AN ANCIENT BATTLE CRY

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 27, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 35.

AN ANCIENT BATTLE CRY.

“Hip-hip-hurrah” has always been regarded as a thoroughly British cry, typical of the exuberant temperament of the race. Compared with it the “Vive” of the Frenchman, the “Hoch” of the German, and the “Slava” of the Russian are tame and expressionless; but the “Hip-hip-hurrah” from Anglo-Saxon throats rings through the spheres and carries everything before it. It is a cruel blow to find that the words are not English at all. One great consolation left us is that they were not “made in Germany.”

A gentleman named Adams has been investigating the mysteries of the pyramids and monuments of Egypt, and has found the phrase “Hip-hip-hurrah” among the early hieroglyphics of that country. Another consolation derivable from this remarkable discovery is the argument which may reasonably be deduced, that the presence of these British words among the etymological treasures of Pharaoh-land give us an a priori right to the whole of the Nile Valley. And this theory is strengthened by the fact that, according to Mr. Adams, the hieroglyphic “Hip-hip-hurrah” means, when translated, “On, on to plunder.”—London Telegraph.