D'ye ken John Peel at the break o' day?
D'ye ken John Peel when he's far, far a-way.
With his hounds and his horn in the morning?
Chorus
For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed,
And the cry of his hounds which he oftime led,
Peel's "View, Halloo!" could awaken the dead,
Or the fox from his lair in the morning.
D’ye ken that bitch whose tongue was death?
D’ye ken her sons of peerless faith?
D’ye ken that fox, with his last breath
Curs’d them all as he died in the morning?
For the sound of his horn, etc.
Yes I ken John Peel and Ruby too
Ranter and Royal and Bellman as true,
From the drag to the chase, from the chase to the view
From a view to the death in the morning
For the sound of his horn, etc.
And I’ve followed John Peel both often and far,
O’er the rasper fence and the gate and the bar,
From low Denton Holme up to Scratchmere Scar,
Where we view for the brush in the morning
For the sound of his horn, etc.
Then here's to John Peel with my heart and soul
Come fill – fill to him another strong bowl,
And we'll follow John Peel through fair and through foul
While we’re waked by his horn in the morning.
For the sound of his horn, etc.
- 18th century Cumbrian hunting song
I've been saying it for a while now...and, to be fair, it's been too blisteringly warm up till this point to do anything about it...but I really need to wear some of the vast array of scarves hiding in my closet (and resolve not to buy any new ones until I've done so). Rather embarrassingly I'd actually...hmmm, this really is embarrassing...I'd actually forgotten that this particular scarf was even in my collection.
Even worse...this was one of the scarves that my mother wore during her hunting period (for anyone who is against humans on horseback chivvying foxes across the countryside I should say that hunting in the north of England is done on foot...across hill and field...and if you can keep up with the fox in those circumstances it should surely be considered as a slightly mitigating factor)...and which should be worn for nostalgia reasons alone...let alone the devilish little smile on the hound's face.
Post a Comment 0 comments: