THE THREE HUNTSMEN
There were three jovial Welshmen,
As I have heard men say,
And they would go a-hunting, boys,
Upon St David’s Day.
And all the day they hunted,
But nothing could they find,
Except a ship a-sailing
A-sailing with the wind.
And a-hunting they did go

One said it surely was a ship,
The second he said. Nay;
The third declared it was a house
With the chimney blown away.
Then all the night they hunted,
And nothing could they find,
Except the moon a-gliding,
A-gliding with the wind.
And a-hunting they did go

One said it surely was the moon,
The second he said, Nay;
The third declared it was a cheese,
But half was cut away.
Then all next day they hunted,
And nothing could they find,
Except a hedgehog in a bush,
And that they left behind.
And a-hunting they did go

One said it as a hedgehog,
The second he said. Nay;
The third, it was a pincushion
The pins stuck in the wrong way.
Then all next night they hunted.
And nothing could they find,
Except a hare in a turnip field,
And that they left behind.
And a-hunting they did go

One said it surely was a hare,
The second he said. Nay;
The third, he said it was a calf,
And the cow had run away.
Then all next day they hunted,
And nothing could they find,
But one owl in a holly-tree,
And that they left behind.
And a-hunting they did go

One said it surely was an owl,
The second he said. Nay;
The third said ‘twas an aged man,
Whose beard was growing grey.
Then all three jovial Welshmen
Came riding home at last,
‘For three days we have nothing killed
And never broke our fast!’
And a-hunting they did go

X: 1
T: The Three Huntsmen
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
Z: NP 7/01/2022
K: B
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w: There_ were three jo-vial Welsh-men, As I have heard men say, And_ they would go a-hunt-ing, boys, Up-on St Da-vid’s Day. And_ all the day they hunt-ed, But noth-ing could they find, Ex_cept a ship a-sail_ing A-sail-ing with the wind. And a-hunt-ing they did go.

Taken from Singing Together (BBC Radio for schools broadcasts) Spring Term 1964.
Similarities can be seen wit Three Jolly Welchmen
And also Three Jolly Welshmen
NP