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Title
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Little dun mare
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Singer
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Unknown
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Song Lyrics
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Verse 1
On the twenty fourth day of August last
A horse race at Newmarket was,
And many fine gentlemen did resort
All for to see such lively sport.
Chorus
Right fol the riddle lara
Liddle fol, liddle I day.
Verse 2
Oh, there was a gentleman of fame,
Charles Handsome Esquire was his name,
And he had a kinsman kept a mare,
She was called 'Little Dun' with the two cropped ears.
Chorus
Verse 3
He went to his kinsman and thus did say -
'I have matched your mare to run this day.
I have matched your mare to run this day
Against Master Oliver's lively bay.'
Chorus
Verse 4
'For fifty! for fifty' the little boy cries,
'I'm afraid my mare will lose the prize.'
'Oh no,' said his uncle, 'I'm sure she will beat.
So here's a guinea to a shilling against the first heat.'
Chorus
Verse 5
When the trumpet did sound and the drum it did beat
Said the boy to his uncle - 'I'll lose the first heat.'
'You know very well the good trim of your mare,
You may lose the first heat if you think you dare.'
Chorus
Verse 6
Then the gentleman he rode around the course
Betting the money on every horse.
Says he - 'I will lay you eight to five
The little dun mare will lose the prize.'
Chorus
Verse 7
'Who's that? Who's that?' the little boy cries,
'That says my mare will lose the prize?
Here's a hundred bright guineas my uncle left me,
And I'll venture them all for my little Dunny.'
Chorus
Verse 8
Then all the jockeys were weighed, likewise the whip,
And all the bold riders began to strip.
The little dun mare, I've heard them say,
Carried twelve pounds more than the lively bay.
Chorus
Verse 9
Then the little boy cracked loud with his whip,
And made little Dun to jump and to skip,
And as they came galloping over the moor,
The little dun mare came tripping before.
Chorus
Verse 10
The gentlemen all rode round the course;
Said one to the other - 'Our money is lost.'
It made the gentlemen stamp and swear,
Saying - 'The devil take you and your little dun mare.'
Chorus
Verse 11
Now my little dun mare has won the race
No longer she shall stay in this place;
She has won so much money this very day
That my master can't count it or carry it away.
'She has won so much money I do declare,
She shall go into France and win the prize there.'
Chorus
