HUNTING SONGS 



XIV 



Then Charlie our King was restor'd to his own, 

 And again the blythe horn in the forest was blown ; 

 Steeds from the desert then cross'd the blue wave 

 To contend on our turf for the prizes he gave. 



XV 



Ere Bluecap and Wanton taught fox-hounds to 



skurry, 

 With music in plenty — O ! where was the hurry ? 

 When each nag wore a crupper, each Squire a 



pigtail ; 

 When our toast " The Brown Forest," was drunk in 



brown ale. 



XVI 



The fast ones came next, with a wild fox in view, 

 " Ware hole ! " was a caution then heeded by few ; 

 Oppos'd by no copse, by no fences confin'd. 

 O'er whinbush and heather they swept like the wind. 



XVII 



Behold ! in the soil of our forest once more,^ 

 The sapling takes root as in ages of yore ; 

 The oak of old England with branches outspread. 

 The pine-tree above them uprearing its head. 



XVIII 



Where, 'twixt the whalebones, the widow^ sat down,* 

 Who forsook the Black forest to dwell in the Brown, 

 There, where the flock on sweet herbage once fed. 

 The blackcock takes wing, and the fox-cub is bred. 



1 Note 27. - Note 28. 



20 



