190
Three Jolly Welshmen
This humorous hunting song exists in two traditional forms ; see
BSM 246, and add to the references there given Vermont (NGMS
127-9), Massachusetts (FSONE 290-2), Virginia (FSV 198, 208),
North Carolina (FSRA 174-5, the "Reynard" form), Missouri
(OFS I 328), and Ohio (BSO 208-9). It goes back, as Barry
(NGMS 128-9) has pointed out, to a seventeenth-century broadside,
'A Choice of Inventions,' Roxburghe Ballads i 104-10. The three
are not always Welshmen; they are likely to be an Englishman, a
Scot, and an Irishman; but even in the Roxburghe ballad they go
a-hunting on St. David's day. Of the five texts in our collection
the first two belong to the "jolly Welshmen" tradition, the other
three to the "Reynard" tradition.
Three Jolly Welshmen.' Contributed by E. G. Taylor, unfortunately
without indication of time or place.
I Three jolly Welshmen, jolly men were they,
All went a-hunting on a summer's day.
Look a there now, look a there.
OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH 461
They hunted, whooped, and hallooed, and the first thing
they did find
Was a frog in a spring, and that they left behind.
Look a there now, look a there.
One said it was a frog, one said nay.
One said it was a bluebird with its feathers washed away.
Look a there now, look a there.
They hunted, whooped, and hallooed, and the next thing
they did find
Was a barn in a cornfield, and that they left behind.
Look a there now, look a there.
One said it was a barn, one said nay,
One said it was a church with the steeple blown away.
Look a there now, look a there.
They hunted, whooped, and hallooed, and the next thing
they did find
Was an owl in an ivy bush, and that they left behind.
Look a there now, look a there.
One said it was an owl, one said nay,
One said the devil, and they all ran away.
Look a there now, look a there.
'We Hunted and We Hollered.' Contributed by Isabel B. Busbee of
Raleigh, with the notation that it was sung by her great-aunt, who died
in 1914.
1 And we hunted and we hollered, and first thing we did find
Was the barn in the barnyard, and that we left behind.
Lookee-da !
One said it was a barn, and the other said nay,
He said it was a church with the steeple blown away.
Lookee-'da-ah-ah-ah-ah !
2 And we hunted and we hollered, and the next thing we did
find
Was the moon in the elements, and that we left behind.
Lookee-da !
One said it was a moon, and the other said nay,
He said it was a green cheese with one half cut away.
Lookee-da-ah-ah-ah-ah !
3 And we hunted and we hollered, and the next thing we did
find
462 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
Was the lighthouse on Cape Ann, and that we left behind.
Lookee-da !
One said it was a lighthouse, and the other said nay,
He said it was a sugarloaf with the paper blown away.
Lookee-da-ah-ah-ah-ah !
4 And we hunted and we hollered, and the next thing we did
find
Was the frog in the millpond, and that we left behind.
Lookee-da !
One said it was a frog, and the other said nay,
He said it was a canary with the feathers washed away.
Lookee-da-ah-ah-ah-ah !
5 And we hunted and we hollered, and the last thing we did
find
Was the owl in the ivy, and that we left behind.
Lookee-da !
One said it was an owl, and the other said nay,
He said it was the devil, and we all ran away.
Lookee-da-ah-ah-ah-ah !
c
'The Fox Chase.' Secured by Thomas Smith from Mrs. Julia Grogan
of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915. "She heard it over thirty years
ago." This belongs to the "Reynard" tradition.
1 The first I saw was a maiden a-combing of her locks.
She said she saw Ben Reynor among the geese and ducks.
Chorus:
Tuma boat toat tum a ha la and around the narrow
strand
Rum a runtum his a tif a tan trum tum a rainbow round
The bugle sound and through the woods he ran and
very wild he ran.
2 The next I saw was a teamster a-driving of his team.
He said he saw Ben Reynor a-running up the stream.
3 The next I saw was a hunter a-hunting with his gun.
He said he saw Ben Reynor and shot him as he run.
D
'Come All Ye Jolly Sportsmen.' From a manuscript notebook lent to
Dr. White in 1943 by Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh. Most or all
of her songs Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents. This text is close
to that printed by Barry in JAFL xxvii 71-2 as sung in Cambridge.
Massachusetts, but is incomplete — "all I recall."
T Come all ye jolly sportsmen who love to chase the fox,
Who love to run poor redman among the hills and rocks.
OLDER BALLADS — MOSTLY BRITISH 463
Chorus:
Come a whoop whoop and a heighlo while on the merry
stream
Come a ran tan tan come a ripy tily tipy
And away with a royal bow wow wow
Come a ruddle toodle toodle and a bugle horn
Sing whack fuh la and \\ de o
Through the woods we'll run, brave boys,
And through the woods we'll run.
2 First I met was a farmer a-plowing up his ground.
He said he saw poor redman as he went round and round.
3 Next I saw was a fair lady a-combing back her locks.
She said she saw poor redman among the geese and ducks.
E
The Fox Hunt.' Collected by Julian P. Boyd from one of his pupils
at the school in Alliance, Pamlico county. The chorus is much the
same as m D.
Chorus:
He whooped and he whooped and he hollered
Way down by the merry stream.
Come rang tang tang come tip a tip a tan
And away with roaring bow-wow dogs
Come yudle yudle yudle with the bugle horn
Through the woods we'll go, brave boys,
Through the woods we'll go.
1 First came the blind man, as blind as he could be,
He said he saw the foxes climb up a swiggum^ tree.
Come rang tang tang etc.
2 Next came the sailors, sailing in a boat.
They said they saw the foxes a-going on a float.
Come rang tang tang etc.