US & Canada Versions: 200. The Gypsy Laddie (Black Jack Davy)
[Of the 244 North American versions currently in my collection only two are from print. Some of the later commercial recordings are possibly based on existing versions or recordings (i.e. the bluegrass versions by Bill Monroe; J.E. Mainer and Jim Greer). This includes the country recordings stemming from the 1939 Carlisle/Texas Tyler version which is similar to the Carter Family's 1940 version. Subsequent country versions based on these versions (Mother Maybelle and other Carters; Johnny Cash etc) have not been included except for Warren Smith's version which was probably a rewrite. But since Smith's text is quite different I've included it. Other versions have been reprinted and changed-- notably Raine's 1924 version from Burea, Kentucky which borrowed the first stanza from Sharp D (Jane Gentry of NC who begins, "Oh, when Lord Thomas he came home," mixing his name with another ballad). Then Raine added several stanzas from an unknown source or sources. The Raine text was reprinted by Kincaid in 1928, by Bronson in 1963 and again by Jameson in Sweet Rivers of Song.
No one knows the exact date The Gypsy Laddie came across the Atlantic and was sung in Appalachia as Black Jack Davy. Certainly it was known in Britain in the early to mid-1700s so I would expect the ballad arrived in "the new world" at least by The Revolutionary War (c. 1776). The Roxburghe Ballads (1897): Volume 8 - Page 154 by William Chappell, Ballad Society reports this about Child K a: ". . . and Mrs. Helena Titus Brown, of New York (in 1790)." This date seemly likely but has not yet been documented and was not given by Child. Child does allude to a 1770s date in "Lord Garrick," his version K b, "from the singing of Miss Phoebe Wood, Huntington, Long Island, and perhaps learned from English soldiers there stationed during the Revolutionary war."
Phillips Barry transcribed the melody of "The Gypsy Lady" from Osgood's transcript of The Whittier/Perkns MS (no text), which is dated 1790 and is concrete evidence that the ballad was here before 1800.
The ballad, through family oral history, has been traced back to at least the early 1800s[1] (See: Gypson Davy- McKinney (AR/KY) c. 1820s) and dates from the mid-1800 to early 1900s are not uncommon (See: Gypsy Davy- Benjamin; Maine c. 1860s Flanders; and the other Child version). The four versions from the US are given by Child in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads, VII, as his J a-b and K a-b. J a was written down by Newton Peponn, as learned from a boy with whom he went to school in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, about 1845. J b was from the singing of Mrs. Farmer, born in Maine, as learned by her daughter, about 1840.
After Child's versions, published in 1890, came seven versions included in the second part of Phillip Barry's Traditional Ballads in New England. All three parts were published in 1905 in three consecutive editions of the JAF. Barry published these and additional versions in his Folk-Songs of the North Atlantic States, 1907-- one of which was included (version K) in the 1911 JAF.
The ballad was also printed in songsters (The American Star Songster, New York, 1851) and as a broadside (H. de Marsan, New York, List 3, Song 28, Brown University).
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No one is sure where the moniker, "Black Jack Davy/David" came from, or, exactly what it means. As far as I know it refers to a dark complexion or skin color and dark or black hair or eyes. These characteristics are typical of the gypsies of Romany found in the British Isles, who were expelled from Scotland by act of Parliament in 1609 (see Child's headnotes and Mike Yeats notes below). "Black Jack" first appears in the 1905 JAF titled "Black Jack Daley" (Belden) and dates back to the 1800s. The "Black Jack" versions appear to have come through Virginia and North Carolina to Missouri (via TN and KY to the Mid-West) and are not found elsewhere in the US and Canada or the British Isles. In the US the association of the color black to Davy has also produced sentiment that Davy is an African-American and he is called "black boy" in Sharp G, Black Jack Boy in a Texas version and in one of Parler's versions, c. 1950s, she won't marry him because he is black!
"Dark- eyed" or sometimes "Dark-Clothed" or"Black-Eyed" versions are predominantly from Maritime Canada and the North East and some are of Irish decent (See Barry E1 and BBM for details and an Irish broadside).
