Celtic Lyrics Corner > Artists & Groups > Cherish The Ladies > Threads Of Time > The Ballad Of The Foxhunter

The Ballad Of The Foxhunter     Credits: Traditional; lyrics by William Butler Yeats; arranged by Mary Coogan, Aoife Clancy, Joanie Madden, Siobhan Egan, Mary Rafferty, Donna Long & Brian Keane     Appears On: Threads Of Time     Language: English

Lyrics:

Lay me in a cushioned chair
Carry me, ye four
With cushions here and there
To see the world once more

To stable and kennel go
Bring what there's to bring
Lead my Lollard to and fro
Or gently in a ring

Put the chair upon the grass
Bring Rody and his hounds
That I may contented pass
From these earthly bounds

His eyelids, they droop
Eyes cloud with dreams
The sun upon all things that grow
Falls in sleepy dreams

Chorus:
Huntsmen, blow the horn, come make the hills reply
Loosen on the morn a gay wandering cry
Rody, blow the horn, come make the hills reply
I cannot blow my horn, but only weep and sigh

Lollard treads upon the lawn
And to the armchair goes
The old man's dreams are gone
He smoothes the long, brown nose

Moves a pleasant tongue
Upon his wasted hands
Aged hounds and young
The huntsman near him stands

(Chorus)

'Round his cushioned place
With new sorrow wrung
Hounds gazing on his face
Aged hounds and young

Fire is in the old man's eyes
His fingers move and sway
Wandering music dies
You hear him feebly say

(Chorus 2x)

The blind hound with a mournful cry
Slowly lifts his head
They bear the body in
The hounds wail for the dead
The hounds wail for the dead
Wail for the dead