Bude is a small seaside town in northern Cornwall. During the 1960s former Shamrock Club President Mick Smith was working as a Lifeguard in that area and when the Bude Rugby Club was formed in 1965 Mick became a foundation member of it and even captained the side. He mixed summer lifesaving duties with winter rugby before returning to Wollongong and joining Shamrocks in the late 60s, just in time to become involved in the foundation years of the merged Woonona sides. His friendship with Cornish mates resulted in a number of them being coaxed to the Australian coastal lifestyle, with at first Peter Vickery and then ex-RN sailor Dave Mayor visiting, playing and staying at Woonona.

The Bude Division of the Shamrocks: Ron Camm, Martin ‘Mini’ Fry, Dave Troke, Dave Mayor ,Peter Vickery, Rolo McGrath, Alan Bloomfield, (RingIn), Rick Sheppard, Jan Hicks.

Subsequently, many more Bude players made the pilgrimage to Woonona, and many of the Shamrocks returned the visits. Some of the Bude boys were handy players. Dave Mayor, Max Aitken, and Alan Bloomfield were all selected for Illawarra, and Dave Troke and Jan Hicks were also first graders. They came with an accent that made conversation almost impossible especially after sessions at the pub and their fine repertoire of bawdy Rugby songs certainly introduced the club to the fine Rugby tradition of ribald song. This resulted in the publication of the Shamrocks Hymn book that was to be a source of either shock or pleasure to those fortunate enough to experience the choral delights of the Shammies choir in full voice.

In 1985 the Bude Club played a ‘test match’ against the touring Gangrenes at Bude after their participation in the London Golden Oldies tournament. Rugby and the Falcon Inn were the winners.

The infusion of “the old country” rugby culture into the blossoming Shamrocks culture was begun by Peter Vickery, who having recently arrived in Woonona from Bude in Cornwall, and brimming with the knowledge of Cornish rugby traditions helped form the Shamrock Choir. The Shamrocks Hymn Book was compiled to help support the choir at post match partying and associated coach trips and tours. Although the patrons of the Hooper’s Royal Hotel in Woonona were initially a little reluctant to croon and chant, when ‘Gravel Chords’ Sluggo Walker became lead singer on Saturday nights everyone was soon made aware of the choral delights associated with Shamrocks club rugby.

Shamrocks “Hymn Book”

Some of the notable songs included in this book were:

· The Alphabet Song

· The Virgin Sturgeon

· The Ringy Rang Doo

· The Good Ship Venus

· No Balls at All

· The Woodpeckers Hole

In the early years when the Woonona boys travelled by bus, or wherever they gathered in honour of rugby, there was usually a “Choirmaster”, whose job it was to ensure that the throats were lubricated, and the songs were sung. Unfortunately, with time, aging and relocation of the founding Shamrocks, along with the increased presence of women and children in the post match events and the changing social standards, such ribald communal singing has disappeared into the Clubs history….such is life.

An interesting story involving Dave Mayor, from Bude, appears in the Trips Away chapter of the book: “In the mid 70s after Vikings had returned to Wollongong Leagues Club to celebrate their win in the B Grade Grand Final and the Club Championship, some of the crowd that were helping them celebrate were a couple of Shamrocks. The Vikings noticed that the Shammies were eyeing off the premiership cup as it was being passed around with beery contents. And while they paid close attention on the progress of their cup around the room they failed to notice that Dave Mayor had gone missing. Ken Phillis had noticed that the Club Championship Shield was being left unattended, and so they missed the passing of the Shield out the back window to the waiting boy from Bude. The Shammies finished up at Austinmer RSL Club with the George Tipper Club Championship proudly on display. It is not known when the Vikings noticed it was missing but it was eventually returned to the rightful keepers the next week.”

There’s also this memorable anecdote in the book: “In 1973 Dave Mayor (from Bude) arrived in Woonona from the Cornwall winter the day before the first ever comp game against Uni in 1970 and met up with the boys at Hoopers for Friday night pre-game drinks. He got plastered and was very hungover for the game which was played in very warm autumn weather (the high 20s), and Dave just managed to make half time. He rushed to the garbage bin full of ice and grabbed what he thought was chilled water to put out his “raging internal fire”. He had swallowed a considerable quantity before he realized he was drinking the “Shamrock Champagne”, and after considerable gagging and coughing, a laughing Sluggo Walker sympathized with “Get it down ya you Pommie bastard – it’s a heart starter”. Welcome to Australia.”

In 1974, another Cornish connection emerged when Shamrocks joined forces with Dundas Valley Rugby Club for a tour to the west coast of the USA, traveling under the name of the Colonials. The on field performances were said to be average – the off-field performances were said to be “top shelf”. There were about a dozen Shamrocks in the group with Ferg being selected Captain because of his better fluency with the American language. Huntington Beach Unicorns hosted the tourists and games were played against them, and a few other local teams as well as participation in the San Diego Rugby tournaments. The games were not memorable which is why no results were recorded, but the partying was (and no results were kept for that either). Chico Gill and Mike Dart were two of the yanks who billeted the players and they were so impressed they came to Woonona for a visit in 1975, with Chico staying permanently.

The Cornish connection continues today, with several generations of players having traveled between the two areas, maintaining a rugby friendship that has lasted for decades.

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Excerpt from “50 Years of Rugby: The Woonona Way” by Mick Traynor, documenting the history of the Woonona Shamrocks Rugby Union Football Club from 1970 to 2019. Reproduced with permission from the author.

To read more of the book, you can download it here.