Gypsy Davy- Perry (WI-AL) 1946 REC
[From Wisconsin Folksong Collection, 1937-1946, online.
R. Matteson 2012]
Gypsy Davy- As sung by Frances Perry who learned Gypsy Davy from a family of Georgia mountaineers who settled in Jackson County around 1910. 08-14-1946 Black River Falls, WI Originally a whole-step higher. Listen: Frances Perry
1. The gypsy Davy came over the plain
He sang so loud and so clearly,
He caused the very valleys to ring
And he charmed the heart of a lady.
Refrain: Rum tilly dum tilly dum
Rum tilly dum tilly die day,
Rum tilly dum tum tiddle liddle lang
Tum a lye tum a low tum a lady.
Verse 2. My lady came tripping down the stairs
Her waiting maid behind her,
A bottle of wine in each of her hands
To drink with the gypsy Davy
Verse 3. "Will you go with me my dear" he said
"Will you go with me my honey,"
"I'll swear by the sword that hangs by my side
You never shall want for money."
Verse 4. Her lord came home on a Satuday night
Inquiring for his lady,
Her waiting maid gave him this reply:
"She's gone with the gypsy Davy."
Refrain
Verse 5. "Go saddle me up the old grey mare
The bay is not so speedy,
I'll ride all night and I'll ride all day
'Til I overtake my lady."
Refrain
Verse 6. He rode all day and he rode all night
'Til he came to the water's edges,
And there he sat down with a tear in his eye
And there he beheld his lady.
Refrain
Verse 7. "Oh have you forsaken your houses and land
Oh have you forsaken your babies,
Oh have you forsaken your true wedded lord
And gone with a gypsy Davy."
Refrain
Verse 8. "Yes I have forsaken my houses and land
Yes I have forsaken my babies
Yes I have forsaken my true wedded lord
And gone with a gypsy Davy."
Verse 9. "Last night I lay in my own feather bed
With my blankets wrapped around me,
Tonight I sleep in the wilderness
With a gypsy Davy beside me."
Refrain
*********************************************************************************
Critical Commentary
Transcriptions by MB and HST.
HST notes:
In the Professional Papers series:
Gypsy Davy (The Gypsy Laddie) (Johnie Faa) Child No. 200 Sung by Mrs. Frances Perry, Black River Falls, 1946. There are several stories concerning the identity of the principals involved in this song. Early printings of this song refer to the lady kidnapper as Johnnie Faa, later printings as Gypsy Davy.
Mrs. Perry learned Gypsy Davy from a family of Georgia mountaineers who settled in Jackson County around 1910. There are several stories concerning the identity of the principals involved in this song. The early printings refer to the kidnapper as Johnnie Faa (Faw); later printings as Gypsy Davy. Child states, "Johnny Faa was a prominent and frequent name among the gypsies. Johnnie Faw's right and title as lord and earl of Little Egypt were recognized by James V in 1540. But in the next year Egyptians were ordered to quit the realm within thirty days on pain of death. The gypsies were formally expelled from Scotland by act of Parliament in 1609." Johnny Faa, however, remained in Scotland with a "price on his head." In 1624 the gypsy chieftain was hanged. Variant of South Carolina version"
Editor's notes:
Eloise Hubbard Linscott writes that this song was first published in 1740, a version that "calls the gypsy chief Johnny Faw-an Anglicization of his Gaelic name, Seanin an Faith, 'Johnny the Seer'-who according to an unfounded tradition eloped with Lady Cassilis" (Linscott 208). This rumor may have come from "some disgruntled minstrel who took revenge in slander and set his lampoon to the tune known as 'Lady Cassilis's Lilt.' Johnny Faw was said to have been recognized by James V of Scotland in 1540 as Lord and Earl of Little Egypt. The gypsies were expelled from Scotland in the following year, and again in 1609 by Parliament. Gypsy chiefs named Johnny Faw were sentenced to be hanged for contempt of this decree in 1611 and 1624" (Linscott 208).
Gypsy Davy
Alternate titles/related songs: "The Gypsy Laddie," "The Three Gypsies," "Black Jack Davy," "Gypsie Song," "Oh Come and Go Back My Pretty Fair Miss," "The Lady's Disgrace," "Johnny Faa."
Sources:
Asch, Moses, ed. 124 Folk Songs, As Recorded on Folkways Records by Famous Folk Song Singers. New York: Robbins Music Corporation, 1965.
Flanders, Helen Hartness, Elizabeth Flanders Ballard, George Brown, and Phillips Barry, colls., trans., and eds. The New Green Mountain Songster: Traditional Folk Songs of Vermont. New Haven: Yale University Press; London: H. Milford: Oxford University Press, 1939.
Gamse, Albert. World's Favorite Hootenanny. New York: Ashley Publications, 1964.
Linscott, Eloise Hubbard, coll. and ed. Folk Songs of Old New England. New York: Macmillan, 1939.
Randolph, Vance, coll. and ed. Ozark Folksongs. Vol. I. Columbia, Mo.: State Historical Society of Missouri, 1946-50. Different tune.
Scarborough, Dorothy. A Song Catcher in Southern Mountains; American Folk Songs of British Ancestry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1937.
Sharp, Cecil J., and Maud Karpeles, colls. Eighty English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. London: Faber and Faber, 1968.
Silber, Fred, and Irwin Silber, comps. Folksinger's Wordbook: Words to Over 1,000 Songs. New York: Oak Publications, 1973.
Tillett, Beverly, ed. Jerry Silverman's Folk song Encyclopedia. Vol. I. New York: Chappell Music Co., 1975.