The Dark-Eyed Gypsie O- (KY) c.1914 McGill
[I've replaced the generic title with one that fits the ballad. From: Folk-songs of the Kentucky Mountains by Josephine McGill (1877-1919) New York; Toronto: Boosey, c 1917.
McGill, a native of Louisville, studied music in NYC. She began collecting songs and ballads in southern Kentucky in the summer of 1914. McGill names her informants in the preface but doesn't say which one sang this ballad.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
The Dark-Eyed Gypsie O- (THE GYPSIE LADDIE)
There came two gypsies from the north,
They were all wet and weary O;
They sang so neat and so complete,
It charmed the heart of a lady O.
The squire he came home one night,
Inquired for his lady O,
The news so quickly lit on him,
"She's gone with the dark-eyed gypsie O."
"Go saddle up my milk-white steed,
Go saddle up my browny O;
And I will ride both night and day
To overtake my honey O."
He rode east and he rode west,
He rode north and southward too;
There he spied his sweet little miss
A-following the dark-eyed gypsie O.
She pulled off the garment that she wore,
And laid it down for a head-rest O;
She lay on the grass and drank of the dew;
And followed the dark-eyed gypsie O.
"Would you forsake your house and land,
Would you forsake your baby O;
Would you forsake your own true love,
And follow the gypsie laddie O?"
"What cares I for house and land,
What cares I for money O;
I'd rather have a kiss from the gypsie's lips
Than all your land and money O."