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"A-Hunting We Will Go" is a popular
"A-Hunting We Will Go" is a popular folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
and nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From ...
composed in 1777 by English composer Thomas Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song " A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whi ...
. Arne had composed the song for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera
''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sa ...
'' in London.
The '' a-'' is an archaic intensifying prefix; compare " Here We Come A-wassailing/Here We Come A-caroling" and lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...
" (e.g., “Six geese a-laying”).
Lyrics
(Modern versions often change the last line to “And then we’ll let him go”.) Each consequent verse gets modified by putting in a different animal: : "...a fish and put him on a dish..." : "...a bear and cut his hair..." : "...a pig and dance a little jig..." : "...a giraffe and make him laugh..." : "...a mouse and put him in a house..." : ... Earlier versions of the song switch the words "a-hunting" with "a-roving", dating back to old roving drinking songs from the 16th century.A-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go Heigh-ho, the derry-o, A-hunting we will go. A-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go We'll catch a fox and put him in a box And never let him go
See also
* A-Haunting We Will Go (disambiguation), a title play on this song * " Bye, baby Bunting, Daddy's Gone A-Hunting", a similarly constructed song * "The Farmer in the Dell
"The Farmer in the Dell" is a singing game, nursery rhyme, and children's song. It probably originated in Germany and was brought to America by immigrants.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Singing Game'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 183� ...
" - a song with similar lyrics, content, and music
* Omar Little
Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by Michael K. Williams. He is a notorious Baltimore stick-up man, who frequently robs street-level drug dealers. He is legendary around Baltimore for h ...
References
1777 songs Songs about hunters Compositions by Thomas Arne {{song-stub