"Davy" sometimes becomes "Daisy" (especially in the "Rattle-tattle" type chorus) and versions appear as "Black Jack Daisy" and "Gypsy Daisy." The Gypsum/Gipsom/Gypson names are possibly derived from "Egyptian" which was where the gypsies (Romany) were thought to have migrated from (Egypt) and where called Egyptians in the British Isles in the mid to late 1500s- early 1600s. Cf. The Egyptian Davy O- (NC) 1914 T.Smith/Brown C
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The point of origin in North America is varied. The Virginia Colony was certainly one early area of dissemination. A large number of Child 200 versions have been collected from the "Brown's Cove" (Albemarle County) Virginia area. Collectors from that area include Scarborough, Davis (and members of Virginia Folklore Society), Wilkinson and later George Foss, Abrahams and Clayton. For more info and interviews with Mary Bird McAllister, Robert Shifflet and others, read Foss's From White Hall to Bacon Hollow: http://www.klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/HHI/GeorgeFoss/whall.html
The ballad has a very strong presence in North Carolina and numerous versions were collected by Sharp, Greer, Abrams, (see Brown Collection), Scarborough and other. Many of the NC versions have the two "Pretty Little Miss"/"Seventeen Come Sunday" stanzas inserted into the opening stanzas. The ballad has a presence in the neighboring states including West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and points west.
The ballad was also well known in New England and the Massachusetts colony was another early point of origin. Barry printed a number of versions in the early 1900s in the JAF and Flanders gave 25 in her book, Ancient Ballads. Some versions have been collected in Newfoundland (Greenlief/Karpeles), Nova Scotia (Creighton) and Maritime Canada.
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Curiously, a ballad about a gypsy running off with a wealthy man's (lord's) wife, somehow remained popular through the early 1900s and is one of the most popular ballads behind Barbara Allen[2]. It vies with Lord Thomas, Lord Randal, Lady Isabel and Our Goodman for the number two spot in North America and clearly has been more popular in recent times (last half of the 20th century on). I haven't tried to count every North American version of every ballad yet but Joe Hickerson's reported 500 versions of Our Goodman seems to place that ballad securely behind Barbara Allen.
Some of the social ramifications including adultery, abandonment, financial security (reward) and the ballad's sexual mores and values are explored in the 1980 JAF article, Johnny Faa and Black Jack Davy: Cultural Values and Change in Scots and American Balladry by Christine A. Cartwright.
Cartwright in section II points out some of the differences of the ballad in America. Here are a few paragraphs of this excellent article:
The ballad is as popular in America as in Great Britain, but the central concerns of its singers underwent a sea change when it crossed the Atlantic. Textually, the ballad lost the glamourie or Gypsy spell, with its threat of the supernatural and the arcane; there were few or no Gypsies around for the immigrants to worry about, and wilderness life offered enough concrete dangers to take one's mind off spells. The Gypsy chieftain lost both his foreignness and his band, and most often appears as a lone traveller. (Apparently, as Barre Toelken remarked, a red-blooded American Gypsy doesn't need any help in capturing a lady's affections.) The lord frequently becomes older, and the lady younger; more focus is placed upon the verbal exchanges and conflicting claims in what is clearly seen as a romantic triangle, in which the singer is free to identify with any of the three participants.
The conserved core of the Scots/English narrative, as it consistently appears in the 193 American texts I have examined, is as follows: the Gypsy rides by (often "through the woods") singing so loudly, beautifully, or gaily that the lady's heart is immediately "charmed." He asks her to go with him, and she readily complies, frequently taking off or changing her shoes or "boots of Spanish leather." Her husband hears the news when he arrives home that night, and immediately sets out in pursuit, catching up with the lovers at a river (occasionally a bog, a lake, or the "dark and dreary" sea). He begs his lady to come home, offering a threefold appeal: first to her desire for the security of his "house and lands" or "the gold I have," second to her love for her baby, and third to her sense of identity, propriety, or happiness as his wife. She refuses all three pleas, and affirms the finality of her decision to remain with the Gypsy. The endings are diverse, but the common Scots/English stanza in which the lady compares the featherbed of the past with the ground she will now sleep on almost always appears in some form.
Several major changes in cultural function are clearly at work in this basic narrative. The meeting between the lady and the Gypsy received a very different context in America: he is no longer an outsider who intrudes into the lord's house while the lord is not there to guard it. In no text I have seen does he even ride out of the woods into a settled area, which might have indicated that he was considered an outsider. Instead, the Gypsy Davy or Black Jack Davy is simply passing by, riding through the woods, coming "whistling by," or crossing the field or the plain, and more or less inadvertently charms the lady with his singing. The home the lady leaves is apparently in the woods, field, or plain, or next to the road, if she is at home at all when she hears the Gypsy singing. She is never intruded upon, invaded, or abducted by any sleight or force; she is asked if she would like to come along, and does so by her own free choice, quickly made and rarely reversed, though sometimes
regretted.
