Gypsy Laddie-O- Bennett (NL) 1958 Peacock
[From: Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp. 194-195, by the National Museum of Canada (1965).
R. Matteson 2012]
Gypsy Laddie-O- Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1958 from Freeman Bennett of St.Paul's, NL.
Oh when the lord came home that night
Inquiring for his lady-o,
The servant girl she answered him,
"She's gone with the Gypsy laddie-o."
Oh he made haste, his horse and his gait,
And he followed after his lady-o;
'Twas there he spied an old crippled man
A-staggering 'long on a journey-o.
"Have you been east, have you been west,
Have you been north and south-o?
Or have you seen any rich lady gay
A-following the Gypsy laddie-o?"
"Yes, I've been east, and I've been west,
And I've been north and south-o;
And the fairest looking creature that my eyes ever saw,
She's following the Gypsy laddie-o."
Oh he made haste, his horse and his gait,
And he followed after his lady-o;
'Twas there he spied his rich lady gay
In the arms of a dark-eyed Gypsy-o.
"Will you forsake your houses and land,
Will you forsake your children-o?
And will you forsake your own worthy lord
And follow the Gypsy laddie-o?"
"Yes I will forsake my houses and land,
And I will forsake my children-o,
And I will forsake my own worthy lord,
And follow the Gypsy laddie-o."
He stripped off the lace that she had on,
Which hung from her head to her toes-o;
He stripped her down to her flannel petticoat,
Saying, "Go to the devil with the Gypsy-o!"