Tensions between the band grew during the production in 1970 of their first album, Hark! The Village Wait to the point where they never again worked together after its completion, but the music itself shows no signs of these difficulties. While having a rock sensibility there is a greater sense of the authentic folk tradition than even in the best of Fairport, and a particular beauty arising from the two pairs of voices. The Woods being replaced by admired folk stalwart Martin Carthy, with violinist Peter Knight to widen the musical textures, the group late in 1970 recorded their most admired record Please to see the King. Ten Man Mop followed in 1971, more accomplished but generally felt to be less exciting. The expensive gatefold sleeve swallowed the band's royalties, and was referred to as a tombstone, since Hutchings and Carthy then left, to pursue Hutchings' new vision of a specifically English strand of folk rock with The Albion Band, and Steeleye Mk 2 folded.
However the inclusion of the less celebrated and more rock orientated replacements Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson led to the most commercially successful phase in the band's existence, vocalist Maddy Prior becoming the primary focus of the band, and a run of well received albums, from Below the Salt and Now we Are Six, their first with drummer Nigel Pegrum, to their eighth, and most commercially successful, All Around my Hat, in 1975.
Still active, they have a claim to be one of the longest-lived and perhaps the most commercially successful of all the folk rock bands of the era, thanks to their hit singles Gaudete and All Around My Hat, 3 top 40 albums and even a certified "gold" record with All Around My Hat.
Tim Hart died of lung cancer on 24 December 2009, aged 61.
The Hills of Greenmore
Steeleye Span Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One fine winter's morn my horn I did blow
To the green fields of Keady for hours we did go
We covered our dogs and we searched all the way
For none loves this sport better than the boys in the Dale.
And when we are rising we're all standing there
We sit up by the fields, boys, in search of the hare
Over high hills and valleys this sweet puss did steer
As we flew o'er the hills, 'twas a beautiful sight
There was dogs black and yellow, there was dogs black and bright
Now she took to the black bank for to try them once more
Oh it was her last ride o'er the hills of Greenmore
In the field fleet stubble this pussy die lie
And in growing chary they did pass her by
And there well we stood at the top of the brae
We heard the last words that this sweet puss did say:
"No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll roam
In touch of the fields, boys, in sporting and fun
Or hear the long horn that your toner does play
I'll go home to my den by the clear light of day"
You may blame our right man for killing the hare
For he said his o.k. first this many a year
On saturday and sunday he never gives o'er
With a pack of strange dogs round the hills of Greenmore.
The Hills of Greenmore depicts the story of a group of men who go hunting in the fields of Keady. The singer describes their journey through the fields with their dogs, eagerly searching for a hare to catch. When they finally find one, the chase begins – a thrilling scene for the hunters, the dogs and the hare itself. They run through the hills and valleys, and just when they catch up with the animal, it takes a leap over the black bank and ends up dead. The hunters stand still, imagining the last words of the hare as it accepts its fate and says goodbye to the fields it roamed and the horn that called the men to pursue.
On a metaphorical level, the song could be seen as a representation of the cycle of life and death. The hare is hunted and dies, but as it returns to the den, a new life may begin. The hunters may return to the field, the dogs may chase another hare, and the horn will sound once again.
The song also emphasizes the strong bond between the men on this hunt, their love for the sport, and the importance of tradition. They hunt with enthusiasm and dedication, and even when they don’t catch anything, they still have a good time together.
Line by Line Meaning
One fine winter's morn my horn I did blow
One fine winter morning, I blew my horn.
To the green fields of Keady for hours we did go
We went to the green fields of Keady and searched for hours.
We covered our dogs and we searched all the way
We covered our dogs and searched the whole way.
For none loves this sport better than the boys in the Dale.
No one loves this sport more than the boys in the Dale.
And when we are rising we're all standing there
As we're getting ready, we're all standing there.
We sit up by the fields, boys, in search of the hare
We sit by the fields, searching for the hare.
