RED FOX
(Lynne Muir)

Where the red fox runs, we will hunt him down
We will chase him o’er the mountains ‘till the sun goes down,
Poor old fox, we mean no harm
But the fire’s in our blood and so we must follow far from the lights of home

Chorus
For we’re men of the bush
And we’re part of the land
And we do not kill for pleasure
That we’d have you understand.
With the sun on our brow or the moonlight on our path
We will follow the tracks of our fathers gone before

We roam the plains and we’ll set a rout
Be it fair or stormy weather, we will seek and hunt him out
Where the rabbit runs, we will set our snare
But you must not think us heartless men or men who do not care

For we do not thrill to the blood and the kill
But we live from the land and so we will eat from it when we can,
We’re tired old men on a worn-out trail
When the tables are turned, maybe the fox will be hunting for the man

Danny Spooner recorded this on his 'Emerging Traditions' and 'The Fox, the Hare and the Poacher's Fate' CDs. There is also a live recording on the 'Guilford Tapes' CD that I referred to above.

Danny's note:

Lynne Muir wrote this great hunting song about her grandfather in 1986. Geoff Muir had spent most of his life in the shadow of Hanging Rock in Victoria and like most country-bred men he knew the best places in the area to fish, shoot and trap. These skills often helped keep families fed, especially during times of Depression. Lynne's song is her tribute to her grandfather and his values.

--Stewie.