"From Rugby Road to Vinegar Hill" is a University of Virginia drinking song that has been in the Virginia Glee Club repertoire since at least the late 1940s/early 1950s, though it is rarely performed onstage.

The song has met with controversy recently, having been removed from the Cavalier Marching Band's playlist with claims that its lyrics promote sexual assault.^[1]

OriginsEdit

The song is sung to the tune of Charles Ives' "Son of a Gambolier," the same tune as "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech." Many of the verses have origins in older drinking songs; for instance, the line about "never let a Virginia man an inch above your knee" echoes the Scottish song "The Dundee Weaver":

Come aa ye Dundee weavers an tak this advise fae me
Never let a fellae an inch abune yer knee^[2]

LyricsEdit

As the Cavalier Daily noted in 1967, the lyrics to the song are "the result of spontaneous composition over the years and have been known to vary from the version presented here."^[3]

From Rugby Road to Vinegar Hill, We're gonna get drunk tonight.
The faculty's afraid of us, They know we're in the right,
So fill your cups, your loving cups, As full as full can be,
And as long as love and liquor last, We'll drink to the U. of V.

Refrain: Oh, I think we need another drink! Heh!
I think we need another drink! Heh!
I think we need another drink! Heh!
I think we need another drink! To the glory of the U. Va.

All you girls from Mary Washington and R.M.W.C,
Never let a Virginia man an inch above your knee,
He'll take you to his fraternity house and fill you full of beer,
And soon you'll be the mother of a bouncing Cavalier!

alternate verses:
From Carrols to the Corner, We will drink our beer and shout,
And if the faculty objects, They can only throw us out.
So fill up your cups, your loving cups, As full as full can be,
And as long as love and liquor last, We'll drink to the U. of V.^[3]

Performance practiceEdit

"From Rugby Road to Vinegar Hill" is generally performed, and has always been recorded by the Glee Club, in combination with two other brief songs, "Glory, Glory to Virginia" (to the tune of the chorus of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") and "Fill Up Your Silver Goblet."

RecordingsEdit

Because of its subject matter, "From Rugby Road to Vinegar Hill" has been less frequently recorded than other University songs.

• Songs of the University of Virginia (album)
• A Shadow's on the Sundial
• Songs of Virginia

ReferencesEdit