View source for Give My Regards to Davy

{{Short description|Fight song of Cornell University}}
[[Image:Davy and TF Crane 1910.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Frederick Crane|Tee Fee Crane]] and "Davy" in the 1910s]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
"'''Give My Regards to Davy'''" is [[Cornell University]]'s primary [[fight song]]. The song's lyrics were written in 1905 by Cornell alumni Charles E. Tourison (1905), W. L. Umstad (1906), and Bill Forbes (1906), a trio of roommates at [[Beta Theta Pi]], and set to the tune of [[George M. Cohan]]'s "[[Give My Regards to Broadway]]".<ref>Songs of Cornell, compiled and edited by Thomas A. Sokol; Cornell University Glee Club, Ithaca, New York, 1988</ref> 

The song refers to a fictional encounter between an anonymous student, David Fletcher "Davy" Hoy (for whom [[Hoy Field]] is named), the registrar and secretary for the committee on student conduct, and [[Thomas Frederick Crane|Thomas Frederick "Tee Fee" Crane]], the Professor of Languages and the first Dean of the [[Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences|College of Arts and Sciences]] revolving around the student's expulsion for [[binge drinking]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rso.cornell.edu/MarchingBand/davy.html |title=Marching Band |access-date=September 7, 2006 |archive-date=September 10, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910112652/http://www.rso.cornell.edu/MarchingBand/davy.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hoy was known for his ferocity as a strict disciplinarian. Crane, on the other hand, was generally well liked among students. "Piker" is believed to be a historical [[slang]] term for a [[freshman]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Dear Uncle Ezra |publisher=Cornell University |url=http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1161838800#question2 |access-date=2008-02-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612081015/http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1161838800 |archive-date=2007-06-12 }}</ref> but it actually means a poor student or slacker.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Barrett|first=Grant|date=December 5, 2020|title=Language Mysteries in Fight Song Lyrics, Like "Piker"|url=https://www.waywordradio.org/fight-song-lyrics/|access-date=December 7, 2020|website=A Way with Words}}</ref> 

Theodore Zinck's was a bar in downtown Ithaca that has since closed. Its legend still lives on in the weekly event for seniors "[[Cornelliana#Zinck's Night|Zinck's Night]]", which is celebrated worldwide in October by [[List of Cornell University alumni|Cornellians]].<ref name="MarchingBand">{{cite web|title=The Cornell Fight Song |publisher=Cornell University |url=http://www.rso.cornell.edu/MarchingBand/davy.html |access-date=2006-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910112652/http://www.rso.cornell.edu/MarchingBand/davy.html |archive-date=2006-09-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Lyrics==
The original and best known lyrics:

:''Give my regards to Davy,''
:''Remember me to Tee Fee Crane.''
:''Tell all the pikers on the Hill''
:''That I'll be back again.''
:''Tell them just how I busted''
:''Lapping up the high [[Highball glass|highball]].''
:''We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's''
:''When I get back next fall!''

==Parodies==
In 1920, to reflect the changing diversions of students, ''[[The Cornell Daily Sun]]'' published a new version of the song under pen name of "Lord Helpus."

:''Give my regards to Gladys''
:''Remember me to Maud and Jane''
:''Tell all the tea-hounds on the Hill''
:''That I'll be back again''
:''Tell them just how I busted''
:''Listening to the [[jazz]] band's call --''
:''Oh! we'll all write a berry in the old Wisterie''
:''When I get back next fall!''

Sometime in the 1950s, another unofficial version appeared,<ref>{{cite web|title=Omicron Zeta Songs |publisher=Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity |url=http://www.iswza.org/culture/songbook.html |access-date=2006-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617230834/http://iswza.org/culture/songbook.html |archive-date=2006-06-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> referring to President [[Deane Waldo Malott|Deane Malott]]'s "Social Events Standards"<ref>
{{cite web
  | author = P. McCray (compiler)
  | title = Guide to the Deane W. Malott Papers, 1951-1964
  | work = Collection Number: 3-9-651
  | publisher = Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
  | date = 1951–1964
  | url = http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMA00651.html
  | format = Correspondence, office files.
  | access-date = 2006-09-06 }}
</ref> that attempted to ban fraternity parties, to ban women from visiting men's off-campus apartments, and to maintain the strict curfews and sign-in/out times for women.  This verse is only a modest form of outrage as compared to the protests that were staged. At one, students burned an effigy of Malott. Mobs formed, including one that marched to President Malott's house demanding his resignation and throwing eggs, rocks, and smoke bombs.<ref>Rossiter, Caleb. ''The Chimes of Freedom Flashing''. TCA Press, 1996</ref>

:''Give my regards to [[Ezra Cornell|Ezra]]
:''Remember me to [[Andrew Dickson White|Andy White]].''
:''Tell all the virgins on the Hill''
:''That I'll be back some night.''
:''Tell them just how I licked it,''
:''Lappin' up the brew at Jim's.''
:''We'll all take shots at Deane Malott's''
:''When I get back again!''

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://mb.bigredbands.org/Music/01%20(Give%20my%20regards%20to)%20Davy.mp3 'Give My Regards to Davy' as performed by the Cornell Big Red Marching Band] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920195853/http://mb.bigredbands.org/music/01%20(Give%20my%20regards%20to)%20Davy.mp3 |date=September 20, 2013 }}
*[http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/remember/songs/mp3/Cornell%20University%20Glee%20Club%20-%20Songs%20of%20Cornell%20-%2004%20-%20Give%20My%20Regards%20to%20Davy.mp3 'Give My Regards to Davy' as Performed by Cornell University Glee Club]
*{{Google books|wjA6AAAAMAAJ|Songs of Cornell}}

{{Cornell Big Red football navbox}}
{{Cornell Big Red men's basketball navbox}}
{{Cornell}}
{{Ivy League fight song navbox}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Give My Regards To Davy}}
[[Category:1905 songs]]
[[Category:Cornell University]]
[[Category:Ivy League fight songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by George M. Cohan]]