The Derby Ram poem

In partnership with Wild in Art, Derby Museums are bringing a flock of 30 colourful and unique 5ft rams on a trail around the beautiful city of Derby. 

Our ram sculpture is based on the mythical Derby Ram from the 18th Century song, which according to legend was ten yards high with enormous horns and a huge flowing fleece. We invite you to take a moment to enjoy a collaborative re-telling of the poem here based on a series of lantern slides in our collection (see below). The story tells how people from all over came to see the huge Derby Ram, and we are excited that people will once again flock to Derby for the Derby Ram Trail.

We hope you enjoy the boastful nature of the piece and visit Derby to enjoy the free family art trail from 27 May to 22 August 2021. 

Derby Museums would like to thank all of the wonderful collaborators who took time out of lockdown to film themselves delivering this piece. 

For more information and to sign up to receive updates about the trail, please visit DerbyRamTrail.org. 

Collaborators

Sarah Parish - Actress - @DrSarahParish - @sarahparish23

Charles Hanson - Hansons Auctioneers - https://hansonsauctioneers.co.uk - @HansonsAuctions / @HansonsUK

Andrew Smyth - GBBO Finalist and Rolls-Royce Engineer - https://www.cakesmyth.com - @cakesmyth

Wendy Holden - Number One Bestselling Author - https://www.wendyholden.net - @Wendy_Holden

Alison Solomon - Storyteller and Artist Documenter @AlisonSolomonUK

Sophie Sparham - Derby Writer - https://sophiesparham.co.uk - @SophieSparham

Kalwinder Singh Dhindsa - Author and Poet - https://khalsir.com - @KhalSir

Liz Fothergill CBE - HM Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire - @Fothersej22

True Colours - Poet and Creator of True Colours - http://www.showyourtruecolours.co.uk - @True_Colours_Clothing_Official

Shain Bali - Derby Museums - @Shain50

Lyrics

There are various versions of the Derby Ram Poem, ours told in this piece was taken from the Poem Hunter website. Sometimes it is re-told as a mumming play associated with house visiting customs around Christmas time, more often in the Sheffield area. We think the performance aspect looks great fun and your young people might enjoy their own dressing up and re-telling of the Derby Ram so have some included some lyrics for you to download here:

Lantern slides

The animation in the piece was based on lantern slides that we hold in our collection. They are thought to have been made in the mid to 19th century.