An account of the song ‘The Universal Game’, written by Jim Wearne and recalled here by Colin Roberts (February 2021). The song is about the tradition of Cornish Hurling in St Columb Major.
I came back to Kernow from Oz in Feb 2008 and quickly picked up the new job as Administrator for the Gorsedh, with the commission to ‘modernise and professionalise’ the organisation. That year the Gorsedh was in Looe and I spent quite a bit of time going up and back ensuring all the preparations were going OK. I was interested in the other activities for Esedhvos and Dewelhans too and was asked if I would put on a presentation during one of the sessions on the St Columb Hurling.
I’d done this a number of times before so had one ‘off the shelf’, as it were, with pictures and even an authentic hurling ball to pass around. I even sang part of the Hurling Song during the presentation which lasted, in all, for about half an hour. In the audience was one Jim Wearne who I notice was busily taking notes throughout the talk. We had a brief catch up in the after presentation meet and great and he was clearly fascinated by the history and tradition of the game.
Not long after this he sent me a CD he had recorded including his version of the Hurling Song called, very appropriately, The Universal Game. It was a great tune which encompassed the actual ‘chorus’ that we all sing at the end of each game and at the after-game pub crawl, celebrating the winner. As I remember, between the presentation and the CD coming he had been corresponding with me by email asking for the words of the chorus and the musical score etc.
I was really surprised to hear and read that he had very accurately picked up many of the themes in my presentation when it came to writing the lyrics (thanks to the copious note taking). He acknowledged me in the copyright and I was very proud to think the messages from my lecture had gone out so widely around the world. Of course, Jim, a fellow Bard, comes from Chicago.
There was just one problem for me that I didn’t quite know how to deal with diplomatically, he had a couple of significant facts wrong in the lyrics. I decided I had to point them out and re-wrote a couple of lines to correct the mistakes. This would not help this recording but I felt any future recordings or performances would then be authentic, for if any St Columb folk had heard the recording they would have immediately tripped over, what to them, would be glaring errors.
For the record, but not to criticise Jim, who is a good friend as well as a well renowned singer/songwriter, the errors were these:
• He referred to “…the village of St Columb…” Well, St Columb Major is very proud of its charter granting it a market in the 14th century and affording it the status of a Town. But in any case, the game is very much played in the ‘Parish’ – Town against Country. So, I simply replaced the word ‘village’ with ‘parish’.
• He also wrote that the two goals were a mile apart when, in fact, they are two miles apart. An easy error to make in the cut and thrust of my lecture where I would have stated that the goals were each a mile from the Town Market Square, making them two miles from each other. So, I corrected that too by putting “…tiz only a mile away” rather than “they’re only a mile apart”
That then got me thinking that there were a number of versions of the chorus, as I remembered it, so I went researching in the many books on St Columb that I had. In this way, rather than having the same chorus each time, I made each of them different, reflecting some of the many versions that had emerged over the countless years.
I also could not resist repeating the last chorus in Kernewek……
So we ended up with very much a hybrid of vignettes from my presentation, my corrections, my additional choruses and the Kernewek chorus, as well as Jim’s original tune and his version of the lyrics.
Having kept in touch after this exercise, Jim said he was coming to Kernow a couple of years later and would be there during the hurling. We put him up in St Columb and he watched the game with amazement and interest. I even managed to get the ball to him during the game and, at my call, they held back and allowed him to hold the ball and toss it back to re-start the game. He was thrilled!
The night before the hurl I had arranged to put on a small Cornish music evening at the Coaching Inn in St Columb. I played a few songs and Jim did a cameo spot with some of his original songs and it culminated with us both singing and playing our combined version of The Univerasl Game. This was the only time we have both performed our song together in public – and it might well be the last too – who knows?
THE UNIVERSAL GAME – JIM WEARNE
In the Parish of St Columb, every year there comes a day
Whether you are town or country, everybody’s got to play
A game that’s known as hurling, it’s a very Cornish game
And if you go and play it, you may never be the same
For we roll, roll the Silver Ball along
And we roll, roll the Silver Ball along
And we roll, roll the Silver Ball along
And we’ll all chase on behind
A man stands on a ladder, and he throws a silver ball
The crowd is there to catch it, brave souls one and all
There are no rules or order, to govern how they play
The purpose is to reach the goal, tiz only a mile away
If the Devil’s in the way we will roll right over him
If the Devil’s in the way we will roll right over him
If the Devil’s in the way we will roll right over him
And we’ll all chase on behind
The ball is tossed from hand to hand, with many bumps and blows
And many lumps and bruises, and sanguinary flows
But if you’ve had a baby, by the window you must stand
The ball is tossed up to you, to touch the baby’s hand
If they won’t get out the way we will lock ‘em in the safe
If they won’t get out the way we will lock ‘em in the safe
If they won’t get out the way we will lock ‘em in the safe
And we won’t drag on behind
All afternoon and evening, the contest rages on
If no one gets to win the ball, it might go on till dawn
But sometime soon or later, you will hear a mighty shout
And either town or country, has won the yearly bout
For we roll, we roll the St Columb Ball along
And we roll, we roll the St Columb Ball along
If Newquay’s in the way we will roll ‘em in the zay
And we won’t drag on behind
The ball is brought back into town, with merry shout and song
Bruises are forgotten, and the children come along
They throng into the local pubs, and drink the silver beer
A merry time is had by all, who come from far and near
We will pass, pass the Silver Beer around
We will pass, pass the Silver Beer around
We will pass, pass the Silver Beer around
Then we’ll all go marching home
Everywhere there’s football, of any sort or kind
If you enquire closely, a common source you’ll find
They all began with hurling, from Cornwall they all came
So you can thank the Cornish, for the universal game
In another year’s time we will throw it up again
In another year’s time we will throw it up again
In another year’s time we will throw it up again
And we’ll all chase on behind
For we roll, roll the Town Ball we roll
And we roll, roll the Town Ball we roll
And we roll, roll the Town Ball we roll
And we all come marching home
For we roll, roll the Country Ball we roll
And we roll, roll the Country Ball we roll
And we roll, roll the Country Ball we roll
And we all come marching home
For we roll, roll the Silver Ball along
And we roll, roll the Silver Ball along
And we roll, roll the Silver Ball along
And we’ll all chase on behind
Ni a wra rol, rol an bel arghans a-hys
Ha ni a wra rol, rol an bel arghans a-hys
Ha ni a wra rol, rol an bel arghans a-hys
Ha ni a wra oll dos tre
