E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Ronald Holder,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
THE
THREE JOVIAL HUNTSMEN.
It's of three jovial huntsmen, an' a
hunting they did go;
An' they hunted, an' they
hollo'd, an' they blew their horns also
Look ye there!
An' one said, "Mind yo'r e'en, an' keep
yo'r noses reet i' th' wind
An' then, by scent or seet, we'll leet o'
summat to our mind."
Look ye
there!
They hunted, an' they hollo'd, an' the
first thing they did find
Was a tatter't
boggart, in a field, an' that they left behind.
Look ye there!
One said it was a boggart, an' another he
said "Nay;
It's just a ge'man-farmer, that has
gone an' lost his way."
Look ye
there!
They hunted, an' they hollo'd, an' the
next thing they did find
Was a gruntin',
grindin' grindlestone, an' that they left behind.
Look ye there!
One said it was a grindlestone, another
he said "Nay;
It's nought but an' owd fossil
cheese, that somebody's roll't away."
Look ye there!
They hunted, an' they hollo'd, an' the
next thing they did find
Was a bull-calf in a
pin-fold, an' that, too, they left behind.
Look ye there!
One said it was a bull-calf, an' another
he said "Nay;
It's just a painted jackass, that
has never larnt to bray."
Look ye
there!
They hunted, an' they hollo'd, an' the
next thing they did find
Was a two-three
children leaving school, an' these they left behind.
Look ye there!
One said that they were children, but
another he said "Nay;
They're no' but little
angels, so we'll leave 'em to their play."
Look ye there!
They hunted, an' they hollo'd, an' the
next thing they did find
Was a fat pig smiling
in a ditch, an' that, too, they left behind.
Look ye there!
One said it was a fat pig, but another he
said "Nay;
It's just a Lunnon Alderman, whose
clothes are stole away."
Look ye
there!
They hunted, an' they hollo'd, an' the
next thing they did find
Was two young lovers in
a lane, an' these they left behind.
Look ye there!
One said that they were lovers, but
another he said "Nay;
They're two poor wanderin'
lunatics—come, let us go away."
Look ye there!
So they hunted, and they hollo'd, till
the setting of the sun;
An' they'd nought to
bring away at last, when th' huntin'-day was done.
Look ye there!
Then one unto the other said, "This
huntin' doesn't pay;
But we'n powler't up an'
down a bit, an' had a rattlin' day."
Look ye there!