"The Derby Ram" or "As I was Going to Derby" is a traditional tall tale English folk song (Roud 126) that tells the story of a ram of gargantuan proportions and the difficulties involved in butchering, tanning, and otherwise processing its carcass. The song is thought to have developed from ancient pagan rituals involving the worship of rams. In the local area, it was associated with the "Old Tup" custom, a form of hoodening. The song was extremely popular in Britain by the eighteenth century, and naturally travelled to North America with settlers where it was thought to have been sung by George Washington. Because of its popularity, the city of Derby has adopted ram imagery in its architecture and for its sports teams. History Possible origins and related traditions According to A.L. Lloyd, the ram (known as "Old Tup") may be "a distinct relative of the Greek god Pan" or a representation of "the Devil himself". The tradition could have originated as the Anglo Saxon pagan midwinter ram-ritual (most prevalent in the Midlands and South Yorkshire), which involved a singing and dancing procession of men accompanying a figure dressed as a sacred animal (often a goat or a ram) which represented a life-giving, seed-proliferating god. This tradition may have survived as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. As the Christianisation of England took place, the religious aspect faded but the celebrations remained, as the procession became a means of raising beer-money. A.L. Lloyd stated that the song was sung by village youths who travelled house-to-house at midwinter (as with many other traditions such as wassailing and souling), one of whom was "dressed in sheepskin to represent the old Tup". At this point, Tup still "had the power to confer or withhold good luck for the coming year" and was linked to fertility. In the Middle Ages, mummers performed plays which involved far-fetched tales and men dressed as animals, which probably included the Derby ram. In parts of Derbyshire, plays involving the song are still performed as part of the "Old Tup" hoodening tradition. Early written accounts In 1739, the vicar of St. Alkmund's Church, Derby, wrote at the end of a letter to his son, "And thus I conclude this long story; almost as long a tale as that of the Derby Ram", which suggests that the song was widely known at least in Derby by the early eighteenth century.