A Match of Hunting- Ridley (Kent) c.1925 MacColl
[My shortened title. From Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland by Ewan Maccoll, Peggy Seeger; 1977.
Nelson Ridley (1913-1975) was born in Kent, one of 16 children. He claimed he knew his repertoire by age 12.
At the time of the 1974 recording he lived in Harlow new town in Essex, 20 miles outside of London.
R. Matteson 2016]
There Was a Match of Hunting- sung by Nelson Ridley of Kent, Learned by 1925, recorded in 1974 at Harlow new town in Essex, 20 miles outside of London.
There was a match of hunting they was providing,
Down in the grove, that's where briars grow;
O, did ever you hear talk of the young man murdered?
In a bed of briars his body throwed.
There was a match of hunting they was patruling,
Down in the grove, that's where briars grow;
(For keeping of its secret being around two brothers)
In a bed of briars his body throwed.