>
The Copper Family >
Songs >
Sportsmen Arouse
>
The Young Tradition >
Songs >
The Innocent Hare
Sportsmen Arouse! / The Innocent Hare
[
Roud 1216
; Ballad Index K251
; trad.]
Sportsmen Arouse! is a song from the repertoire of the Copper Family. Bob and Ron Copper sang this song in a 1955 recording by Peter Kennedy. It was published on their EFDSS LP Traditional Songs from Rottingdean and later on their Topic CD Come Write Me Down. Bob, Ron and John Copper sang it on the 4 LP Leader box set A Song for Every Season, and Bob, John, Jill and Lynne Copper and Jon Dudley sang it on Coppersongs: A Living Tradition.
The Young Tradition sang this song as The Innocent Hare on their eponymous debut album of 1966, The Young Tradition. They also sang it on 17 November 1968 at their concert at Oberlin College, Ohio, that was published in 2013 on their Fledg'ling CD Oberlin 1968. Their original album's liner notes commented:
A typical English hunting song, charming despite its bloodthirstiness. We learned it from the singing of Bob and Ron Copper, and it is probably closer to the Copper sound than anything else in our repertoire. Royston's bass line is not, however, the same as that used by the Coppers, and Heather's harmony is a definite addition to the Copper pattern. After hearing our arrangement described, Ron Copper said to us: “I've been telling Bob for years we should have a young lady sing with us!”
Danny Spooner sang Sportsmen Arouse! in 2011 on his CD The Fox, The Hare and the Poacher's Fate.
Piers Cawley sang The Innocent Hare on the 11 August 2020 Trad Song Tuesday:
Lyrics
The Copper Family sing Sportsmen Arouse | The Young Tradition sing The Innocent Hare |
---|---|
𝄆 Sportsmen arouse the morning is clear, |
𝄆 Sportsmen arouse the morning is clear, |
𝄆 We searched the woods and the groves all round, |
𝄆 We searched the woods, the groves all round, |
𝄆 Our huntsman blows his joyful sound, |
𝄆 The huntsman blows his joyful sound, |
𝄆 All along the green turf she pants for breath |
𝄆 All along the green turf she pants for breath, |
𝄆 This hare has led us a noble run |
𝄆 This hare has led us a noble run, |