The Royal College, the oldest Public School in Sri Lanka lagged behind other Colleges without a College Song until Principal H. L. Reed composed and set to music ‘School of Our Fathers’ in the Third Term of 1927. The Music was later revised by S. Schmid.
In the following year when the Royal College won the ‘Meaden Shield’ at the Schools Singing Competition for the 8th year in succession, ‘School of Our Fathers’ presented at the competition was a ‘hit tune’. Much credit for the magnificent performance of the College Choir goes to Mrs. H.L. Reed who was assisted by R.C. Edwards. The College Song made its public debut on the 13th of July, 1928.
A College Song provides inspiration, a fervour and an attachment to one’s old College. To the Old Boys its nostalgia, of the years that were, the happy carefree boyhood days. To the young ‘Uns’ who now bear the torch, the College Song is something for every conversable occasion. They sing themselves hoarse. They sing with pride – their own ‘anthem’. One has to witness them rendering the College Song with gusto – there’s happiness written on their faces.
The College Song in English is as follows:
School of Our Fathers
Thy spirit first to life awoke
In eighteen hundred and thirty five;
Beneath the sway of Marsh and Boake,
Thenceforth did Lanka’s learning thrive.
Refrain
School where our fathers, learnt the way before us
Learnt of books and learnt of men, through thee we’ll do the same
True to our watchword ”Disce Aut Discede”
We will learn of books and men, and learn to play the game
Within thy shade our fathers trod
The path that leads to man’s estate;
They have repaid the debt they owed;
They kept thy fame inviolate.
Refrain
And we their loyal sons now bear
The torch, with hearts as sound as oak;
Our lusty throats now raise a cheer
For Hartley, Harward, Marsh and Boake.
College song in Sinhala
College song in Sinhala
After Ceylon was granted independence in 1948, the College Song continued in English until a song in Sinhala was composed in 1962 by a staff member W. A. Wickramasena, who was Music Master. Principal, Dudley De Silva’s Prize Day Report (1962) says, “They have been working hard at a College Song in Sinhala, which you will have the pleasure of hearing today (1st December).” The lyrics were by another staff member S. J. F. Dissanayake.
පාසැල් ගීය
1962
සිසු හද කුමුදු ප්‍රබෝධ කරමු
ශ්‍රී ලක් අඹරේ පායන තරිඳු
රජකීය මහ විදුහල් මාතා
කිතු ගොස දස දිග ජයකොත් නංවා
මවුබිම නිදහස ගෙන දුන් සුරුවො
දෑහිත කාමින් හා චින්තකයෝ
සුන්දර පුරවැසියෝ නුවණැතියෝ
මාතාවනි ඔබතින් බිහිවූවෝ
පියමුතු වඩිහිටි අපගේ ලෝවැඩ
සැලසූ බීසත් කිරි මාතා
අපිද එසේ ශාස්ත්‍රා ක්‍රීඩා
උගනිමු මතුවැඩ සාදනසේ
අපටා සතුවූ යුතුකම් සපුරා
රැගෙනා පෙරමුණ ලංකාද්වීපා
රකිමු ඔබේ ගරු නාමය සතතා
වීරකල් සුදිලේ විදුහල් මාතා
In 1968, a shorter version of the College Song in Sinhala was again composed on the instructions of the Principal by the same combination which composed the first song, Masters W. A. Wickramasena and S. J. F. Dissanayake.
පාසැල් ගීය
1968
පුන් සඳේ සිරි දිනූ – රන් පුතුන් බිහි කෙරූ
රාජකීය විදුහල සිරි නංවමූ ///
හොබවමු – ලකඹරේ
සෑම ජාති සමය හා – සමඟි දාමයෙන් වෙලූ
රාජකීය විද්‍යාල මාතා – රකිනෙමු ඔබෙ ගරු නම සදා
පිය පුතුන්සේ සූර වූ – සිප් සතන් හදාරමු
ධීර වීර ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ ඒ පුතුන්ගේ පා – සටහනින් යමු දිරි නගා
උගනිවු නත පිටවෙනු – මේ අපේ පාඨයේ
සාරයෙන් මිනිස් දහම් සතන් සදා – කිත් අලු පතුරමු සදා