Beschreibung:

GRAVES, John Woodcock (1795-1886). Autograph manuscript signed ('John Woodcock Graves') of the hunting song 'John Peel', n.p. [Tasmania], n.d. [1881-1886], with a postscript signed (with initials 'J.W.G.'), comprising twenty-four lines of verse in six stanzas, including five small corrections, one page, 4to , inscribed and signed on the verso to 'The Hon. W[illia]m. Hodgson, M.L.C. Tasmania J.W.G.', together with a typed transcript and notes (by Wilfred Partington), a letter referring to Hodgson, and printed items; and: Charles KINGSLEY (1819-1875). Autograph draft of 'Go Hark', n.p., n.d., a hunting song comprising twenty-one lines of verse in three stanzas, including cancellations and revisions in five lines, on lined paper, one page, 4to , integral blank; and two autograph letters (one signed and one in verse), Eversley Rectory, 30 December 1858 and n.d., 2½ pages, 8vo ; and a hand-coloured soft ground etching of a hunting scene by Henry Alken; all the items tipped into an album, modern red morocco, gilt titles and hunting motifs stamped on upper cover, by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, 310 x 250mm . THE MANUSCRIPT OF THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL ENGLISH HUNTING SONGS, IN THE ORIGINAL CUMBERLAND DIALECT, beginning 'Did ye Ken John Peel in his cwot seay gray, Did ye Ken John Peel at the breck o the day, Did ye Ken John Peel ganging far far away Wid his hounds an his horn in a mwornin?'. The verses which follow refer to Peel's exploits and favourite hounds ('Yes I kennd John Peel and aawl Ruby too, Ranter and Royal an Bellman as true') and local chases or covers, the rollicking chorus recalling his 'view hollo' which 'wad waken the dead or a fox fra his lair in a mwornin'. Graves' postscript reads 'As near as I remember the vernacular of Caldbeck but a Westmorland Gent can anglicise it at will'. The text includes several small variants of the published versions, most obviously Peel's 'cwot seay gray' in the first line, which was later rendered as his 'coat so gay'. The greycoat was the traditional garment of the Cumberland yeoman. John Peel (1776-1854), the legendary Cumberland huntsman of Caldbeck, maintained at his own expense a pack of hounds and two horses for over fifty years. His reputation is due almost entirely to the song celebrating him, written by his friend John Woodcock Graves, apparently an impromptu composition during the winter of 1829 when they were sitting together in the inn at Caldbeck planning a hunting expedition. Graves is said to have sung his verses to the old Cumberland 'rant' or tune of 'Bonnie Annie'. Later they were set to the music formally by the choirmaster of Carlisle Cathedral, ensuring the song's lasting popularity. At first transmitted orally, it was not available in print until 1866, when George Coward included the text, which he collated from the different versions by then in circulation, in The Songs and Ballads of Cumberland . It was so widely known that it is said to have been sung in the trenches in the First World War (Hugh Machell, John Peel, Famous in Sport and in Song , 1926). The present copy was written by Graves for the Hon. William Hodgson (1814-1891), originally from Cumberland, who was elected to the Tasmanian Legislative Council in 1881. Graves himself had emigrated to Hobart, Tasmania in 1833. Charles Kingsley's youthful hunting song, opening 'Yon sound's neither sheep bell or bark: They're running -- they're running. Go Hark!', is published with minor variants in Poems of Early Boyhood . His first letter is a reply to an autograph hunter, the second a rhyming agreement to pay a subscription. (2)