We didn't get far till someone gave the cheer
We didn't get far before someone cheered.
Over high hills and valleys this sweet puss did steer
The hare ran over high hills and valleys.
As we flew o'er the hills, 'twas a beautiful sight
It was a beautiful sight as we ran over the hills.
There was dogs black and yellow, there was dogs black and bright
The pack had black and yellow dogs, as well as black and bright ones.
Now she took to the black bank for to try them once more
The hare went to the black bank to try to lose the dogs again.
Oh it was her last ride o'er the hills of Greenmore
Unfortunately, it was her last run over the hills of Greenmore.
In the field fleet stubble this pussy die lie
The hare died and lay in the field amongst the stubble.
And in growing chary they did pass her by
As they got closer, they saw the hare and passed her by.
And there well we stood at the top of the brae
They stood at the top of the hill.
We heard the last words that this sweet puss did say:
They heard the last words of the hare.
"No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll roam
"I won't roam over the green fields of Keady anymore.
In touch of the fields, boys, in sporting and fun
I won't touch the fields anymore while having fun with the boys.
Or hear the long horn that your toner does play
I won't hear the long horn that your toner plays.
I'll go home to my den by the clear light of day"
I'll go back to my burrow in the light of day.
You may blame our right man for killing the hare
The right man killed the hare, for which one may blame him.
For he said his o.k. first this many a year
He said it was okay, something he hadn't said in years.
On saturday and sunday he never gives o'er
On Saturdays and Sundays, he doesn't stop hunting.
With a pack of strange dogs round the hills of Greenmore.
With a pack of unknown dogs, they hunt around the hills of Greenmore.
Contributed by Austin I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jane Doe 138
+Wenzel Grüß It's a song about Hare Coursing with dogs - I shouldn't like it myself, but it's one of my fave Steeleye Span songs, for some reason.
Here are the lyrics for you -
One fine winter's morn my horn I did blow
To the green fields of Keady for hours we did go
We gathered our dogs and we circled around
For none loves the sport better than the boys in the dell.
And when we arrived they were all standing there
We set off for the fields, boys, in search of a hare
We didn't get far till someone gave the cheer
Over high hills and valleys the sweet puss did steer
As we flew o'er the hills, 'twas a beautiful sight
There was dogs black and yellow, there was dogs black and white
As she took the black bank for to try them once more
Oh it was her last look o'er the hills of Greenmore.
In a field of wheat stubble this pussy did lie
And Rory and Charver they did pass her by
And there where we stood at the top of the brae
We heard the last words that this sweet puss did say:
“No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll roam
Nor trip through the fields, boys, in sport and in fun
Or hear the long horn that your toner does play
I'll go home to my den by the clear light of day.”
You may blame ol' MacMahon for killing the hare
For he's at his ol' capers this many's a year
On Saturday and Sunday he never gives o'er
With a pack of strange dogs round the hills of Greenmore.
Pando
The hare's last words never fail to choke me up. Such a poignant song behind its jolly exterior.
Pando
@Off Grid Quite right
Off Grid
I think that's the closest to what if anything can be called an Irish character in storytelling.
carpetter
Oh sure. I always feel the riders are missing the natural beauty, looking instead at their dogs, from that one line. I don't know how to look into that with a traditional though.
Nollaig Doughan
Oh Sweet Divine - surely the greatest folk rock ballad of all time!
Pwecko
Superb. My favourite Steeleye Span track. It always makes me cry. Not just the words but the tune. It's wonderful.
kololikate
Loved Steeleye this evening and they sang this.
humptyflippingdumpty
Absolutely, this album is magnificent Vive la France, Michel, Paddy
Pangael
Absolutely one of the best songs from one of the best collections of British folk songs ever assembled. And as themountainviewguy suggested, when my friends and I get pretty intoxicated, we can do what sounds to us like a pretty good rendition of this. No recordings exist to fault this. :-) Thanks for posting Hark, WhackaWhacka!
Sloth53
amazing ....love this