Tabor's earliest public performances were at the Heart of England Folk Club (at the Fox and Vivian pub) in Leamington Spa in the mid 1960s. In the late 1960s an appearance at the Sidmouth Folk Festival led to folk club bookings and she contributed to various records. One of her earliest recordings was in 1972 on an anthology called Stagfolk Live. She also featured on Rosie Hardman's Firebird (1972) and The First Folk Review Record (1974). At the time she was singing purely traditional unaccompanied material but in 1976 she collaborated with Maddy Prior on the Silly Sisters album and tour, with a full band that included Nic Jones. It provided the launching pad that same year (1976) for her first album in her own right, Airs and Graces. She later joined again with Prior, this time using the name Silly Sisters for their duo. Starting in 1977 Martin Simpson joined her in the recording studio for three albums before he moved to America in 1987. (Simpson has returned from America to be a guest guitarist on albums in the 2000s.) After his departure, she started working closely with pianist Huw Warren.
In 1990, Tabor recorded an album with the folk-rock band OysterBand entitled Freedom and Rain. She went on tour with OysterBand, and the Rykodisc label published a limited-run promotional live album the following year. Many of her current fans first discovered her through this tour and album with the OysterBand. In 1992 Elvis Costello wrote "All This Useless Beauty" specifically for Tabor, and she recorded it on Angel Tiger.
Since then her solo albums have included:
A Quiet Eye (1999)
Rosa Mundi (2001)
An Echo of Hooves (2003)
At the Wood's Heart (2005)
Apples (2007)
Ashore (2011)
Ragged Kingdom is a 2011 album by June Tabor & Oysterband.
Since 2006, Tabor has also been working with Huw Warren and Iain Ballamy as Quercus.
Website: www.junetabor.co.uk
Reynard the Fox
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In hunting poor Reynard the Fox
For the very best food he does eat in the night
And lives upon fat geese and ducks
In Ashendon Copse I did lie
And I lived an extraordinary rate
A-cracking the bones in young lambs' tails
Oh, for my lord's horses and hounds they did send
And the huntsmen, they swore I must die
Which made all the hair on my coat stand on end
And caused me from my young ones to fly
All down Stony Lane they did run me
And I gave 'em a very good race
When I entered the woods I did rest then
The hounds they run forward and bays
All through the wild woods they gave chase and gave game
And the gameskeeper saw me go by
He chased me out onto the wide-open plain
It was then that he fired at my thigh
All on stony fields they did kill me
And bloodthirsty dogs did me follow
They tore me old coat all in pieces
Which caused the glad huntsmen to hollow
Oh pardon, dear huntsmen, for I've spoiled your game
And the keeper has caused me to die
But I leave little brothers of mine to remain
That love little else better than I
And now that bold Reynard is dead
We'll go to the Dolphin and dine
Now we'll dip his fore-foot in a bumper
And drink up his health in good wine
In the opening lines of June Tabor's "Reynard the Fox," the singer comments on the enjoyment that many people, particularly gentlemen, take in hunting foxes. The following lines clarify that Reynard (the fox) is the target of these hunters, and the fox's diet of "fat geese and ducks" makes him especially desirable to those seeking a good hunt. The singer then narrates from the perspective of Reynard, who tells of his life in Ashendon Copse, where he enjoys "an extraordinary rate" and "cracks the bones of young lambs' tails." However, the farmers in this area despise Reynard, and this possibly motivates them to call in horses, hounds, and huntsmen to kill the fox.
Reynard describes how the huntsmen vow to kill him, and he is forced to flee from his offspring. A pursuit ensues, with the hounds and huntsmen chasing Reynard down Stony Lane before the fox enters the woods, allowing him to rest while the hounds bark and bay. The hunters pursue Reynard through the wild woods, and he is chased to an open field where the gamekeeper shoots the fox in the thigh. The hunters continue to pursue Reynard and eventually kill him, despite his plea for them to pardon his interference in their game. The hunters tear apart Reynard's coat and implore him to forgive them as they commemorate his death at the Dolphin with a drink in his honor.
Overall, the song presents a sad and somber commentary on the cruelty of hunting for sport, as well as a unique perspective from the hunted animal, Reynard the Fox. The lyrics showcase the inevitability of his tragic end and the grief that occurred for such a creature.
Line by Line Meaning
A good many gentlemen take great delight
A lot of people enjoy hunting foxes
In hunting poor Reynard the Fox
They like to hunt this particular type of fox
For the very best food he does eat in the night
They hunt Reynard because he eats the best food at night
And lives upon fat geese and ducks
He mainly eats fat geese and ducks
In Ashendon Copse I did lie
Reynard tells his own story about living in the woods
And I lived an extraordinary rate
He lived as best as he could
A-cracking the bones in young lambs' tails
He ate young lamb tails by cracking the bones
The farmers they all did me hate
Farmers disliked him for killing young lambs
Oh, for my lord's horses and hounds they did send
Reynard was hunted by the lord's horses and hounds
And the huntsmen, they swore I must die
The hunters wanted to kill Reynard
Which made all the hair on my coat stand on end
Reynard was terrified
And caused me from my young ones to fly
He had to leave his family behind
All down Stony Lane they did run me
They chased him down a lane
And I gave 'em a very good race
Reynard was fast and gave them a good chase
When I entered the woods I did rest then
He stopped to rest in the woods
The hounds they run forward and bays
The dogs kept chasing him
All through the wild woods they gave chase and gave game
The chase continued through the woods
And the gameskeeper saw me go by
The gamekeeper saw Reynard pass by
He chased me out onto the wide-open plain
The gamekeeper chased him into an open area
It was then that he fired at my thigh
The gamekeeper shot Reynard in the leg
All on stony fields they did kill me
He was killed in a stony field
And bloodthirsty dogs did me follow
The dogs were hungry for his flesh
They tore me old coat all in pieces
They ripped his coat to shreds
Which caused the glad huntsmen to hollow
The hunters were happy and shouted
Oh pardon, dear huntsmen, for I've spoiled your game
Reynard asks for forgiveness for ruining their hunt
And the keeper has caused me to die
The gamekeeper killed him
But I leave little brothers of mine to remain
He had siblings that were still alive
That love little else better than I
His siblings loved him very much
And now that bold Reynard is dead
Reynard is now deceased
We'll go to the Dolphin and dine
The hunters celebrate by going to a pub
Now we'll dip his fore-foot in a bumper
They plan to pour wine on his foot
And drink up his health in good wine
They will celebrate Reynard's death with wine
Writer(s): Dp, Tabor June
Contributed by Ella J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Natoc.
Wow amazing....