Of course there's more to debating than just the debate itself.  The reception afterwards often involves a lot of singing (particularly if Irish or Scots are there in large numbers).  Some times the songs begin even before the reception (as anyone at the Worlds final in Sydney would have noticed with the Irish & Scots sitting in opposite balconies).  Here are some songs you'll hear.....

'The Fields of Athenry'

(The Irish Debating Anthem.  A song about the favourite subject of all Irish debaters at an English IV.  800 years of suffering and death at the hands the English)

By a lonely prison wall,

I heard a young girl call:

"Michael, they have taken you away,

For you stole Trevelyn's corn,

So the young might see the morn.

Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."

Refrain:

Low lie the fields of Athenry

Where once we watched the small free birds fly

Our love was on the wing

We had dreams and songs to sing

It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

By a lonely prison wall,

I heard a young man call

"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free

Against the famine and the crown,

I rebelled, they cut me down.

Now you must raise our child with dignity."

Refrain:

By a lonely harbor wall,

She watched the last star fall

As the prison ship sailed out against the sky

For she lived to hope and pray

For her love in Botany Bay

It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

"Flower of Scotland"

(The Scotland Debating Anthem.  Sung by the Scots to remind them of a time long long ago when they defeated the English.  Sung by the Irish to remind the Scots that they are no longer independent....)

O Flower of Scotland,

When will we see

Your like again,

That fought and died for,

Your wee bit Hill and Glen,

And stood against him,

Proud Edward's Army,

And sent him homeward,

Tae think again.

The Hills are bare now,

And Autumn leaves

lie thick and still,

O'er land that is lost now,

Which those so dearly held,

That stood against him,

Proud Edward's Army,

And sent him homeward,

Tae think again.

Those days are past now,

And in the past

they must remain,

But we can still rise now,

And be the nation again,

That stood against him,

Proud Edward's Army,

And sent him homeward,

Tae think again.

Flower of Scotland,

When will we see

your like again,

That fought and died for,

Your wee bit Hill and Glen,

And stood against him,

Proud Edward's Army,

And sent him homeward,

'There is an Isle'

(The Debating anthem of Limerick and increasingly the Irish Colleges in general.  The Rugby anthem of Thomond Park ("Fortress" home of Shannon RFC & Munster).  Many Limerick Debaters (Pigott, McElligott, Sheehan etc) have played underage for Shannon & Munster so "The Isle" is sung with passion when they lead it)

There is an Isle

A bonnie Isle

Stands proudly from

Stands proudly from the sea

And dearer far than all this world

Is that dear Isle

Is that dear Isle to me

It is not that alone it stands

Where all around is fresh and fair

But because, it is my native land

And my home, my home is there

But because, it is my native land

And my home, my home is there

Farewell, farewell

Though lands may meet

May meet my gaze

My gaze where e're I roam

I shall not find

A spot so fair

As that dear Isle

As that dear Isle to me

It is not that alone it stands

Where all around is fresh and fair

But because, it is my native land

And my home, my home is there

But because, it is my native land

And my home, my home is there

'Waltzing Matilda'

(The following is considered to be Australia's unofficial national anthem.  Unsurprisingly, given the fact that Australia is populated by descendants of the criminal elements of the British Empire, the song is about a man on the run from the law)

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong

Under the shade of a Coolibah tree,

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,

Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,

And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"

Waltzing Maltilda, walzing Matilda,

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me,

And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,

"You'll come a-walzing Matilda with me!"

Up rode the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred,

Down came the troopers, one, two, three,

Whose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag,

"You'll come a-walzing Matilda with me!"

Waltzing Maltilda, walzing Matilda,

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me,

Whose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag,

"You'll come a-walzing Matilda with me!"

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,

You'll never catch me alive, said he,

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

"You'll come a-walzing Matilda with me!"

Waltzing Maltilda, walzing Matilda,

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me,

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

'Swing Low Sweet Chariot'

(English debating Anthem.  Like the Irish and Scottish Anthems has its origins as the Rugby anthem.  A Song about an English man about to die...... therefore it is also pouplar among the Scots & Irish)

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Swing low, sweet chariot

Comin' for to carry me home;

Swing low, sweet chariot

Comin' for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and

What did I see,

Comin' for to carry me home?

A band of angels comin' after me,

Comin' for to carry me home

Swing low, sweet chariot

Comin' for to carry me home

If you get there before I do

Comin' for to carry me home,

Tell all my friends I'm comin' too

Comin' for to carry me home

Swing low, sweet chariot

Comin' for to carry me home;

Sometimes I'm up,

Sometimes I'm down,

Comin' for to carry me home;

Yet still my soul feels heavn'ly bound,

Comin' for to carry me home

Swing low, sweet chariot

Comin' for to carry me home

'A Soldiers Song'

(The offisial National Anthem of the Republic Ireland.  At a GAA match in Ireland the last two lines are traditionally drowned out by cheering.  Therefore when being sung at debating events you'll the Irish usually stop in confusion at the end as we suddenly realise no one has a clue how the song ends)

Version in Irish

Amhrán na bhFiann

Sinne Firnna Fáil

A tá fé gheall ag éirinn,

buion dár slua

Thar toinn do ráinig chugainn,

Fé mhóid bheith saor.

Sean tír ár sinsir feasta

Ní fhagfar fé'n tiorán ná fén tráil

Anocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil,

Le gean ar Ghaeil chun báis nó saoil

Le guna screach fé lámhach na bpiléar

Seo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann.

Version in English

Soldiers are we

whose lives are pledged to Ireland;

Some have come

from a land beyond the wave.

Sworn to be free,

No more our ancient sire land

Shall shelter the despot or the slave.

Tonight we man the gap of danger

In Erin's cause, come woe or weal

"Mid cannons" roar and rifles peal,

'The Star Spangled Banner'

(US National Anthem.  A song about a flag................)

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out of of their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave'

From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.