John Peel (huntsman) - Lyrics of D'ye Ken John Peel - Alternative Versions

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:

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. 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:

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.

A number of parodies also exist. One version broadcast on I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again parodied the British Radio DJ John Peel

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.