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While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping /
Hares in the Old Plantation / Dogs and Ferrets

[ Roud 363 ; Ballad Index TcWGaLSl , K249 ; VWML GG/1/11/680 , GG/1/18/1127 , GG/1/18/1142 ; Wiltshire 27 , 832 ; Mudcat 35618 , 51287 ; trad.]

Steve Roud sorts three related songs under number 363: While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping, Hares in the Old Plantation, and Dogs and Ferrets.

Bob Copper sang I Keep My Dogs in a BBC recording (BBC 21547) made by Peter Kennedy at the Central Club, Peacehaven, on 2 February 1955. He also sang Dogs and Ferrets on his 1977 solo LP Sweet Rose in June, and the Copper Family with Bob Copper in lead recorded it for their 1995 CD Coppersongs 2: The Living Tradition of the Copper Family. The first verse of this song ends with the line “While the gamekeeper lies sleeping”.

Bob Copper also sang Dogs and Ferrets at a concert with Bob Lewis at Nellie’s Folk Club, The Rose and Crown Hotel, Tonbridge, Kent, on 17 October 1999. This concert was released in 2017 on their Musical Traditions CD The Two Bobs' Worth.

Jim Baldry sang Hares in the Plantation to Peter Kennedy at his house, Corner Cottage, Melton, Woodbridge, on 10 July 1956. This recording was included in 2014 on the Topic anthology The Barley Mow (The Voice of the People Volume 26).

George ‘Pop’ Maynard sang While the Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping in a recording made by Brian Matthews at the Abergavenny Arms in Copthorne in 1960. This was included in 2000 on Maynards's Musical Traditions anthology Down the Cherry Tree.

Tom Willett sang While the Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping in 1962 at the age of 84 on the Willett Family's album The Roving Journeymen. The original album's notes commented:

Poaching used to provide a living for country people. Whilst many songs deal with poachers who are captured and transported, here the hares are caught and sold without detection.

There appears to be one generally published version of this poaching song, given by Kidson in Traditional Tunes as Hares in the Old Plantation. Mr Willett's text is superior. The theme is somewhat unusual in that the poaching operation is completely successful.

A variant of this major tune is sometimes used for the ballad called The Banks of Green Willow, known in Scotland as Bonnie Annie (Child 24).

Jasper Smith of Surrey sang this song as While the Yogger Mush Lays Sleeping in a recording made by Mike Yates in 1972-75. This was published in 1975 on the Topic anthology Songs of the Open Road: Gypsies, Travellers & Country Singers. Mike Yates commented in the album's notes:

While the Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping is a well loved and often sung country song. The harshness and inhumanity of the 18^th and 19^th century Game Laws did little to stamp out poaching in rural Britain, a fact attested to by such songs as The Oakham Poachers, William Taylor, Thorneymoor Park and While the Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping. Here Jasper Smith sings a macaronic form of the song using terms which have proved invaluable to travellers who wish to speak among themselves without fear of being understood by outsiders.

Steeleye Span recorded this poacher's song as Dogs and Ferrets for their 1975 album Commoners Crown. The whole band sang both verses and chorus with a very sparse accompaniment of bodhrán and acoustic guitar.

June Tabor sang While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping with quite different words—as collected by George B. Gardiner from “a resident of Marchwood” in 1907 [ VWML GG/1/11/680 ] —on her 1976 album Airs and Graces. This recording was later included on her anthologies Aspects (1990) and The Definitive Collection (2003). A different recording, sung live at the Jesse Boot Centre, Nottingham in 1986, can be found on her 4 CD anthology Always (2005). June commented in the first album's sleeve notes:

From the Hammond / Gardiner mss, collected severally in Hampshire. Female hares, one is informed, make better eating. The hare is innocent, OK.

Thus video shows June Tabor singing While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping in the 1976 TV programme “Fanfare” (starting at 17:10 min):

Barge skipper Bob Roberts sang While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping in 1978 on his Topic LP Songs from the Sailing Barges. A.L. Lloyd commented in the album's sleeve notes:

While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping is a favourite from the time of the poacher-gamekeeper ‘wars’ at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Gypsies and other travelling people have their versions, using Romany or ‘tinkers’ cant’ words.

Wiggy Smith sang Hares in the Old Plantation in a recording by Mike Yates in The Cat & Fiddle, Whaddon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on 2 January 1974. This recording was released in 1979 on the Topic album of songs, stories and tunes from English Gypsies, Travellers. Both Roberts' and Smith's recordings were included in 1998 on the Topic anthology To Catch a Fine Buck Was My Delight (The Voice of the People Volume 18). Wiggy Smith also sang I’ll Take My Dog and My Airgun Too on 17 June 1995 at the English Country Music Weekend, Postlip Tithe Barn, Gloucestershire. This recording made by Gwilym Davies was included in 2000 on Smith's Musical Traditions anthology Band of Gold. Rod Stradling commented in the album's booklet:

The song Hares on the Old Plantation probably comes from the early 1800s, when the newly introduced game laws and enclosure acts were beginning to deeply affect the lower classes.

