> Steeleye Span > Songs > The Hills of Greenmore
> Anne Briggs > Songs > Hills of Greenmor

The Hills of Greenmore / The Granemore Hare

[ Roud 2883 ; Ballad Index MorU042 ; trad.]

Steeleye Span recorded The Hills of Greenmore for their first album, Hark! The Village Wait, with Terry Woods singing and playing electric guitar; Tim Hart, electric guitar; Gay Woods, concertina; Ashley Hutchings, electric bass; and Gerry Conway, drums. The sleeve notes commented:

A mighty song! But a little known one. This saga of hare hunt and its variant The Granemore Hare hail from around Keady in County Armagh. In the song the only one to get the rough end of the stick is the “pussy”. Do we detect a Monigan in the hunt? Ashley Hutchings: “This is Irish - Terry brought it in.”

Anne Briggs recorded Hills of Greenmor in 1973 but the ensuing album was shelved only to be released in 1996 as Sing a Song for You. She comments:

A Northern Irish song which I feel justified in singing as my mother came from Derry. It should be the Green Hills of Keady nor Kielder as I sing it. “Puss” is a local idiom for a hare. It's probably a fox hunt (i.e. no horses) that is celebrated in the song. I like the visual image of “dogs black and yeller and dogs black and white” flowing across the landscape.

Martin Simpson sang Granemore Hare in 1999 on his live CD Bootleg USA and in 2007 on his Topic CD Prodigal Son.

James Yorkston sang Hills of Greenmor in 2009 on his CD Folk Songs.

Lyrics

Steeleye Span sing The Hills of Greenmore

One fine winter's morn my horn I did blow
To the green fields of Keady for hours we did go
We gathered our dogs and we circled around
For none loves the sport better than the boys in the dell.

And when we arrived they were all standing there
We set off for the fields, boys, in search of a hare
We didn't get far till someone gave the cheer
Over high hills and valleys the sweet puss did steer

As we flew o'er the hills, 'twas a beautiful sight
There was dogs black and yellow, there was dogs black and white
As she took the black bank for to try them once more
Oh it was her last look o'er the hills of Greenmore.

In a field of wheat stubble this pussy did lie
And Rory and Charmer they did pass her by
And there where we stood at the top of the brae
We heard the last words that this sweet puss did say:

“No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll roam
Nor trip through the fields, boys, in sport and in fun
Or hear the long horn that your toner does play
I'll go home to my den by the clear light of day.”

You may blame ol' MacMahon for killing the hare
For he's at his ol' capers this many's a year
On Saturday and Sunday he never gives o'er
With a pack of strange dogs round the hills of Greenmore.

Anne Briggs sings Hills of Greenmor

One fine winter's morning me horn I did blow
To the green hills of Kielder for hours did go
We gathered our dogs and we circled around
For who loves the sport more than the boys of the town.

And when we arrived they were all standing there
We set off for the fields in search of a hare
We didn't get far till someone gave a cheer
Over high hills and valleys the sweet puss did steer

As we flew o'er the hills, 'twas a beautiful sight
There was dogs black and yeller, there was dogs black and white
She took the black bank to try them once more
Oh it was her last lank for the hills of Greenmore.

In a field of wheat stubble this sweet puss did lie
And Rory and Charmer they did pass her by
And there where we stood at the foot of the brae
Oh, we heard the last words that this sweet puss did say:

“Oh, no more o'er the green hills of Kielder I'll roam
No skip through the fields in sport and in fun
Nor hear the loud horn your toner does play
I'll go back to me den by the clear light of day.”

You may blame MacMahon for killing the hare
He's been at his ol' capers this many's a year
Well, Saturdays and Sundays he'll never give o'er
With a pack of strange dogs round the hills of Greenmore.

Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Reinhard Zierke. Thanks to Bernard Leak for corrections.