Heartless Lady- McCord/Reid (MO) 1941 Randolph F
[From Ozark Folksongs; Randolph, I, 1946, p. 160 (E). Randolph's notes follow.
McCord also knew and sang another version (Randolph G) with a different text that was recorded LC/AAFS rec. No. 5303 (A1) and also see Owens (Texas Folk Songs) and Bronson TTCB as number 123 (recording), 124 (Owens).
R. Matteson 2015]
Ozark Folksongs Notes: 27. THE GYPSY DAVY
Many texts of the "Gypsy Davy" ballad are found in British collections (Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1882-1898, No. 200). For American versions see JAFL 30, 1917, p. 323. Also the Bulletin of the Virginia Folk-Lore Society (No. 8, p. 7; No. 9, p. 7; No. 11, p. 8). Compare Campbell and Sharp (English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1917, No. 27), Raine (Land of the Saddle-Bags, 1924, p. 119), Cox (Folk-Songs of the South, 1925, p. 130), Kincaid (My Favorite Mountain Ballads, 1928, p. 33), Davis (Traditional Ballads of Virginia, 1929, pp. 423-431), Lunsford and Stringfield (30 and 1 Folk-Songs, 1929, p. 4), Greenleaf (Ballads and Sea Songs from Newfoundland, 1933, pp. 38-39), Chappell (Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Albemarle, 1939, p. 37), Eddy (Ballads and Songs from Ohio, 1939, pp. 67-69), Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England, 1939, p.207), Neely (JAFL 52, 1939, p. 79), Belden (Ballad; and Songs, 1940, pp.73-76), Brewster (Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, p. 13a), Rayburn (Ozark Country, 1941, pp.200-201), Morris (Southern Folklore Quarterly 8, 1944, p. 156), and the Brown (North Carolina Folk-Lore Society) collection.
F. "The Heartless Lady." Text from Mrs. May Kennedy McCord, Springfield, Mo., Jan. 6, 1941. Mrs. McCord had it from Mrs. Lillie B. Reid, Buckhart, Mo., who called it "The Heartless Lady."
The gypsies came riding over the plain,
They sang so loud and clearly,
. . .
That they charmed the heart of a lady.
To ride on a um dilly um dilly um,
To ride on a um dilly a-ri-o,
To ride on a um dum dick-we dick-we dum
To ride on a um dilly a-ri-o.
The lord of the manor came home that night
Inquiring for his lady,
She's gone with the gypsies over the plain,
She's gone and left her baby.
Go saddle me up the milk-white steed,
The bay is not so speedy,
And I'll ride all night and I'll ride all day,
Or I'll overtake my lady.
Just as they reached the cold-water side,
Where it was dark and shady,
With his horse all covered with sweat
He overtook his lady.
Last night you lay on a warm feather bed,
Your own waiting lord beside you,
Tonight you'll lie on the cold damp ground
With the gypsies all around you.
What you say, my lord, is true,
Then gently spoke the lady,
But I'll go with the gypsies over the plain,
And you can have the baby.