A-Hunting We Will Go Lyrics
A four-line singing game from a 1917 school book: a couple skips down between two lines, then everyone circles and skips under an arch. The fox is put in a box, but at the end the singers let him go.
A-Hunting We Will Go
O, a-hunting we will go,
A-hunting we will go,
We'll catch a fox and put him in a box,
And then we'll let him go.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/a-hunting-we-will-go/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Sung to a skipping beat, with a tra-la-la chorus after the verse
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| O, a-hunting we will go | Lines 1 and 2: the first (head) couple joins crossed hands and skips down between the two lines while the other players stand in place and clap in rhythm. |
| We'll catch a fox and put him in a box | Lines 3 and 4: the couple faces about, turning inward without losing the grasp, and returns in the same manner. |
| Tra, la, la (chorus) | All join crossed hands and skip to the left in a circle, following the leaders. |
| Next round | When the head couple reach the place where the last couple stood, they form an arch and all the others skip under it. The second couple now becomes the head. |
What Does A-Hunting We Will Go Mean?
The words tell a short story with a kind ending. The singers say they are going hunting, they catch a fox, and they pop him into a box. The last line turns the whole thing round: and then we'll let him go. So the fox is not harmed; he is held for a moment, then freed, which is the cue for the next couple to take their turn.
The rest of the game is a skip. Each couple takes a turn at the head, skipping down and back and then making the arch, and the game ends when everyone is back where they started.
History and Origin
The game is in The Song Play Book: Singing Games for Children, compiled by Mary A. Wollaston and edited by C. Ward Crampton, the director of physical training for the New York public schools, and published by A. S. Barnes in 1917. Its preface says the fifty song-plays were chosen from a great number because they suit classroom and playground conditions and give a lot of vigorous exercise for a small amount of singing. They had been tested for several years in the New York Training School for Teachers.
The book sets the game up with two parallel lines of six players each, facing each other, and repeats it until every couple has been at the head and all have regained their original positions.
Learning Activities
- Set the lines: start with two lines of six, as the book does, and let the first couple practise the skip without the singing.
- Be the arch: raise joined hands high and let the other children skip underneath, then swap places.
- Fox in a box: use a real cardboard box and a soft toy fox, and let the children lift him out on the last line.
- Smaller group: with fewer children, use two lines of three and keep the same moves.