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Haway / Ha'Way / Howay / Ho'way The Lads - Origin?


The journalists in the 1890s will have just written down what they heard, it’s no indication of a correct spelling or where the phrase comes from. Even surnames back then still got written down in various spellings.
 
I was saying on another thread how my granddad (born 1890) was invited to Broadcasting House by the BBC in 1938. He went there to shout "Ha Way The Lads" for a programme called a "A Scrapbook for 1913" which recalled the events of that year.

The significance of getting me granddad there was that he no only had a voice like a foghorn* but had attended the 1913 Cup Final between The Lads and Villa. The phrase "Ha Way the Lads" was obviously well established as a SAFC chant as early as 1913 and of course was nationally known when he made the recording in the 1930's.

I know other posters have cited earlier instances of "Ha Way the Lads" but to me this confirms for us that it was already associated with us nationally by the early 1900's

Me granddad would have always said "Ha Way" never "Ho Way"

* eat your heart out @hank williams
 
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TheStatCat said:
Think there was a debate on here a while back as to where this came from.

Personally, I have moaned about the apostrophe in the seats for some years as I could not work out what it could be for. Looks like I was wrong and it really should be there.

A Mag historian mate (sorry) prompted me to have another rake around.

All of these from Sunderland Echo reports:

April 1890
Sunderland Reserves are playing Sunderland Olympic at Newcastle Road, someone encourages the reserve left winger with "How way Ledger".

May 1890
Sunderland are playing Bolton at Newcastle Road just prior to gaining entry to the football league. Our famous centre forward Johnny Campbell is egged on: "How way, Johnny, man!".

September 1894
Sunderland are playing Derby in the infamous game of 3 halves. The encouragement is now more general: "How way my lads".

So it goes goes right back to the early days of the club, and "how way" was a general term of encouragement in those days. Easy to see how it morphed from that to ho'way and ha'way, and the apostrophe lives...

The move to ha rather than ho probably just our mackem accents.
Click to expand...
It might just be a false memory but I'm sure I saw in Roy of the Rovers (probably in the 1980's) a Scottish chant of "Ca'way" which I presumed was Come Away.
 
phil said:
Though ha'way the lads came from halfway the lads when the miners had to get out of the cage before the bottom of the pit when working a coal seam that was half way down.
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This is what I understood it to be.
 
I always believed that it was a portmanteau of the mining call of "Half Way", similar to the naval calls of "Up Top" and "Below", before entering or exiting a manned hatch area.

Access ladders in pits, before the days of pulley lifts and subsequently, lift shafts were given "Ha'way" calls to let other miners know you were on your way up or down so that you didn't meet anyone travelling in the opposite direction, in the middle.

It was eventually adopted as an "All Clear" or "Come On" call.

Or at least that's what I've always been told by my forebears, many of whom were in the mining industry.

phil said:
Though ha'way the lads came from halfway the lads when the miners had to get out of the cage before the bottom of the pit when working a coal seam that was half way down.
Click to expand...

Yup, didn't see this, when I wrote my piece above, but it's similar to the origin I've always been told.
 
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Manny F said:
The journalists in the 1890s will have just written down what they heard, it’s no indication of a correct spelling or where the phrase comes from. Even surnames back then still got written down in various spellings.
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That's fair enough, spelling mistakes by journalists in those days are a recurring nightmare for me.

And I agree it does not indicate the ultimate origin of the phrase.

But if they wrote down what they heard, then at least 3 times in the early 1890's, they heard "how way" at Sunderland home games.

Though it could be the journalists were relatively posh and "how way" was the nearest real words they could use to interpret what they were hearing; I doubt this as their reports also include things like people shouting "Gan on" (with that spelling), so they seemed to be trying to express what they heard rather than spell it right.

Big Sharp Teeth said:
In one of The Broons comic strips years ago the men were at a match and shouted ‘Come away the lads!’.

This must be the basis of it as The Broons is practically science. And the fact it’s a derivation of ‘away’ means, unsurprisingly, that our spelling is right.
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I've definitely seen reports with 'Come away the lads" as well.
 
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TheStatCat said:
Think there was a debate on here a while back as to where this came from.

Personally, I have moaned about the apostrophe in the seats for some years as I could not work out what it could be for. Looks like I was wrong and it really should be there.

A Mag historian mate (sorry) prompted me to have another rake around.

All of these from Sunderland Echo reports:

April 1890
Sunderland Reserves are playing Sunderland Olympic at Newcastle Road, someone encourages the reserve left winger with "How way Ledger".

May 1890
Sunderland are playing Bolton at Newcastle Road just prior to gaining entry to the football league. Our famous centre forward Johnny Campbell is egged on: "How way, Johnny, man!".

September 1894
Sunderland are playing Derby in the infamous game of 3 halves. The encouragement is now more general: "How way my lads".

So it goes goes right back to the early days of the club, and "how way" was a general term of encouragement in those days. Easy to see how it morphed from that to ho'way and ha'way, and the apostrophe lives...

The move to ha rather than ho probably just our mackem accents.
Click to expand...
They were all misheard as a mag was reporting. It was definetly HAWAY.
 
Mind you old Brian Moore the football commentator during the 1973 Cup Final thought the cry was "Hurrah the Lads".

Later in his commentary (someone had obviously had a word with him) he came out with "HOOWAR the Lads"

Bless him :lol:
 
TheStatCat said:
Think there was a debate on here a while back as to where this came from.

Personally, I have moaned about the apostrophe in the seats for some years as I could not work out what it could be for. Looks like I was wrong and it really should be there.

A Mag historian mate (sorry) prompted me to have another rake around.

All of these from Sunderland Echo reports:

April 1890
Sunderland Reserves are playing Sunderland Olympic at Newcastle Road, someone encourages the reserve left winger with "How way Ledger".

May 1890
Sunderland are playing Bolton at Newcastle Road just prior to gaining entry to the football league. Our famous centre forward Johnny Campbell is egged on: "How way, Johnny, man!".

September 1894
Sunderland are playing Derby in the infamous game of 3 halves. The encouragement is now more general: "How way my lads".

So it goes goes right back to the early days of the club, and "how way" was a general term of encouragement in those days. Easy to see how it morphed from that to ho'way and ha'way, and the apostrophe lives...

The move to ha rather than ho probably just our mackem accents.
Click to expand...
WEARSIDE accents
 
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