Knowing the extent to which poaching was practised, even in recent years, it’s not surprising to find songs on the subject still popular among country singers. In the case of this song, well over half the 24 examples in Roud are sound recordings—a very unusual proportion, but unsurprising in the light of the above. What might surprise us is that there are no broadside versions listed, since other such songs (Van Diemen's Land, for example) are well supported by these publications.

It’s also unusual that the song is only found in England, as is the case with The Oakham Poachers. Somewhat surprised by this, I tried a search on songs with Poacher in the title and found 130 instances in Roud—only three of which could be identified as not being English! Are we the only thieves in these islands—or just the only ones who enjoy singing about it? It could, of course, have something to do with the way in which the English, alone in Europe if not the world, have accorded landowners rights of ownership to the wild animals which happen to be on their domains at any particular time.

Wiggy’s song, in this instance at least, lacks the “While gamekeepers are sleeping“ line which provides the title for so many other versions.

Gwilym Davies sang Wiggy Smith's Gloucestershire version at the Bell Hotel in Odiham, Hampshire, in October 2013:

Shirley and Dolly Collins sang While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping live at the Folk Festival Sidmouth in 1979. This recording was included in 2006 on their Fledg'ling anthology Snapshots.

Mike Waterson sang While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping in 1981 on the Watersons' album Green Fields. A.L. Lloyd commented in the album's sleeve notes:

Most songs of the poacher-gamekeeper “wars” of the early nineteenth century were pretty violent, sometimes lethal affairs. But this one (based on a real happening?) tells a story that is ultimately full of charm. Bob Roberts, the former sprits'l barge skipper sings this version. It's well known among gypsies and travellers too, who sometimes introduce Romany or “cant” words into the story.

The Watersons sang Hares in the Old Plantation in 1981 on their album Green Fields and Martin Carthy sang it in 1996 on Waterson:Carthy's second album Common Tongue. A.L. Lloyd commented in the first recording's sleeve notes:

The Eastern counties and up to Yorkshire was the main ground for this poaching song. Frank Kidson's tireless correspondent Mr Lolley sent a version of it from Goole, and he considered the words so deficient in rhyme and reason as to be “not to be worth the trouble of transcription”. Too fussy by far. Later, Vaughan Williams recorded a set from a singer named Noah Fisher, and this is the version the Watersons use.

And Martin Carthy commented in the Common Tongue sleeve notes:

Mr Shadrach Haden, sometimes know as “Shepherd“, came from the village of Bampton in the Bush which is of course the home of the still famous and very independent morris team, and from him Cecil Sharp learned many great songs including Hares in the Old Plantation. It's quite unusual I think in the sense that it is a song about hunger for food, and I really can't think of too many others. It's also a favourite among gypsies, who generally sing a much more rambly tune than the one which Mr Haden had.

Chris Wood sang While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping in 1999 on his and Andy Cutting's album Knock John.

Andy Turner learned this song from Tom Willett's record too. He sang it as My Dog and I as the 9 October 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week. He noted in his blog:

Another song from the Willett Family LP The Roving Journeymen. This one was sung by Tom Willett on the album, and given the title While the Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping, although those words don’t actually appear anywhere in the song. Neither do Hares in the Old Plantation, or Dogs and Ferrets, which are other common titles for the song, so I’ve just used the first few words as the title. It was only when I came to record this that I realised I’d never really given any thought to what I called the song. I’d guess that quite possibly Tom Willett never did either.

The Roud Index currently has 53 entries for this song, nearly all from Southern England, and quite a few—like this version—collected from travelling singers.

Gavin Davenport sang Long Legged Lurcher Dog in 2013 on his CD The Bone Orchard.

Pete Coe and Alice Jones sang Hares in the Old Plantation on their 2014 double CD of songs collected by Frank Kidson, The Search for Five Finger Frank.

Sam Lee learned this song from the Smith family and sang it with the title Airdog on his 2014 EP More for to Rise and on his 2015 CD The Fade in Time.

Jack Rutter sang I'll Take My Dog and My Airgun Too in 2017 on his CD Hills. He noted:

I initially got this version of Hares in the Old Plantation from Wiggy Smith, though I've added a couple more verses from other versions of the song. The public house verse I learnt from Chris Wood & Andy Cutting’s album Knock John. The last verse I found in Frank Kidson's Folk Songs of the North-Countrie while rifling for songs at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House when in London one day.

Ninebarrow sang While Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping on their 2018 CD The Waters and the Wild. They noted:

There are so many wonderful variations of this song out in the folk scene, but it’s June Tabor’s version from her 1976 album, Airs and Graces, which we love the best. On her sleeve notes it’s mentioned as having been collected by George B. Gardiner from “a resident of Marchwood“ in 1907. June’s voice is just exquisite, and we also really love the way she plays with the timing of the song. It’s got an unpredictable quality to it the first time you hear it—ike a hare bounding across the plantation at night—so we’ve tried to capture some of that in our own way.

Jack Sharp sang Gamekeeper on his 2020 album Good Times Older.

Lyrics

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Greer Gilman for the transcription of While the Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping and Hares on the Old Plantation on Green Fields. The Common Tongue version was transcribed by Garry Gillard, with assistance from Wolfgang Hell.

Thanks to Patrick Montague for some lyrics corrections.