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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, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
and nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European 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.
Fr ...
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'', w ...
. 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 sati ...
'' 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 the Twelve Days of Christmastide, are the festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity.
Christmas Day is the First Day. The Twelve Days are 25 December to 5 January, counting first and last. Th ...
" (e.g., “Six geese a-laying”).
See also
* A-Haunting We Will Go (disambiguation), a title play on this song * "Bye, baby Bunting
"Bye, baby Bunting" ( Roud 11018) is an English-language nursery rhyme and lullaby
A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The ...
, Daddy's Gone A-Hunting", a similarly constructed song
* "Ee Aye Addio
Ee Aye Addio is a traditional British celebratory football crowd song.
The usual format is ''"We've won the cup, we've won the cup, ee aye addio, we've won the cup".''
Variations are often made up on the spur of the moment.
The song perhaps fir ...
" - an English football chant
A football chant or terrace chant is a form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their ...
to the same tune
* "The Farmer in the Dell
"The Farmer in the Dell" is a singing game, nursery rhyme, folksong, 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) ...
" - a song with similar lyrics, content, and music
* "You're in the Army Now
In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers.
History
''You'' comes from ...
" - another song with similar lyrics
References
1777 songs Songs about hunters Compositions by Thomas Arne {{song-stub