Fair John and his Seven Foresters- Johnson (VA) 1933 Niles
[From the Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, 1961. Niles version is likely a ballad recreation.
R. Matteson 2015]
Fair John and his Seven Foresters- from Pete Johnson; collected by Niles in 1933; Smyth Co. Virginia.
1. He went to hunt the running buck,
He went to hunt the doe,
He dinged them to the very ground,
His mother said him no.
2. Now Johnny he wore a coat of red
With gold and blackish sheen,
But when he hunted the running buck,
Put on his Linkhorn green.
3. In yonders town of Broadalow,
The foresters be seven,
And for a drop of Johnny's blood,
They'd go to hell or heaven.
4. Now Johnny saddled up his horse,
He loosed his deerhounds three,
And with his arrows at his side,
He rode forth merrily.
5. When Johnny shot the running buck,
He ate him heartily,
And then he slept upon the ground
Among his deerhouncls three.
6. Now Johnny took his bugle-horn,
And blew so loud, so clear.
The foresters in Broadalow:
"Young Johnny Cock is near!"
7. They rode o'er hills and mountains steep,
They rode o'er valleys wide,
When they did come where Johnny slept
With deerhounds at his side.
8. The firstest arrow they did shoot,
It hit fair John on the eye;
But every time John pulled his bow,
A forester did die.
9. "Woe be, woe be to seven men,
Who struck me such a blow.
They hain't a wolf in all this wood
To come and treat me so."
10. His blood was like the roses red
That dripped down from his crown.
The foresters' blood was redder still
As Johnny shot them down.
11. "Stand strong, stand strong, my hound-dogs three,
The battle's almost done!
There once was seven men to fight,
And now there's only one.
12. "Oh pretty bird, oh singing bird,
Come bode what I do say:
My mother waits to hear the word,
Come, take fair John away!"