As I was going to Derby sir,
All on a market day.
I met the finest Ram sir,
That ever was fed on hay.
Daddle-I-day, daddle-I-day,
Fal-de-ral, fal-de-ral, daddle-I-day.
That, Ladies and Gentleman, is the first verse of The Ballad of the Derby Ram. Its author is unknown but it is believed to date back to the 16th Century, as is ascribed by Thomas Moult in his work of Derbyshire prose and verse. The ballad goes on to describe the ram’s anatomy and subsequent slaughter, and verse 12 says, The boys of the town begged the butcher for the eyes, to kick about in the streets as they were football size. Now there’s a foundation date to be proud of, the 1500s! To view the whole ballad just put: “Ballad of the Derby Ram” into your search engine. The ram is the symbol on Derby County’s badge and echoes the team’s nickname of “The Rams”.
The badge has a modern stylised looking ram in black and white, the club’s colours. (PIC 1) The previous badge was exactly the same but with the addition of a banner with the club’s name below. (PIC 2) There are other variations on this theme but they are all pretty similar. The earliest badge I could find is a lot less stylised ram, but none the less stylish. (PIC 3) It has the club’s initials in the chief of the shield and a rams head beneath which looks more like the ram in the ballad. The present badge presents its ram in that fashion and it can be protected by copyright as no such looking animal exists. The ram is also the emblem of the city and is believed to be of pagan origin, relating to sacrifices of ancient tribes.
Far more interesting though is its relationship with the 95th Derbyshire Regiment. The ram had been the famous mascot of the 95th since 1858, and the rams used have been official members of the regiment with their own number and documentation. He has always been known as, Private Derby, and since the first Private Derby, there have been 27 subsequent rams of the same rank, including the present Private Derby XXV. Though since writing this, he could now be a Major Curry, and Private Derby XXX could now be part of the regiment. Since 1970 the regiment has been known as the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, proud owners of the present Private Derby. Private Derby the first was acquired during the capture of Kotah during the Indian Mutiny Campaign of 1857-58. The ram was found tied up in a yard and the Commanding Officer ordered a Private Sullivan of the No1 Company of the regiment to take possession of the ram, more than likely to end up in a mutton stew, or being in India, a mutton curry. The ram, though, escaped the slaughter and ended up not as dinner but loyally following Private Sullivan on a 3,000-mile march across central India. He was present during six actions of engagement with the enemy, for which he received the India Medal with Clasp Central India, along with the remainder of the Battalion. The records show that Private Derby the first, attended 33 battles and was never defeated, a ram amongst rams. So what happened to this bravest of animals? Well in 1863 he jumped over the wall of a well and drowned!
When on parade subsequent Private Derby’s wear a scarlet coat with the regiment’s main honours and a replica of the India Mutiny Medal won by Private Derby the first. (PIC 4) Private Derby has often been marched around the pitch in his uniform before games or at half time to the delight of the home supporters. This practice has been going on from before 1959 and I would like to thank, the regiment’s historian and archivist Cliff Housley, for his help here and who was himself present at some of those games. Cliff told me: “Private Derby’s job on match days is strictly a PA and recruitment exercise, but he has surely since then become a bit of a mascot to the club as well as the regiment”. (PIC 5) The town centre has a ram as described in the ballad. It is the focal point to meet your mates or your date and as you can see in the picture a young lady in blue is waiting patiently for her own ram to arrive. (PIC 6)
I made some rather poor amateurish videos to try and showcase how interesting some of the football club’s badges are. I included Derby so if you would like to watch it and you can forgive the quality, it’s at https://youtu.be/CHUaIYtrH60 The website behindthebadges no longer exits as someone tried to scam me by buying the domain name the second it needed renewing, but I told them to go away, but this site now exists so no harm done.
The name Derby is from the Viking name Djúra-bý, written in old English as Deoraby, meaning, the village of the deer. The club itself was formed as an off-shoot of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club, a common practice at the time, and were founder members of the Football League when it began in 1888. Home used to be the Baseball Ground, which for me conjures up memories of Brian Clough, and I am one of the armies of people who can’t understand why he was never England Manager. He turned Nottingham Forest into a major club in his day and it is Forest who are the main rivals at Pride Park. Most of the 33,597 capacity stand up in the all-seated stadium in the unity of their dislike for the Nottingham side. Nottingham County and Leicester City are also local rivals. To learn more on “The Rams” then butt your way into www.dcfc.co.uk
