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Drink Puppy Drink

[ Roud 1862 ; Mudcat 3274 ; George J. Whyte-Melville]

Barry Bridgewater sang Drink Puppy Drink in 1985 on the album by The Holme Valley Tradition, Bright Rosy Morning.

Folly Bridge sang Drink Puppy Drink in 1991 on their WildGoose cassette All in the Same Tune. Claire Lloyd noted:

A song celebrating the traditional English pursuits of foxhunting and drinking. It was written in 1874 by George Whyte-Melville, a Scottish novelist and blood-sports enthusiast. He died after falling off his galloping horse while indulging in his favourite pastime.

The Claque sang Drink, Puppy Drink on their 2008 WildGoose CD Sounding Now and on Dave Lowry’s 2024 WildGoose album Songs of a Devon Man. They noted:

We had thought Drink, Puppy Drink to be a traditional song. It’s not. It was written by [George J. Whyte-Melville] in 1874. It was purported to be the bully, Flashman’s [from George MacDonald Fraser’s novels] favourite galloping song during which he would bestride himself of a convenient junior for a steed and whip him around the room. As you would.

Lyrics

Folly Bridge sing Drink Puppy Drink

Now here’s to the fox with his ass beneath the rocks,
Here’s to the line that we follow.
And here’s to every hound with his nose upon the ground,
And a-merrily we whoop and we holloa!

Chorus (after each verse):
So drink, puppy, drink, let ev’ry puppy drink
That’s old enough to lap and to swallow;
For he’ll grow into an hound,
And we’ll pass the bottle ’round,
And merrily we’ll whoop and we’ll holloa.

Now here’s to the horse and the rider too, of course,
Here’s to the rally to the hunt, boys;
And here’s to every friend that can struggle to the end,
And here’s to the tally-ho in front, boys.

Now here’s to the gap and the timber that we rap,
Here’s to the white thorn, and the black, too;
And here’s to the pace that puts life into the chase,
And the fence that gives a moment for the pack, too.

Now the pack is staunch and true, now they come from scent to view,
And it’s worth the risk to life, limb and neck, boys;
To see them drive and stoop until they finish with ‘Whoop’,
Forty minutes on the grass without a check, boys.