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Hunting the Hare

[ Roud 1041 ; Ballad Index ReCi066 ; trad.

The Everlasting Circle

Barry Lister sang Hunting the Hare with The Claque (he, Dave Lowry, Sean O’Shea, and Tom Addison) in 2006 on his CD Ghosts & Greasepaint. This track was also included in 2024 on Dave Lowry’s WildGoose album Songs of a Devon Man. Barry Lister noted:

Dave Lowry extracted this many years ago in the 1970s from the Baring-Gould manuscripts [A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes]. It was collected in the 1890s from Mr Nankivel (known as Old Capul) at Merrivale Bridge. Baring-Gould’s assistant, Mr Bussell, thought that the tune was a 17^th Century dance tune.

Lyrics

The Claque sing Hunting the Hare

I hunted my Merry all into the hay,
The Hare was afore and the hounds were away!

Chorus (after each verse):
With my Ipperly Tout, ticklesome Trout,
Ipperly, tipperly, eversheen, nipperly,
Up the middle, vandigo-van.
And it’s up the hill, down the form,
Here a step, there a turn,
Turn and sing merrily,
Hunt hounds, away!

I hunted my Merry all into the barley,
There the poor puss was pursued by old Snarley.

I hunted my Merry all into the wheat,
There the sly puss did attempt us to cheat.

I hunted my Merry all into the oats
There I cut off both his paw and his scutt.

I hunted my Merry all into the rye,
There the poor puss was constrained to die.