What is the origin of the "oggy oggy oggy, oi oi oi" crowd chant?

fue192000

One possible theory for the origin of the chant stems from Cornwall. An Oggy is a slang term for a Cornish pasty. Tin-miners' wives supposedly shouted "Oggy Oggy Oggy" when they dropped pasties down mine shafts to their husbands, to warn them their lunch was about to drop in on them. Charming though this story is, it is only a story told to 'emmets' (Cornish for 'ants' or the tourists who invade Cornwall in the summer), for although pasties were the staple fare of tin miners even the most bullet-proof of pastry would not have survived the drop down a Wheal shaft. The chant is also the chorus of a Cornish folk song and has always been heard at Cornish rugby matches so this seems the most likely origin. The Oxford English Dictionary (2004) entry for "Oggy" states: "Oggy, noun. West Country regional (orig. Cornwall) and Navy slang. A Cornish pasty. Probably an alteration of Cornish hoggan pastry, pie (18th century), perhaps cognate with Welsh chwiogen muffin, simnel-cake (1562), of unknown origin."[1] Members of the Royal Navy claim to have used the chant, or a version of it, since the Second World War.[2] It was then adopted at British football grounds at some point during the postwar period, and was certainly in common use by the 1960s. In the 1970s the Welsh folk singer and comedian Max Boyce popularised the chant in order to excite the crowd at his concerts. Boyce was also a big rugby union fan, and through him it then began to be adopted by Welsh rugby union crowds at international matches. Soon it spread to rugby crowds at club level and eventually to many other sporting occasions at all levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oggy_oggy_oggy Jun 17 07, 11:59 AM