Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Give voice to a golden age
Hunting folk songs are a vital link to our sporting past, says Andrew Millham
Imagine a grand English manor house in the halcyon sporting days of the 1900s on a misty autumn morning — the bright scarlet coats of hunt staff jarring to sleepy eyes beneath heavy clouds. Impatient horses are being saddled, and hounds are scurrying back and forth around the huntsman. There is a palpable sense of anticipation in the air, relished by both man and beast.
In some senses, such scenes are highly relatable to all those who set out into the field today, be it mounted or with a gun, but there are also more elusive things about Britain’s sporting past. One excellent way to reconnect with the minutiae of the forgotten is through the folk songs inspired by the pursuit of game, both by gentlemen on one side of the law and poachers on the other.
Britain is home to a centuries-old singing tradition, with songs passed down from one generation to the next. Traditional folk music considers all aspects of life, from nature and love to adultery and murder. Just as sea shanties were sung by sailors and bargemen, hunting songs were, for many years, sung in Britain’s fields and woodlands by people who had an enduring love of the countryside.
The historical picture that some hunting folk songs paint is similar to the extravagant image portrayed in the media today. For example, Gentlemen of High Renown is a
Norfolk song that originates from at least the 18th century, describing the excitement of the gentry readying themselves for a foxhunt: “You gentlemen of high renown, come listen unto me / That take delight in fox and hounds in ev’ry high degree.” In reference to the hunting horn: “Our huntsman blows his joyful sound, Relope, my boys, fulfil / He [the fox] will have no more of our feather-ed fowls nor lambs on yonder hill.”
Social occasion
Hunting songs illustrate the cultural importance of the chase throughout history. A hunt was, and still is, a social occasion. This is clear in songs like Squire Crozier, written by John Crozier (1839-1903), presumedly about his own experiences. It begins:
“Our glorious chase has ended /
Come sportsmen join with me / To spend an hour of pleasure / In friendly social glee.”
These types of songs include distinctive whistles, cries and refrains that were used in the field to identify the location of others and the quarry. For example, the chorus of Walla Crag, a northern folk song, calls out: “Tally-ho! Hark away! Tally-ho! Hark away! Tally-ho! Tally-ho! Hark away!”
Lyrics such as “Sportsmen arouse, the morning is clear / The larks are singing all in the air” and “This hare has led us a noble run / Success to sportsmen, every one” echo the traditions and sentiments of the chase over time. This song in particular mimics the fast-paced rhythm of the hunt being described.
As in Sportsmen Arouse!, the quarry is often referred to as noble or innocent, illustrating the curious mix of emotions — respect, love and hatred — felt by huntsmen and keepers throughout history.
Folk dynasty
Sportsmen Arouse! is a traditional song from the repertoire of the Copper family, a farming dynasty from Rottingdean in East Sussex who have a 300-year-old tradition of unaccompanied singing.
In 18th and 19th century Rottingdean, and many villages besides, gentry and workers alike would gather for festivities after the Boxing Day hunt. After the evening’s refreshments, proceedings would begin with carols and hymns before descending into more red-blooded hunting songs, the formal falling away into the familiar.
In recent years, hunting songs have been sung in folk clubs. This was especially true during the English folk revival of the late 1960s. The Watersons, a family group from northern England, sang many songs during the revival and brought them back into the public consciousness.
Songs such as Dido Bendigo would have been lost were it not for their efforts. This particular song praises a group of hounds that led a successful foxhunt: “There was Dido, Bendigo, Gentry he was there-o / Traveller, he never looked behind him / There was Countess, Rover, Bonnie Lass and
“Hunting songs illustrate the cultural importance of the chase through history ”
Jover / These were the hounds that could find him.”
Make of it what you will, but foxhunting is definitely the main focus of folk music rather than something like ferreting or fishing. Reynard the Fox is a fine example: “You gentlemen who take delight / In hunting bold Reynard the Fox: / On yonder stoney common I lived / And I had my dinner on geese and ducks.” This 19th century song is told from the perspective of the fox and paints the quarry as a victim, which is unusual for the time it was written.
It varies wildly from Gentlemen of High Renown, which shows little remorse for the fox: “There we caught bold Reynard all by his brush never to let him go / He has had so many of our feather-ed fowls down in the valley below.”
Perhaps this represents a shift in attitudes towards foxhunting. Many more songs also refer to the fox as Reynard, a name that originates from a medieval story where the anthropomorphised Reynard the fox is portrayed as a trickster, deceiving other animals for his own advantage.
The Lake District is home to many amazing hunting songs. For years, huntsmen and hunt followers would retire to the pubs as darkness covered the fells and an open fire blazed in the hearth, filling the room with the wetwoollen smell of steaming coats.
The drink would begin to flow and a man would often be elected the ‘chairman’ for the evening to officiate proceedings.
Soon, the chairman would call for order and choose someone to sing the first song. Something like Coniston Foxhounds was a favourite: “A famous pack this Coniston / And free alike to all / The peasant in his cottage / Or the squire in his hall.”
Poaching tales
On the other side of the law, the music was just as good. One song in particular, titled The Lincolnshire Poacher, was first printed in 1776 and was said to be a favourite of King George IV. Lyrics such as “Success to every gentleman that lives in Lincolnshire / Success to every poacher that wants to sell a hare / Bad luck to every gamekeeper that will not sell his deer / Oh, ’tis my delight on a shining night, in the season of the year” do not favour the upper classes, so it is surprising that the king would enjoy the song. Perhaps he was a rogue beneath it all.
The song paints the poacher in a positive light, as brave and quickwitted. Even then, this was an instance of romanticising reality as battles with poachers often ended in bloodshed. This whimsy contrasts with The Oakham Poachers, an early 19th century song that describes three brothers being caught in the act, sent to jail, mistreated
and executed. It is told
from the brothers’ perspective and ends: “So come all young men take warning / And don’t the laws be scorning / For in our day just dawning / We’re cut off in our prime.”
The songs are reminiscent of a time when the tempo of life was slower, entertainment was self-made and a fierce love of the land and its traditions endured. They are a useful reminder to slow down every now and then and appreciate all that is around us and all that we have lost.
Hunting folk songs were written by men from all corners of society, from farm servants to doctors, all united by a love of hounds and shooting. In that sense everything changes but nothing changes — the sporting scene then was enjoyed by all — and shoots, too, have a social side that is vital to the community.
By writing and singing these songs, men and women both grand
“The drink would begin to flow and someone would sing the first song”
and ordinary have immortalised themselves in Britain’s ancient tradition. By singing and enjoying them, we can continue the tradition and preserve it for future generations.
Nobody really knows who wrote it, but the Six Fell Packs, a Lakeland hunting classic, speaks for all of us with the immortal line: “You can have your athletics and games of all sorts / But this hunting is surely the greatest of sports.”