A not-so-sweet chariot

From Tony Kench Sir: I, too, was surprised that Frank Keating (Sport, 25 March) was unfamiliar with rugby's long-standing affection for 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'. It goes back much further than 1988 and certainly never had the racial connotations that your correspondent Robert Low imputes (Letters, 1 April). It was popular in bawdy rugby-club sing-songs at least as far back as the early 1960s. The words of 'Swing Low' were not bawdy, but the actions were: every individual word -- sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home -- had its own explicit action or sign. I remember with amusement the first time Sky televised rugby from Twickenham. On hearing 'Swing Low', the cameraman zoomed in on the singing crowd, who were lustily performing all the accompanying actions. The camera turned hurriedly away.

Tony Kench London EC1

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