The Gamekeeper

C G In Devonshire I was a keeper, C G Half my life I lived outdoors. D Em Using skills my father taught me, C G On land that edged the open moors. C G I'd cut the snares of every poacher, C G Rising hours before the sun. D Em I set traps and planted cover, C G And drove the birds towards the guns. C G I fought in France like half this county, C G With all the skills I brought from home. D Em I set traps and laid the wires, C G Til the earth grew red as Devon's own. C G July the first, nineteen sixteen, C G We early rose, passed round the rum. D Em The whistles blew and we broke cover, C G And walked in line towards the guns. C G We walked in line towards the guns. C G Back on the land, I hire the beaters, C G And when the glorious twelfth has come. D Em We stand in line, we wait in silence, C G And walk once more towards the guns. C G We walk towards the waiting guns. C G We walk towards the waiting guns. C G We walk towards the waiting guns.