The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #91442   Message #1740572
Posted By: Jim Dixon
14-May-06 - 12:55 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: And We Hunted and We Hunted (Ruth Seeger)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Peggy Seeger's And We Hunted
I found a song called AND WE HUNTED AND WE HUNTED, on the album "Animal Folk Songs for Children and Other People," Rounder CD 8023/24, 1992.

The songs on the album were selected from Ruth Crawford Seeger's book "Animal Folk Songs for Children," originally published 1950, reissued 1993—and recorded by her children Mike, Peggy, Barbara & Penny Seeger, with several of her grandchildren.

An earlier recording was made by Peggy Seeger on "Animal Folk Songs for Children," Smithsonian Folkways FW07551, 1957. This album is also based on the book.

I listened to some sound samples, and it goes like this:

And we hunted and we hunted and we hunted and we found
A pig in the lane and it we left behind.
Look 'ee there!
Some said it was a pig but others said nay.
Some said it was an elephant with its snout shot away.
Look 'ee there!

The only complete verse I heard that isn't like one in the DT is this one:

And we hunted and we hunted and we hunted and we found
The moon in the sky and it we left behind.
Look 'ee there!
Some said it was the moon but others said nay.
Some said it was a cheese with a half cut away.
Look 'ee there!

There are two other versions in the DT called THREE JOLLY WELSHMEN (not to be confused with Welchmen!) and THE THREE HUNTERS.

There are other versions, or other verses, in these threads:
Lyr Add: Three Jovial Huntsmen
Lyr Add: The Three Hunters
Lyr Req: Three Wise Men of Gotham

Thread #37602   Message #1741896
Posted By: Joe Offer
16-May-06 - 01:06 PM
Thread Name: Add/Origins: Three Jovial Huntsmen
Subject: ADD: And We Hunted and We Hunted
Let's see if I can transcribe exactly what's in the book, Animal Folk Songs for Children:

And We Hunted and We Hunted
(Three Jolly Welshmen)

And we hunted and we hunted and we hunted and we found
A pig in the lane and him we left behind.
Look 'ee there!
Some said it was
a pig but others said nay.
Some said it was
an elephant with its snout shot away.
Look 'ee there!

And we hunted and we hunted and we hunted and we found
A frog in the well and him we left behind.
Look 'ee there!
Some said it was
a frog but others said nay.
Some said it was
a canary with his feathers washed away.
Look 'ee there!

And we hunted and we hunted and we hunted and we found
A man in the road and him we left behind.
Look 'ee there!
Some said it was
a man but others said nay.
Some said it was
a monkey with his tail cut away.
Look 'ee there!

And we hunted and we hunted and we hunted and we found
An owl in an ivy bush and him we left behind.
Look 'ee there!
Some said it was
an owl but others said nay.
Some said it was
the devil and we all ran away.
Look 'ee there!

Verses:
A pig in the lanean elephant with its snout shot away.
A frog in the wella canary with his feathers washed away.
A man in the roada monkey with his tail cut away.
An owl in an ivy bushthe devil and we all ran away.
A horse in the wooda deer, but its horns are shot away
A cat in the woodan owl, but its ears are shot away
The moon in the elementsa cheese, but the half's cut away
A hedgehoga pincushion with the pins stuck in the wrong way.
A girl in a cottagean angel with her wings blown away
A barn in the meadowa church with the steeple washed away
A ship in full saila washtub with the clothes hung out to dry
A snake in the grassa branch with the twigs cut away
A ball in the roada turtle with its legs tucked away
A child in the beda bear, and we all ran away
or a pony gone to sleep on the hay
or any number of other things


Ruth Crawford Seeger said one traditional singer claimed he knew upward of a hundred stanzas of this old nonsense song, made up around the lumber camp in which he learned the song. The tune is the same as Three Jolly Welchmen in the Digital Tradition (the Seeger tune is in 2/4, and the DT tune switches between 4/4 and 2/4 -otherwise, they're the same)