Hunt the Squirrel is a fantastic and widespread tune, with many different versions (I know three different versions of the B part!) and it dates back to at least the mid 1700s.
We will use this tune in our forthcoming appearance at Ealing Country Dance Club, pairing it with Dory Boat.
The alternative arrangement for Hunt the Squirrel was drone G/D for whole A part and drone G/E for 1st half of B then return to G/D, some melody players play an octave lower. The alternative arrangement for Dory Boat was using a simplified B part (removing notes) and some melody players playing the root notes of the chords. Please make your own notes/references for this!
Deborah is a violinist and violist specialising in English folk music. She trained in viola and Baroque viola at Birmingham Conservatoire, before returning to her first love of traditional music, song and dance.
Deborah has developed a passion for playing for dancing since joining her first ceilidh band at age 13. She is a member of Stepling, a band performing English music, step-dance, song and percussion, and also plays with Folk Dance Remixed, a dance company combining traditional dance with hip hop and street dance styles, with whom she has performed as such events as Car Fest, the Southbank's Festival of Love and Glasgow's Commonwealth Games Festival.
Deborah records on a regular basis for a number of people, including The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra, and for Laurel Swift's 'Travelling with Thomas' musical.
She teaches music, song and dance regularly for The English Folk Dance and Song Society, as well as on a freelance basis for various workshop series, festivals and music services. Deborah recently completed The Teaching Musician MA degree course at Trinity Laban, graduating with Distinction.
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3 thoughts on “Hunt the Squirrel”
Gill & I first played Hunt the Squirrel in Laurel’s old ‘Ealing Sessions’ days.
We were surprised a few years back to come across Martin Hayes playing this ‘very un-Irish’ tune in a slow paced, thoughtful manner. (About same tempo as your first time round ‘teaching speed’)
Its more often played in a lively up-tempo manner, but I think this is a good example of how you really can take any tune and ‘make it your own’.
Its the second tune in this long live concert set (@ about 4min in)
New Ealing Sessions 
Gill & I first played Hunt the Squirrel in Laurel’s old ‘Ealing Sessions’ days.
We were surprised a few years back to come across Martin Hayes playing this ‘very un-Irish’ tune in a slow paced, thoughtful manner. (About same tempo as your first time round ‘teaching speed’)
Its more often played in a lively up-tempo manner, but I think this is a good example of how you really can take any tune and ‘make it your own’.
Its the second tune in this long live concert set (@ about 4min in)
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