Well, I enjoyed a visit on Wednesday to the delightful Adlington Hall, where I was able to see for myself the manuscript of the song written by Handel himself. However I didn't have time to try to make a copy of the notation; and it seems that the song is so little regarded among Handelian musicologists that there is no published score for it.

Inspired by this I attempted to sing it later on in the Snug (to a tune which owed very little to Handel!), though the "chorus of hunters" was a little put off by the changes in the words every time. It does indeed work as a song, but I'd still like to hear how the Holme Valley Beagles or the Fell Packs treat it.

Our guest Smiler may rejoice in the ban on hunting, but gentlemen (and gentlewomen) may still, quite legally, take great delight in singing the hunting songs. Or perhaps Smiler believes that because he or she is virtuous 'there shall be no cakes and ale'.