A-Hunting We Will Go is a British song written by Thomas Arne. It was written by Arne for 1777 production of John Gay

John Gay

John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...

's The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...

at Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

. It was originally performed by Margaret Kennedy who was playing the role of MacHeath in the production. It later became a popular folk song and nursery rhyme

Nursery rhyme

The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...

.

The a- is an archaic intensifying prefix; compare Here We Come A-wassailing

Here We Come A-Wassailing

Here We Come A-wassailing is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Years song, apparently composed c. 1850...

/Here We Come A-caroling and lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol that enumerates a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. Although first published in England in 1780, textual evidence may indicate the song is French in origin...

(e.g., "Six geese a-laying").

See also

• A-Haunting We Will Go – title a play on this song
• Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
  Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
  Daddy's Gone A-Hunting is a 1925 drama film directed by Frank Borzage based upon a play by Zoe Akins, with adaptation by Kenneth B. Clarke. The film brought together Vitagraph leading lady Alice Joyce and English actor Percy Marmont after his success with If Winter Comes. This is the only film...
  
  – similar construction
• Farmer in the Dell - a very similar song in lyrics, content and music
• Omar Little
  Omar Little
  Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, portrayed by Michael K. Williams. Omar is a renowned stick-up man who lives by a strict moral code and never deviates from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robs or menaces people who are not involved in "the game"....
  
   - a character from HBO's The Wire
  The WIRE
  the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
  
  , known for whistling A-Hunting We Will Go or The Farmer in the Dell as he approached victims he was stalking, adding to his mystique.