I Met a Whore in the Park

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"I Met a Whore in the Park" (aka "Yo-Ho") is a traditional rugby song [1] that is sung at drink ups after rugby games, or just at gatherings of different rugby teams or players. In traditional rugby songs, one line of the song is sung by an individual person, and then the rest of the people involved in the song repeat that line. The individual person usually changes throughout the group of people singing along with each verse. The song is also quite popular in American drum & bugle corps, where the whole group usually sings in unison, as opposed to the original call and responses format.

Rugby refers to the team sports rugby league and rugby union. Legend claims that rugby football was started about 1845 in Rugby School, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, although forms of football in which the ball was carried and tossed date to medieval times. Rugby eventually split into two sports in 1895 when twenty-one clubs split from the original Rugby Football Union, to form the Northern Union in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, Northern England over the issue of payment to players, thus making rugby league the first code to turn professional and pay its players, rugby union turned fully professional in 1995. Both sports are run by their respective world governing bodies World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation. Rugby football was one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. Although rugby league initially used rugby union rules, they are now wholly separate sports. In addition to these two codes, both American and Canadian football evolved from rugby football.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Drum and bugle corps (modern) marching group of brass and percussion instrumentalists

A modern drum and bugle corps is a musical marching ensemble consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, synthesizers, color guard, and choreographic movements. Typically operating as independent non-profit organizations, drum corps perform in competitions, parades, festivals, and other civic functions. Participants of all ages are represented within the band activity, but the majority are between the ages of 13 and 22 and are members of corps within Drum Corps International or Drum Corps Associates.

This rugby song stays in tune with the standard of one person singing and a chorus following in after. Sometimes one individual will sing the original lines in all the verses instead of changing after each verse. Someone starts singing the song by saying, "I met a whore in the park one day!", then the other individuals say, "Ya ho, ya ho."

Printed Examples

Recorded Examples

  1. See Ed Cray's The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs. Second Edition page 318

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