Black Fox

As we were out a hunting one morning in the spring Both hounds and horses, running well, made the hills and the valleys ring But to our great misfortune, no fox there could be found Our huntsmen cursed and swore but still no fox moved over the ground So up spoke our Master Huntsman, the master of our chase "If only the Devil himself ran by, we'd run him such a race!" And up there sprung like lightning, a fox from out of his hole But his fur was the colour of a starless night and his eyes like burning coals So they chased him over the valley and they chased him over the fields And they chased him down to the riverbank, but never would he yield And he's jumped into the water, and he's swum to the other side And he's laughed so loud that the green woods shook He's turned to the huntsmen and he's cried: "Ride on, my gallant Huntsman... when must I come again? For you should never want for a fox to chase all over the glen And when your need is greatest, just call upon my name And I will come and you shall have the best of sport and game." Well, the men looked up in wonder and the hounds ran back to hide For the fox it changed to the Devil himself, where he stood on the other side And the men, the hounds, the horses, they went flying back to town But hard on their heels come a little black fox, laughing as he ran: "Ride on, my gallant Huntsman... when must I come again? For you should never want for a fox to chase all over the glen And when your need is greatest, just call upon my name And I will come and you shall have the best of sport and game." "Ride on, my gallant Huntsman... when must I come again? For you should never want for a fox to chase all over the glen