I wish't I was in Lancashire huntin' o' the hare
All across the wide moorlands an' the hollows brown an' bare,
Hearkenin' to the good hounds' cry, hearkenin' to the horn,
Far away in Lancashire on a windy morn.
I wish't I was in Lancashire along o' folks I know,
Rangin' o'er the countryside in all the winds that blow
As they blew when I was yet a lad, in the place where I was born,
Far away in Lancashire on a good huntin' morn.
There's gradely hounds in Lancashire, as such there always were:
There's gradely hills in Lancashire as how they're bleak an' bare:
There's jannock lads in Lancashire, and that I tell you true,
An' I wish't I was in Lancashire all the day through!
Notes
From LANCASHIRE HUNTING SONGS AND OTHER MOORLAND LAYS, edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by J. E. Cornish, Ltd., Manchester, UK, © 1909, p. 25.
"Jannock" is a rather archaic word meaning fair, straightforward, genuine.
This poem has been adapted for singing by Gary and Vera Aspey, and these two and many others have recorded it over the years.
Jim Saville
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