New Songs to Old Tunes

Now I'll give you a toast, lads, to all the fell packs,
To masters, to huntsmen and whips of aw macks,
You can have your athletics and games of all sorts,
But this hunting is surely the greatest of sports.
    Tally Ho! Tally Ho! Tally Ho!
    Hark For'ard good hounds, Tally Ho!

A perfectly good tune whose words have become non-PC through no fault of their own. Look at all the hunting songs we Cumbrians have, that are just being wasted... well what does a writer do? She writes some new words. And if Maddy Prior can sing about the Uppies and Downies at Workington, then I can sing about an agricultural show.

This one goes to the tune of "The Six Fell Packs": here's the original on Ron Black's site, http://www.lakelandhuntingmemories.com/6_Fell_Packs.htm

Crosby Ravensworth Show

The heather is bright on the top of the Scar.
The family packs in the seats of the car.
There's Granddad and Grannie, the kids and the hound
and we're all on the road, Crosby-Ravensworth-bound.
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
we're going to Ravensworth Show.

Now Granddad and Grannie they go every year
to catch up with crack and to share some good cheer;
they've got to the age where they're thin in the thatch
and the most of their talk is hatch, match and dispatch.
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
we're all at the Ravensworth Show.

The Industry tent is where mother is bound
which leaves me out here with the kids and the hound.
I’d bet on the ferrets, which pipe they would run -
but they sleep in their burrow and hide from the sun!
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
we're all at the Ravensworth Show.

The ponies are trotting to show at their best,
where beauty and manners are part of the test;
the cattle lie dozing, the sheep stand in pens,
there's a tent for the rabbits, the ducks and the hens.
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
they're all at the Ravensworth Show.

We sit on the benches to eat an ice cream
or hot dogs that give off a savoury steam
with onions and ketchup. The hound licks his lips
so we give him the crusts and the last of the chips.
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
pig-out at the Ravensworth Show.

The big bouncy castle is where the kids play;
they take off their shoes and go bounding away;
the dog wants to join them and leaps like a clown,
but Granddad and Grannie just want a sit-down.
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
we're tired at the Ravensworth Show.

The sunshine has fled and it's going to shower;
if you don't like the weather just wait half an hour.
It was fun in the sun through the sideshows to roam,
but now we're wet through so I think we'll go home.
Let it rain, let it shine, let it blow -
we've been to the Ravensworth Show.