A different version, the one that endures today, was musically adapted in 1869 by William Metcalfe (1829–1909), the organist and choirmaster of Carlisle Cathedral.
[1][2][3][4][5] The tune etymology has a long history that has been traced back to 1695 and attributed to adaptations – one in particular, from the 20th century, the 1939 jingle, "Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot.
"[2] John Graves, who wrote it in the Cumbrian dialect, tinkered with the words over the years and several versions are known.
George Coward, a Carlisle bookseller who wrote under the pseudonym Sidney Gilpin, rewrote the lyrics with Graves' approval, translating them from their original broad Cumberland dialect to Anglian; and in 1866, he published them in the book, Songs and Ballads of Cumberland.
[6][7] Another song written by Graves mentions one of John's brothers, Askew Peel (1789–1854), a horsedealer who also lived in Caldbeck.
was first sung in 1824 in Gate House in Caldbeck in John Graves’ home to the tune of the Border rant "Bonnie Annie."
British musicologist Ann Gilchrist (1863–1954) and Canadian folklorist Edith Fowke (1913–1996) trace the use of the tune and lyrics in other songs and poems, including: Verse 1 (best known; by Graves)[6] D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?
Chorus For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed, And the cry of his hounds which he oft time led, Peel's "View, Halloo!"
Verse 4 And I've followed John Peel both often and far, O'er the rasper fence and the gate and the bar, From low Denton Holme up to Scratchmere Scar, Where we vie for the brush in the morning For the sound of his horn, etc.
Coward's version of the last line was used for Matt Cartmill's book, A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature Through History.