn boys are fitter than Mallee bulls,
We sleep in the o-open air;
Have Weeties and toast in the mornings;
And are proud of the colours we bear.
Refrain:
Now we live in the 1990's,
And some things havee certainly changed;
But the one thing that remains true and constant,
Is that Mackie boys are big and brave.
Other school songs of interest include:
'The College Toast';
'Jubilation';
'School on the Hill' and
Sic Itur Ad Astra.
Sources: Pegasus December 1955 p49; Pegasus December 1957 p21; G C Notman and B R Keith The Geelong College 1861-1961 p70.