I was recently sent this version, probably the original. It lacks a chorus, and the words are quite different. And I have a tune for it, to be posted shortly.
Blessings,
Barbara


THE WHITE BUCK OF EPPING

(by Sydney Carter copyright 1957)
SYDNEY CARTER presents in words and music a 20th-
century ballad based on a widely publicised arboreal crisis

In the forest of Epping
The wild deer are black.
They've all been that colour
For centuries back.
But into the wood
Came a buck that was white.
Oh, the keepers of Epping
Were shocked at the sight.
Tally ho ! Tally ho

The does, they all followed
Wherever he went.
So up to headquarters
A message was sent
"There's a white buck a-wandering
Where he should not.
And back came the answer:
"The buck must be shot."
Tally ho ! Tally ho

A fair forest maid
with a heart that was tender
And hair that was red
And a waist that was slender
Said, "Why should they shoot him?
I don't think it fair!
You can't blame a buck
For the hue of his hair."
Tally ho! Tally ho!

Up spake a colonel,
And he was a verderer
"Madam, I'm sorry
You think I'm a murderer.
This is a back herd
And black it must stay.
Oh, the buck must be shot
If he won't go away
Tally ho! Tally ho!

"Please try to look at
The matter more sanely.
I'll stalk him with care
And I'll kill him humanely.
You think I'm bloodthirsty,
But really, I'm not.
I'm an animal lover
And a jolly good shot."
Tally ho! Tally ho!

The good Duke of Bedford
Said, "If you can catch him,
In my herd at Woburn
I think I can match him.
He's welcome to Woburn,
And no one will shoot.
As long as he's healthy
I don't care a hoot."
Tally ho! Tally ho!

The white buck of Epping
Got into the papers
And even the TeIly
reported his capers.
Men came to take pictures,
But not many got 'em;
And England was split from
The top to the bottom.
Tally ho! Tally ho!

This is a story
That isn't yet over.
From Duncansbay Head
To the white cliffs of Dover
All eyes are on Epping
They're wishing good luck
To the colonel? Well, maybe,
But I'm for the buck
Tally ho! Tally ho!


My source for this, Henry Peacock, said:
Derrick Holder was kind enough to send me this copy from a magazine published by, I think, the Friends of Epping Forest. It may not be the version that you know but it does appear to be the original. I expect that it will still be under copyright.

And, "In the Forest of Epping the wild deer are black, they've all been that colour for centuries back", we are told in a song attributed to Sydney Carter, published in the Tatler and Bystander, September 4th, 1957. The song goes on to tell us about a white buck that had strayed into the Forest. It seems that, in spite of the pleading of "a fair forest maid", a colonel "and he was a verderer" insisted, that the deer must be shot, and the herd must remain black. However, "The good Duke of Bedford" was prepared to take the unfortunate animal to Woburn, but we are not told the outcome to this tale. Does anyone out there know who the colonel was, and the fair forest maid, and what eventually happened to the buck. In any event, this surely is an interesting account of an animal right activist at work!"

---

Click to play