"Grandma's Song," composed by country singer, songwriter and producer Gail Davies, makes reference to a traditional English song about Reynard the Fox which her grandmother in the eastern Oklahoma Ozarks often sang to her. In this country, "Bold Reynard" has many titles, most involving a corruption of the name "Reynard," such as "Bold Ranger," "Tom Redman," and "Bow Randers." Dave and I learned this Ozark version, "The Reindeer Song," from a close family friend, Wilma Pepmiller, who learned it as a child growing up near the Ozark town of Doniphan, Missouri. I recommend listening to Gail Davies' recording of"Grandma's Song" - it opens with a recording of her grandmother singing this old song, a unique sound not heard on slick, Nashville-produced recordings these days.

In a recent correspondence, Gail told me her grandmother's parents were from Ireland, and her "Fox Hunting Song" is an Irish version. Thanks, Gail!

Come all you young sportsmen who love to chase the fox,
And we'll go chase the reindeer all through the hills and rocks.

Come-a-hoot, come-a-hoot, come-a-hollow
All around that merry stream.
Come-a-ring, ting, Sing and a hip, tip, tip
And away go the rolling bow-wow dogs
And a hoodle, doodle do
And a bugle horn and a tide-dee-oh
And through the woods we run, now boys,
Through the woods we run.

I come to a blind man, blind as he could be.
He said he saw the reindeer run up a hollow tree.

I come to a terrapin, crawling through the mud.
He said he saw the reindeer washed away in the flood.

(not sung: I come to a boatman, dipping out his boat.
He said he saw the reindeer run up the river float.)

(repeat first verse)