A Carol of Hunting
For Christmas
Words and Music: English Traditional
from Wynkyn de Worde,
Christmasse Carolles Newly Enprinted (London in the fletestrete at the sygne
of the sonne, 1521)
Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), p. 139.
As I came by a green forest-side
I met with a forester that bade me abide,
With "Hey go bet,1 hey go bet, hey go
howe!"
Underneath a tree I did me set,
And with a great hart anon I met.
I bad let slip, and said, "Hey go bet!"
With "Hey go bet, hey go bet, howe!"
I had not stood there but a while,
For the maintenance of a mile,
There came a great hart, without guile:
"There he goeth, there he goeth, hey go howe!
We shall have game and sport ynow."
Talbot my hound with a merry taste
All about the green wood he gan cast.
I took my horn and blew him a blast,
With "Tro-ro-ro-ro,, Tro-ro-ro-ro!"
With "Hey go bet, hey go bet, hey go howe!
There he goeth, there he goeth, hey go howe!
We shall have sport and game ynow!"
Note from Rickert:
1. Better or beat? Hey go bet is a hunting cry. Return
Editor's Note:
Although Dr. Rickert identifies this as one of several "carols not related to Christmas," it is clear that this was a carol that was sung during the Christmas-tide in earlier centuries by virtue of the fact that it is included in Wynkyn de Worde's 1521 Christmas Carolles Newly Emprinted.
Versions of this carol on this web site include:
As I Came By A Grene Forest Syde - Haslewood, 1801
A Carol of Hunting - Rickert, 1910, 1914 (this page); first line: "As I came by a green forest-side"
As I Came By A Green Forest Side - Vizetelly, 1851
As I Came By A Grene Forest Syde - Flügen and Schirmer, 1889
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