Towerbank School Song

[Bob Jefferson]

I spotted this on the Towerbank website. Can anyone help?

Old School Song

Can anyone help remember the old school song from the 1950s. All we have so far is:

"Towerbank we praise thee our school by the sea, Raising our voices triumphantly"

[arachnid]

I remember those very same words!!! But as for the rest, I can't remember them either!! I know it was Mrs Dale our music teacher who wrote it and taught it to us.
She also wrote a " Halloween" song for us. For some reason I can remember the first verse of that one!

" It's Halloween and witches fly
On their broomsticks through the sky,
Each is wearing a pokey hat,
And each has got a big, black cat!"

[Porty]

"Towerbank we praise thee our school by the sea, Raising our voices triumphantly

Our parent council fills us with glee, especially the boss the great Seanie.

Mrs Gilmour is our beloved mentor, what on earth's she playing at with the Student Support Centre...

[Pal of Porty]

Mrs Dale. Now there is a blast from the past! The only school song I remember singing was "Puff the Magic Dragon who lived by the sea" etc. I do however vivdly remember the "Singing Together" lessons.

[Epykat]

We've even had a whole thread about Mrs Dale's other great penning:

Ope et Consilio
Sing it high and sing it low
Ope et Consilio
Means by work and advice

It's the motto of Portobello
And the best school in the land
So sing it altogether
And work with head and hand

Ope et Consilio
Sing it everywhere you go
Ope et Consilio
Means by work and advice

She was a rival to the likes of John Lennon I reckon.

[Bob Jefferson]

We now have two verses and the chorus, and more importantly, the tune.

Verse 1
School is the cradle and strength of a nation
Forth from its gates springs the youth of today
Filled with the power and the strength of creation
New worlds to fashion, old orders to sway

Chorus
Towerbank we praise thee our school by the sea
Raising our voices now triumphantly

Verse 2
Youth yields to manhood in rapid succession,
Theirs are the hands moulding destiny's clay,
Theirs are the voices to end all oppression,
Theirs are the hearts to keep evil at bay

There may be other verses. Can anyone remember?

[Eveliza]

I realised we never finished this story. It was a combined effort putting the words and music together and it ended with the invitation from the school heads to come in and teach it to the entire school. Myself (Evelyn Langlands aka Eliza Langland) and Dona Easton (ex principal of Music at Leith Academy) both of us classmates from the age of 5 at Towerbank, had to pleasure of visiting and leading the entire school in learning the song and singing it together in the bottom hall, Dona at the piano, teachers and pupils all singing together. Lucy stepped in at the piano on another day when it was time to teach it to the wee ones. The words were projected on a white board and the wee'est ones, bless them though they were clearly too young to actually be reading them, stood there singing along as if they could read perfectly well. This is a truly special wee school. We love it still and we loved it then. It was a moving experience we wish we could have shared more widely.
So here's the words all restored and a couple of new verses to boot:

"Towerbank We Praise Thee"
School song of Towerbank Primary School, Portobello, Edinburgh.
Original words written by – unknown, date - unknown

Original words as remembered by Alan Langlands and Christine Archibald. New words by written Eliza Langland.

School is the cradle and strength of a nation
Forth from its gates springs the youth of today
Filled with the power and the strength of creation
New worlds to fashion, old orders to sway

Chorus:
Towerbank we praise thee our school by the sea
Raising our voices now triumphantly

Youth yields to manhood in rapid succession,
Theirs are the hands molding destiny's clay,
Theirs are the voices to end all oppression,
Theirs are the hearts to keep evil at bay.

(New words mixed with old as suggested alternative to second verse)
Children, the future, the hope and the foundation
Theirs is the hands molding destiny’s clay
Onward and upward to life’s destination
Taking their place in our hearts as we say

Chorus

(new words : Adult ex-pupils)
We who remember our childhood education
Think of those years as if just yesterday
This is the forge where our futures were fashioned
Proudly we sing gathered here on this day

Chorus

(New words: Primary 1, 2 and 3)
We are the wee ones but we are getting bigger
We watch and listen and grow every day
Learning and playing we trust in your blessing
And we’ll remember when we sang today

Chorus:
Towerbank we praise thee our school by the sea
Raising our voices now triumphantly

[Bob Jefferson]

Eveliza, thanks for this. What happened to the idea of an audio recording or film of the song being sung for posterity?

[Porty]

Eveliza - that's a great story and thank you for sharing it. I presume Dona is Heather's big sis?