Brand New, First Edition (1974), signed by the author
“Foxhunting and music are as inseparable as bread and butter, whether it be the music of hounds, of the horn, or of ‘John Peel,’” wrote the late Alexander Mackay-Smith in the preface to his book The Songs of Foxhunting.
Mackay-Smith spent ten years collecting the music, the lyrics, seventy-seven illustrations, and the background and color behind twenty songs that foxhunters have loved to sing for over two centuries. The book was published in 1974 by the American Foxhound Club.
Through the courtesy of Mrs. Mackay-Smith, Foxhunting Life is proud to offer a limited number of brand new, first edition, signed-by-the-author copies directly from our Bookstore.
Although considered rare, judging by the prices listed for used versions through Amazon and other sources, Mrs. Mackay-Smith has priced the book at $45.00—substantially less even than the original publication price. She knows that her husband would have wanted them in the hands of as many foxhunters as would enjoy them, rather than a select few who could afford to pay more for a rare book by this iconic figure of twentieth century foxhunting.
The music and stories include John Peel; Drink, Puppy, Drink; A-Hunting We Will Go; The Fox (“A fox went out on a chilly night”); The Fox Jumped Over the Parson’s Gate; The Hunting Day (“What a fine hunting day, ‘Tis as balmy as May”); Here’s a Health to Every Sportsman; Rouse, Boys, Rouse; The Fox Chace (The morning was fair, As I rode to take the air”); The Ballad of the Badsworth Hunt; The Huntsman’s Rouse; The Killruddery Hunt; The Hunting of Arscott of Tetcott; Steepleford Hunting Song; Holmbank Hunting Song; Beau Reynolds (Ye sportsmen all of high renown”); A Southerly Wind and A Cloudy Sky; Reynard the Fox, With His Last Will and Testament (“‘Twas the twenty-first of March in the year ninety-three); Hunting Song of Mr. Meynell’s Time; and The Billesdon Coplow Run.
And FHL offers the perfect accompaniment to the book—a CD of all the songs recorded in New York Cityat the time of the book’s publication, re-mastered from the original studio tape.
Posted November 28, 2011