Al O'Donnell - The Granemore Hare

'The Granemore Hare' sung by Al O'Donnell, from the album 'Al O'Donnell 2' released in 1978.

This song is also known as "The Hills of Greenmore" or "The Hills of Granemore".

I just found out that in a Tommy Makem & Ryan's Fancy video, you can see Al O'Donnell perform this song with video:

   • Tommy Makem & Ryan's Fancy Ep6 - Pt2 of 3  

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Lyrics:

One fine winter's morning, my horn I did blow,
To the green fields of Keady to hunt I did go,
We gathered our dogs and circled around,
For none loved the sport better than the boys of Maydown,

And when we arrived they were all standing there,
We set of for the fields in search of the hare,
We didn't get far, 'till someone gave a cheer,
Over high hills and valleys the wee hare did steer,

When she got to the heather, she tried them to shun,
The dogs never missed her one inch that she run,
They were kept well packed going over the hill,
Oh, they had set themselves then this wee puss to kill,

It being quite early I stopped for a while,
'Twas little I thought they were going to meet Coyle,
For if I'd known that I'd have lain near the town,
And have tried to get rid of the dogs of Maydown,

As we drew o'er the hill, 'twas a beautiful sight,
There was dogs black and yellow, dogs black and white,
And she took the black bank, for to try them once more,
Oh, it was her last look on the hills of Granemore,

And as they drew near where the wee puss did lie,
She sprang up to her feet for to bid them goodbye,
But their music did cease, and her cry we did hear,
Saying, "bad luck to the ones brought you Maydown dogs here",

In the field of wheat stubble, the wee puss did lie,
And Rory and Chalmer, they did pass her by,
And there while we stood, at the top of the brae,
Oh, we heard the last words that the wee hare did say,

"No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll run,
Or trip to fields to have sports and turn,
For last night as I lay there content in the glen,
Oh,'twas little my thoughts were of dogs and of men,

No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll run,
And now that I'm dying, the sport is all done,
Nor hear the long horn Joe Toner does play,
Or go home to my bed by the clear light of day,

You may blame Owen MacMahan for bringing Coyle here,
For he's at at his old capers this many's the year,
On saturday, sunday, he never gives over,
With a pack of strange dogs 'round the hills of Granemore".

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I have transcribed the lyrics myself, as the ones I was able to find on the internet weren't the same as in the song. The accent plus the fact that English isn't my native tongue, makes it possible I've made a mistake. Please comment if I did.

All credit goes to Al O'Donnell. I only put the music and images together for promotion, so Youtube can enjoy this great artist.