Duke of Buckingham's Hounds, The

DESCRIPTION: The (Duke of Buckingham) goes out to hunt fox with his good hounds. The names of the hounds are given. The fox cleverly crosses the water. One old hound at last catches the fox. All rejoice at its fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Chappell; there is an undated broadside in the Roxburghe collection)
KEYWORDS: hunting death nobility animal dog
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West)) US(SE)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "NOBLE FOX HUNTING, THE"
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 218, "The Duke of Buckingham" (1 fragment)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 102, "The Bardy Train" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 352-353, "A Fox Chase" (1 text)
Hamer-GarnersGay, pp. 70-71, "The Noble Foxhunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould/Sheppard-SongsOfTheWest2ndEd, #81, "The Duke's Hunt" (1 text, 1 tune)
Olson-BroadsideBalladIndex, ZN75, "The Fox-Chace... Duke of Buckingham's Hounds"
ADDITIONAL: John Ashton, _A Century of Ballads_, Elliot Stock, London, 1887; reprinted 1968 by Singing Tree Press, pp. 251-254, "The Fox Chace or The Huntman's Harmony by the Noble Duke of Buckingham's Hounds" (1 text)
ST Br3218 (Partial)
Roud #584
NOTES [84 words]: I have no idea why Chappell's texts are titled "The Bardy Train"; that phrase does not appear in either text.
Baring-Gould/Sheppard-SongsOfTheWest2ndEd associates this with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the beloved favorite of George VI and I, for whom see the notes to "A Horse Named Bill." Villiers is certainly the most famous Duke of Buckingham, but there is nothing in the song that I can see to truly link it to him -- and not many people other than King James had much fondness for him. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: Br3218

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