Cumbrian Dialect Cumbrian lyrics, taken from Hodgson manuscript. Did ye ken John Peel in his cwot seay grey? Did ye ken John Peel at the breck o the day? Did ye ken John peel ganging far, far away - Wid his hounds and his horn in a mwornin?
Chorus: :For the sound o the horn caw'd me fra my bed. :An the cry o the hounds me oft times led, :For Peel's view hollo wad waken the dead, :Or a fox fra his lair in a mwornin. Did ye ken that bitch wheas tongue was death, Or ken her sons of peerless faith, Did ye ken that a fox wid his last breath, Curs'd them ô as he died in a mwornin?
Chorus: Yes I kennd John Peel an awl Ruby too, Ranter an Royal an Belman as true, Fra the drag to the chess fra the chess to the view, Fra the view to the death in a mwornin.
Chorus: An av follot John Peel beath oft an far, Ower menny a yett an toplin bar, Fra low Dentonholm up to Scratchmer Scar, When we struggled for the brush in a mwornin.
Chorus: Here's to John Peel with hert an my soul, Come fill ô! fill to him another bowl, An lets follow John Peel tro' fair an foul, Wheyle were wak't by his horn in a mwornin'.
Chorus: Standard English Verse 1 (best known; by
Graves) D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?‡ D'ye ken John Peel at the break o' day? D'ye ken John Peel when he's far, far a-way. With his hounds and his horn in the morning?
Chorus: : For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed, : And the cry of his hounds which he oft time led, : Peel's "View, Halloo!" could awaken the dead, : Or the fox from his lair in the morning. ‡Some versions, according to
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, show the phrase as " with his coat so gray," implying that his coat was likely made of local
Herdwick wool, commonly gray. If so, the color of John Peel's coat would be in contrast to that of other huntsmen – traditionally brightly colored, often red or
hunting pink.
Additional verses Verse 2 (Coward's version) D'ye ken that bitch whose tongue was death? D'ye ken her sons of peerless faith? D'ye ken that fox, with his last breath Curs’d them all as he died in the morning? : For the sound of his horn,
etc. Verse 3 Yes I ken John Peel and Ruby too Ranter and Royal and Bellman as true,* From the drag to the chase, from the chase to the view From a view to the death in the morning :For the sound of his horn,
etc. Verse 4 And I've followed John Peel both often and far, O'er the rasper fence and the gate and the bar, From low
Denton Holme up to Scratchmere Scar, Where we vie for the brush in the morning : For the sound of his horn,
etc. Verse 5 Then here's to John Peel with my heart and soul Come fill – fill to him another strong bowl, And we'll follow John Peel through fair and through foul While we’re waked by his horn in the morning. : For the sound of his horn,
etc. • These were the real names of the hounds that Peel, in his old age, said were the very best he ever had or saw. –
J.W.G. Alternative versions As is common with songs often sung from memory, this has been recorded with other verses and minor differences in lyrics, such as in the third verse: "From the drag to the chase, from the chase to the view" and "From a view to a death in the morning":
Alternative verse 1 Yes, I ken John Peel and his Ruby, too! Ranter and Ringwood, Bellman so true! From a find to a check, from a check to a view, From a view to a kill in the morning. : For the sound of his horn',
etc. Coward's version of the last line was used for
Matt Cartmill's book,
A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature Through History as well as
Anthony Powell's novel
From a View to a Death. The alternative version was used as a title to the short story
From a View to A Kill, found in the
Ian Fleming collection of short stories,
For Your Eyes Only. This was in turn shortened to
A View to a Kill, when applied to the fourteenth James Bond movie. This verse was not in Coward's version:
Alternative verse 2 D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay? He liv'd at Troutbeck once on a day; Now he has gone far, away; We shall ne'er hear his voice in the morning. : For the sound of his horn,
etc. Parodies A number of parodies also exist. On
BBC radio's ''
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again,'' a version parodied the British Radio DJ
John Peel 1st parody D'ye ken John Peel with his voice so grey? He sounds as if he's far far away; He sends you to sleep at the end of the day; 'til you're woken up by Tony Blackburn in the morning. Another was used in the 1979 film
Porridge, which saw
Ronnie Barker as Fletch cheekily observe a new prison warden.
2nd parody D'ye see yon screw with his look so vain? With his brand new key on his brand new chain; With a face like a ferret and a pea for a brain : And his hand on his whistle in the morning. Several lines of the song are also parodied in the course of James Joyce's
Finnegans Wake. In the same vein, Birkenhead post-punk group
Half Man Half Biscuit included the song 'D'ye ken
Ted Moult?' on their compilation
ACD, adapting the lyrics to address the 1980s
double glazing spokesman of the same name, while comic singer-songwriter
John Shuttleworth used the song as the basis for his cassette-only album
Do You Ken Ken Worthington?. == Regimental marches ==