As we were out a-hunting
One morning in the spring
Both hounds and horses running well
Made the hills and the valleys ring

But to our great misfortune
No fox there could be found
Our huntsmen cursed and swore but still
No fox moved over the ground

And up spoke our master huntsman
The master of the chase
"If only the Devil himself'd come by
We'd run him such a race"

And up there sprung like a lightening
A fox from out of his hole
His fur was the color of a starless night
And his eyes like burning coals

And they chased him over the valley
And they chased him over the fields
And they chased him down to the riverbank
But never would he yield

And he jumped into the water
And he swam to the other side
And he laughed so hard that the greenwood shook
And then he turned to the hunt and he's cried:

"Ride on my gallant huntsmen when must I come again?
For you shall never want for a fox to chase all over the glen
And when your need is greatest, just call upon My Name
And I will come and you shall have the best of sport and game"

And the men looked up in wonder
All the hounds running back to hide
For the fox had changed to the Devil himself
Where he stood on the other side

And the men, the hounds, the horses
Went flying back to town
And hot on their heels come a little black fox
Laughing as he ran

"Ride on my gallant huntsmen when must I come again?
For you shall never want for a fox to chase all over the glen
And when your need is greatest, just call upon My Name
And I will come and you shall have the best of sport and game

"Ride on my gallant huntsmen when must I come again?
For you shall never want for a fox to chase all over the glen"