Heroic sheepdogs deserve more than one song. So here is another tune about that scrawny rascal Ruff! And there may be more to come!
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Image credit: salpics32 / 123RF Stock Photo
About the song
Best sung to Dublin in the Rare Auld Times, here in a version by them ever-lovely hobbits in The Dubliners. Me own version was first performed at Green Dragon Friday on November 9th 2012.
Of course, ol’ Ruff already has a song. So why another one? Well, I still plan ter dig out the next Ruff story, not least because the last one ended with a slight cliffhanger of sorts (if yer can use that term fer someone stuck way down below the ground). It takes a little time uncovering that story, though (pouts), because there are just so many other things ter do in LOTRO (cheers)
But I still have lots of ideas for possible tales fer Ruff, both silly and whimsical and heroic and exciting. After all, he’s ever so slightly inspired by El-ahrairah from Watership Down (one of me all-time favourite books). Possibly with an unhealthy dose of Tom Bombadil tossed in as well. So he’s good fun ter write stuff about, the old Ruffian, and a few song lyrics are much quicker ter write than full-fledged stories.
So I thought I would pick a tune which I could use as a base for short Ruff tales, and Rare Auld Times seemed ter fit the bill nicely. As the weeks go by, there may be updated versions of this tune, where I keep the first and last verse, but change them verses in the middle. We’ll see how it goes!
In the meantime, enjoy this one! And sing along to the chorus!
His name is Ruff, part 1
Once there was a hero
In them fields of green
He was ever smart and clever
No sharper we have seen
He is old and grey now
His days of prime are gone
But the locals won’t forget him
And all he has done
He is old and scruffy
But he’s tough enough
He was born in Brockenborings
His name is Ruff
Once he met a badger
Deep below the earth
Ruff was thirsty, cold and hungry
He lived his days of dearth
The badger asked him over
Then fed him plates of stew
And it ended with a mugful
Of badgery brew
When Ruff was warm and merry
The badger told him tales
Of the wicked shrews on Greenfields
The ones with icky tails
So Ruff he barked his loudest
The shrews they ran away
And the badgers cheered their hero
This dog was okay
He is old and scruffy
But he’s tough enough
He was born in Brockenborings
His name is Ruff
Once he chased a goblin
All along the stream
And he ripped the goblin’s pants off
It made the froggies scream
The pants looked stiff and sturdy
So Ruff he found some logs
And he made a boat with pant sails
To comfort them frogs
He is old and scruffy
But he’s tough enough
He was born in Brockenborings
His name is Ruff
Now he sleeps all morning
And he sleeps all night
But the daytime is is favourite
When everything is right
The local children love him
He plays upon the rug
And his lassie lies beside him
She keeps him snug
He is old and scruffy
But he’s tough enough
He was born in Brockenborings
His name is Ruff
He is old and scruffy
But he’s tough enough
He was born in Brockenborings
His name is Ruff
More songs
Yer can read the lyrics to me other songs right here!
[…] Sung along to His Name is Ruff […]