Night Hike
Many many years ago my parents managed to get rid of me for a few hours every wednesday evening by enrolling me in the Cub Scouts. And then on a Friday evening when I graduated to Scouts. I loved all of it. I learnt to skin rabbits, tie knots, shoot air-rifles and all sorts of fun things that I don't think they let the Scouts do any more on the grounds of safety. One of these being night hikes.

I'd finally worked my way up to 'Patrol Leader' and had my own patrol of 6 , slightly younger, Scouts. One of whom had only just come up from the Cubs. For a night hike, each patrol in the pack would work out a route to a certain spot (in most instances, including this one, a spooky church) and navigate their way there through the dark, leaving at 10pm and aiming to arrive at 12am. The troop leaders would meet us there and drive us back to the scout hut (I have no doubt they spend most of the evening in a local pub waiting for us).

One of the traditions we had on a night hike was, upon arriving at said spooky church at midnight, for all of the troop to sit in a circle in the graveyard and to sing a particular song. Those who had been in a while knew it and it's surprise ending. Those who were new did not but were encouraged to join in. I can't remember all of the words now, but it started:

A woman to a graveyard went
Ooooooo-aaahhhhhhhhhhh
She was old and she was bent
Oooooooo-aaaahhhhhhhhhh

It was sung in a creepy, almost chanting manner and everyone joined in with the Ooooooooo-aahhhhhhhh bits, while the troop leader, Keith, would sing the main bit. The song culminates with the woman finding an open grave and speaking to the corpse inside (upon whom 'worms crawled in and worms crawled out'). The final lyrics were:

The woman to the corpse said
Ooooooo-aaaaahhhhhhhhhh
Will I be like you when I'm dead?
Oooooo-aaahhhhhhhhhhhh
The corpse to the woman said....

At this point, everyone in the know would let out the most blood curdling yell they could, absolutely terrifying anyone who hadn't heard the song before. But this time it seemed Keith had got carried away. "AAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he yelled along with the rest of us. Then "AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH"! "AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" as we all looked at him. "AGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU LITTLE SH.........BUGGER"!

Turns out my newest Scout, Ben, who'd been sitting near Keith's legs had not only pissed himself with fright, but had also sunk his teeth in to Keith's leg and wouldn't let go.

From that day on Ben was known as Gnasher and Keith had a lovely new set of scars on his leg.
(Big Smurf Brush me daddy-O, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 13:36, 3 replies)

I enjoyed
my Scouting years too.

I remember the words,

"Whenever you see a hearse go by,

ooooooooo- aaaaaa

remember that you are going to die"

Ad Infinitum
( The Mock Turtle ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 13:50, closed)

I taught my infant class to sing it on rainy lunch breaks.
You can manipulate the verses to lead towards a big scream at the end. Kids who haven't heard it before jump out of their skins!
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Wed 13 Apr 2011, 11:13, closed)

Could have been worse...
Could have got him in the Ging Gang Goolies.
(Rsoles, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 19:28, closed)