A JOLLY OLD COUNTRY SQUIRE
   "The Leicestershire Squire"
   "Harry Clifton's Last Song"
   Written and composed by Harry Clifton. [1872]

        1
   I arise in the morn,
   At the break of dawn,
From a sleep never troubled by dreaming,
   And greet with delight,
   The glorious sight,
Of the sun with its early beaming;
   A meal then I make,
   That a Giant might take,
For of good things I know I'm a lover,
   I saddle my horse,
   The country to cross,
And away on my nag to the cover.

        CHORUS.
      Yo, ho! tally ho!
      And away we go,
   Over bush over brake, and thro' briar,
      Then who can there be,
      So happy and free,
   As a jolly old country Squire.

        2
   The bedewed ground yields, / As we dash thro' the fields,
With vigor and life both hounding,
   The mare with a snort, / Seems eager for sport,
As the Huntman's horn is resounding;
   We both sniff the air, / Such a jovial pair,
It's a regular hunting day, boys,
   An old one is found, / We are off with a bound,
Yoicks! tally ho! and away, boys.
        Chorus.

        3
   Then hark forward's the cry, / The old fox must die,
Tanhoy! yo, ho! boys __ hi over,
   Gates and hedges we clear, / And our horses we cheer,
As we all dart away from the cover;
   Then thro' branches and bush, / Fearing nothing we rush,
Over meadows __ thro' woodland go tearing,
   At the death to be in, / And his brush, boys, to win,
Not a fig for the danger caring.
        Chorus.

        4
   If your life you'd enjoy, / And you'd still be a boy,
Copy me, and be up in the morning,
   And don't be abed, / With a dull sleepy head,
And spend half your lifetime in yawning;
   Buy a rattling horse, / His back jump across,
If you havn't got one __ why then get it,
   Rise up with the sun / And I'll bet ten to one,
That you never will say you regret it.
        Chorus.

Source: Period sheet music published by Hopwood and Crew, serial number 2354.
Lyrics transcribed by Artful Codger.
Assuming this was indeed his last song, it would have been written in 1872; he died in July, and is reputed to have worked until shortly before his death.

Notes by Steve Gardham:

Cover
HARRY CLIFTON'S LAST SONG.
A JOLLY OLD COUNTRY SQUIRE.
Written and Composed by
HARRY CLIFTON,
Sung by GILBERT CREW,
At
MISS FANNY EDWARDS' POPULAR CONCERTS.
London, Hopwood & Crew, 42 New bond St. W.
Litho by Alfred Concanen of Crew wearing hunting pink and waving his whip, booted and spurred, with top hat in hand. With grey hair and sideburns.

Inside
"The Leicestershire Squire"
Written and Composed by Harry Clifton.
Arranged by M(artin) Hobson.
Serial Number, H & C 2354

Brewer published an edition of this in 1883.
Presumably the above Hopwood & Crew edition was published after HC's death in 1872.
Also sung by J W Rowley according to himself.
Another copy of the H&C edition is at OLIS Bodleian, Harding R655
The Brewer edition is at same place, Mus. 5c. c.18(26)
Printed on a broadside of Sanderson of Edinburgh.

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