Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JOHN PEEL; SONG, by JOHN WOODCOCK GRAVES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JOHN PEEL; SONG, by                    
First Line: D'ye ken john peel with his coat so gay
Last Line: Or the fox from his lair in the morning.
Subject(s): Hunting; Hunters


D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?
D'ye ken John Peel at the break of the day?
D'ye ken John Peel when he's far, far away,
With his hounds and his horn in the morning?
For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed,
And the cry of his hounds which he oft-times led,
Peel's view-halloo would awaken the dead,
Or the fox from his lair in the morning.
D'ye ken that bitch whose tongue is death?
D'ye ken her sons of peerless faith?
D'ye ken that a fox with his last breath
Cursed them all as he died in the morning?
For the sound, & c.
Yes, I ken John Peel and Ruby too,
Ranter and Ringwood and Bellman and True;
From a find to a check, from a check to a view,
From a view to a death in the morning.
For the sound, & c.
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,
When we vied for the brush in the morning.
For the sound, & c.
Then here's to John Peel with my heart and my soul,
Let's drink to his health, let's finish the bowl:
We'll follow John Peel through fair and through foul,
If we want a good hunt in the morning.
For the sound, & c.
D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?
He lived at Troutbeck once on a day;
Now he has gone far, far away;
We shall ne'er hear his voice in the morning.
For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed,
And the cry of his hounds which he oft-times led,
Peel's view-halloo would awaken the dead,
Or the fox from his lair in the morning.






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