O the merry Dartimoor, etc.
'Tis merry in the autumn,
When snipe and cock appear,
And never see a keeper
To say, No shooting here!
We stack the peat for fuel,
We ask no better fire,
And never pay a farden
For all that we require.
'Tis merry in the winter,
The wind is on the moor,
For twenty miles to leeward
The people hear it roar.
'Tis merry in the ingle,
Beside a moorland lass,
As watching turves a-glowing,
The brimming bumpers pass.
O the merry Dartimoor,
O the bonny Dartimoor,
I would not be where I'm not free
As I am upon the moor.
Note.—Articles to be consulted:—
Collier (W. F.), "Dartmoor," in Transactions of the Devonshire Association for 1876.
Collier (W. F.), "Venville Rights on Dartmoor," ibid., 1887.
" "Dartmoor for Devonshire," ibid., 1894.
" "Sport on Dartmoor," ibid., 1895.