The Derby Ram

Background information: Derby is short for Derbyshire, which is in East Midlands, England. The legend of this ballad goes back to medieval times and was part of a mummers play, in which a group of people in animal masks would go from house to house singing this song to bring luck for the coming year. This would take place during midwinter, making it very much like a group of carolers singing Christmas songs in modern times (Goodman, 2012).

The song was adopted as the regiment song of the Derbyshire Militia in 1855, and they even took a ram for their mascot. The Derbyshire Football Club, The Rams, also use this ballad as their own anthem (Goodman, 2012).

Click the button below to download the sheet music

Video recording

Lesson Plans

Idea #1

-Show students where Derby, or Derbyshire is located, and make sure they know what a ram is. Show a picture of a ram.

-Sing the ballad in its entirety.

-Have students share what verse or part of the song was most outrageous or crazy sounding to them.

-Explain the background information of this ballad.

Idea #2

-After having presented the ballad to students, share the picture book that goes with this ballad.

-It by GIA Publications, and was adapted by John Feierabend and illustrated by Jackie Roche.

-There is a recording of this song by Jill Trinka that can also accompany this book. Here is a link to the video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ-zwnTcn_s

Idea #3

-This song is in 6/8, if students are learning rhythms within that time signature, this song can be used to be read and to practice those rhythms.

-Students can sing the chorus using rhythm syllables