The School Song

We sing of days now past and gone, we sing of days to be;
A song to fire the mind of youth and kindle memory,
We sing of one who built our school, on Simla’s tree-crowned hill.
Whose motto and whose name it bears to spur us onward still. 

CHORUS
And we’ll not forget that motto Cotton’s motto.
You must never, never, never be o’ercome.
When both friends and fortune fail.
When wild fears and doubts assail,
With our motto we’ll prevail, and overcome.
CHORUS……….

We sing of breathless escapades, of pranks and dangers sweet,
Of all the mad-hat sport that comes when men and mountain meet.
Our song is of the purpling clouds, the pine trees tall and straight,
The lightning’s stab, the thunder’s roll, the streams in headlong spate.

CHORUS

So here’s to haunts of joyous Youth, to Karam’s tempting stock,
To Potter’s and to Bigster’s Pool, to Wolf Cubs Council Rock,
To Paradise, that pleasant vale, and Chor with mantle white,
And Tara’s Gap through which the plains spread out beyond our sight. 

CHORUS

And here’s to all those hard-fought games we’ve played against Sanawar,
And all those giants of yesterday, who’ve had their glorious hour,
The cricket crease, the boxing ring, the sharp- stoned hockey field,
Where teams are never beaten whilst they still refuse to yield. 

CHORUS

And so from those who’ve gone before to those who’ve yet to come.
We pass our motto loud and clear, All Evil Overcome,
As true as is brother’s love, As close as ivy grows,
We’ll stand foursquare throughout our lives, to every wind that blows.

This is the third and current version of the school song written in 1930 by Jack Hammond, the English teacher and Canon Peacey, the Headmaster; Lawrence Crosthwaite’s talents were utilised in putting the words to music.