The Rattlin' Bog in Schools: Spreading the Joy (And the Chaos)
I got an email last week from a forum user called Aoife — hello Aoife, thanks for writing — who is a primary school music teacher in Tipperary. She told me a story that made me laugh so hard Rattlin' the cat jumped off my lap and hid under the couch.
Aoife teaches The Rattlin' Bog to her third class every year. She says it's the highlight of her entire curriculum. The kids LOVE it. They go absolutely mental for it. She said — and I'm quoting directly here — "By the flea verse they're standing on desks and I can hear the principal's footsteps in the corridor, and I regret nothing."
Aoife, you are a hero.
The Perfect School Song
Think about it. The Rattlin' Bog is everything a school song should be:
It's educational. It teaches cumulative structure and memory skills. Each verse requires you to recall all the previous items in order. That's memory training disguised as fun. The kids don't even realise they're learning.
It's participatory. Every kid can sing the chorus from the first time through. You don't need musical ability. You don't need to read music. You don't need to be able to carry a tune (though it helps). You just need to open your mouth and join in.
It's energetic. Kids have energy. Enormous, terrifying amounts of energy. The Rattlin' Bog gives them somewhere to PUT that energy. The increasing speed, the shouting, the laughter — it's a pressure valve. Better they release it singing about a flea in a bog than climbing the walls during maths.
It's Irish. In a time when kids are bombarded with American and British pop music (no offence to either, but you know what I mean), The Rattlin' Bog connects them to their own tradition. It's a piece of Irish heritage that's actually FUN, which is not something you can say about every piece of the curriculum.
Aoife's Method
Aoife shared her teaching method and it's brilliant, so I'm sharing it here for any teachers reading:
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Start with just the chorus. Teach them "Ho ro the rattlin' bog" and nothing else. Get them singing it, clapping along, feeling the rhythm. This takes about two minutes because kids pick songs up instantly.
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Add one verse at a time. Don't try to teach the whole song at once. One verse per go-through. Bog first, then tree, then limb. Let the chain build naturally.
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Let the speed happen. Don't try to control the tempo. The kids will speed up on their own. That's the whole point. Let them.
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Accept the chaos. By verse seven or eight, it will be loud. It will be messy. Some kids will be doing actions. Some will be making up their own verses. One will probably be standing on a chair. This is correct. This is how the song works.
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Finish together. No matter how chaotic it gets, make sure everyone hits that final "the bog down in the valley-o" together. That shared landing is everything.
The Principal Problem
Aoife also mentioned — and I've heard this from other teachers too — that principals are not always fans. Something about noise levels and disruption to adjacent classrooms. Something about the time Ms. O'Sullivan's fourth class couldn't concentrate on their Irish test because the third class was bellowing about a flea through the wall.
To which I say: if the choice is between a quiet Irish test and thirty children experiencing the joy of communal singing, I know which one I'd choose.
Why It Matters
I wrote about teaching my nephew Cian and how he picked it up instantly and wouldn't stop singing it. That's what happens with kids. They absorb songs the way they absorb everything — quickly, completely, and with total commitment.
When a teacher like Aoife teaches The Rattlin' Bog to a classroom full of eight-year-olds, she's not just filling time. She's planting seeds. Those kids will remember the song for the rest of their lives. Some of them will teach it to their own children. Some of them will sing it at sessions in pubs they haven't been to yet, in towns they haven't moved to yet, with friends they haven't met yet.
That's the oral tradition at work. And it starts in a classroom in Tipperary with a teacher who doesn't mind the principal's footsteps.
A Request
If you're a teacher and you use The Rattlin' Bog in your classroom, email me. I want to hear your stories. The good ones, the chaotic ones, the ones where the principal came in and ended up singing along (it happens, I'm told).
And if you're a principal: let them sing the bog. Trust me on this one.
BogLord2002
P.S. — Aoife says the kids have started calling her "Miss Bog." She considers this the greatest professional achievement of her career. I couldn't agree more.