G SONGS - If a query has come in and there’s no answer as yet, that song title will appear in red

GING GANG GOOLIE
GRANDMA'S LYE SOAP
GRANDMOTHER'S SONG, (see OUT UPON THE PRAIRIE on the "O" page)
GREAT GREEN GOBS
GREEN-EYED DRAGON

GING GANG GOOLIE
From Sean R: DEAR SIRS CAN YOU TELL US THE ORIGINS AND SENSE BEHIND GING GANG GOOLIE AS WE AT WORK CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT. KIND REGARDS, SEAN
Ed. Note: Sorry, I know nothing about its origins, but think that the inherent joke is that it's "non-sense."

From Brian K: When I was a kid forty years ago our music teacher said that Ging Gang Goolie was an African song and that the words actually meant something. I have no idea if this is true. In your response to a question you said the words were most likely nonsense. Could be. Or maybe it is Swahili?

A2 I've checked with an African Archeologist who is reasonably fluent in Swahili. He assures me that it is not Swahili (PR) But here follow two other replies to the GGG question:

A3 A personal history from Joy J. and the Origin of Ging Gang Guli,

 I) I don't know if you are aware that this song was composed just after World War 2. There was to be a large international Boy Scout Jamboree held in England I think. The song was written so that regardless of language everyone could learn and sing it together. After almost six years of war and the first confused years of peace it was a great celebration for Scouts and Guides to meet with their brothers and sisters from around the world.

At the time I was a Sea Ranger in the UK and I remember the excitement when we had Guides who had continued their Guiding activities in secret in Holland vist us at Foxlease for a small international get together in 1948. They had tiny hand embroidered badges about the size of a dime which they had made to keep track of their badge work.

Also we met Guiders who had volunteered with the Guide International Service and worked with refugees in various European countries. Their gear was the epitome of efficient lightweight camping. Moving around Europe in poor conditions they had to be mobile and flexible to work with the people who needed their skills. Seeing the words "Ging Gang Guli" brought back memories of those days when the war was over and the UN seemed the hope for a peaceful world. The Guide and Scout movements once again could bring young people from around the world to share the fun of living outdoors in co-operation and friendship.

II) [During the first World Jamboree B.P. (Baden Powell) was looking for a song that everyone could sing, no matter what their language was. Ging Gang Gooli was the result. It is of no language, but it means a lot of fun. The story was apparently created later. The story titled "The Great Grey Ghost Elephant" was written by Dorothy Unterschutz, a Scouter from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was published for the first time in Scouts Canada's "The Leader" magazine in the June/July 1991 issue (page 7).]
 
In the deepest darkest Africa there is a legend concerning the Great Grey Ghost Elephant. Every year, after the rains, the great grey ghost elephant arose from the mists and wandered throughout the land at dawn. When he came to a village, he would stop and sniff the air, then he would either go around the village or through it. If he went round the village, the village would have a prosperous year, if he went through it, there would be hunger and drought.

The village of Wat-Cha had been visited three years in a row by the elephant and things were very bad indeed. The village leader, Ging-Ganga was very worried, as was the village medicine man Ha-la-shay. Together, they decided to do something about the problem. Now Ging-Ganga and his warriors were huge men with big shields and spears. They decided to stand in the path of the elephant and shake their shields and spears at it to frighten it away. Hay-la-shay and his followers were going to cast magic spells to deter the elephant by shaking their medicine bags which made the sound "shalawally, shalawally, shalawally" as the elephant approached.

Very early in the morning of the day the Great Grey Elephant came, the villagers gathered at the edge of the village, on one side were Ging-Ganga and his warriors, (indicate right) and on the other