The folk song “A-Hunting We Will Go” has existed for over three hundred years.  It has been associated with several different tunes—some of which have blended with similar songs, including “The Farmer in the Dell”—as well as a variety of line and ring dances, “grab” games, double-rank dances, and kissing games. 

It is thought to have originated in the 1600s as an English country dance, eventually evolving into a game in which children form two parallel rows.  Each facing pair in turn holds hands and skips down the middle to rhythmic clapping; the pair at the top then goes around the outside and makes and archway with their arms, under which the others pass.

Another version of the dance is related to the fox-hunting games from English folklore, where one dancer acts as the “fox,” being chased and captured by the “hunter,” thus illustrating the original lyrics of the song:

A-hunting we will go!  A-hunting we will go!   We’ll catch a fox and put him in a box and never let him go!

Part of the tradition of “A-Hunting We Will Go” has been to encourage participants to create their own verses during the course of the game.  In this book, I have written new words for the familiar tune, recasting the hunting of animals as a roundup of congenial beasts who join two children on a playful journey toward bedtime.

Print out the music!