Clearly, the complex of ideas and images associated with the Gypsy has changed from a frightening, dirty, destructive, and foreign one to something more delightful and worthwhile. Where, in the Scottish texts, the singers described the lady having to wade a river, sleep in "an auld reeky kilt," "the ash-corner," or "a tenant's barn," drink in taverns, sleep "wi' the black crew glowering owre me," and even being made to "carry the Gypsy laddie," stanzas begin to appear in American texts about sleeping under the stars, or singing songs beside a campfire. The American lady may declare, "I wouldn't give a kiss from the Gypsy's lips for all of your lands and money," indicating that the singer is quite clear about her motive for leaving her husband. In Scottish texts, it is only the glamourie which makes the lady see "glamour," an illusory beauty, in Johnny Faa and his life; her proper place, the place of health and sanity and right order where she belongs, is clearly with her family. The American ballad has lost the certainty of that assumption.
The lady's choice, in every aspect but the adulterous, is in fact the choice that settled America. Where a land must be settled, the love of adventure and the willingness to roam become positive cultural values for women as well as for men, and the lady's decision to leave the established society for the wilderness could no longer be seen as a choice that only a bewitched woman would make. Some texts give enough descriptive emphasis to the intangibles the lady is choosing-love and freedom-to suggest that these had become the most moving and significant factors in her decision, for some American singers.
The effects of early American cultural context upon the ballad narrative are most clearly visible in characterization: the interactions between Gypsy, lady, and lord are often structured and phrased so that they resemble what must have been a common interaction between a suitor, a girl, and her father in the days when America was being settled. A young man wanting to move west, or to emigrate to America from Europe, had much the same life to offer his bride as does the ballad's Gypsy; inspired by the promise of furs, ore, and rich farmlands free for the taking, many must have used the same persuasive appeal in courtship:
Oh come with me, my pretty little one,
Oh come with me, my honey;
Swear by the beard upon my chin
That you'll never want for money,
That you'll never want for money.
The preceding stanza is taken from "Pretty Little Miss" a ballad related to "Seventeen Come Sunday" that appears in some versions of "Gypsy Davy" For more see the entire article attached to my Recording & Info page. Cartwright mentions that
"Textually, the ballad lost the glamourie or Gypsy spell," which is cast by the gypsy on the unsuspecting wife. Although this may be generally true, often the spell is there but it's significance is lost. When Gypsy Davy "charmed the heart of a lady" it still could imply that he put a charm or spell on her. Here's an example from Davis D:
1 There are seven sweet gypsies in the North,
They are calling to sweet Baltimore,
They will sing a song that will charm your heart
And cause you to leave your husband.
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As pointed out by Child in his headnotes (see also Roxburghe; Davis and other) back in the early 1600s the gypsies were called Egyptians. Clearly Egyptian has been corrupted in some US versions to Gyptian and possibly Gypsum/Gypson. These names are not necessarily a corruption of "gypsy."
Usually the title "Gypsy Laddie" is not local but ascribed by collectors or informants familiar with the Child ballads. Very few versions (see Davis TBVa, 1929 for two; also several versions from Albemarle County, VA for others ) in North America actually name the gypsy "Gypsy Laddie." It almost always "Gypsy Davy"-- although spelled variously, "Gipsy Davy" or "Gypsie Davie" etc. The versions with Gypsy Laddie in the text appear to be of greater antiquity and also have the "he rode east; he rose west" stanza as found in Child E and inserted in some versions of Child A (ESPB, VII):
E. 12, 13. After 9 of A, says Finlay, some copies insert:
And he 's rode east, and he 's rode west,
Till he came near Kirkaldy;
There he met a packman-lad,
And speir'd for his fair lady.
E 13 'I hae been east, and I hae been west,
And in the lang town o Kircadie,
But the bonniest lass that ever I saw
Was following a gypsie laddie.'
The town where he meets his "fair lady" is Kirkaldy/Kircadie in the Scottish versions but in the US it's Barley/Bosly/Borzey/Morty.
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Some terms and unusual words found in Gypsy Davy:
1) The water was deep and riley; "riley" = "roily," i.e., "turbid, muddy." Found in a number of versions and changed to "dreary" or other words in others.A-singing so loud and halely;
2) The word is haily/haley/hailey as in Frank Proffitt's version (Folk Legacy 1962):
Who's that gallopin' on the King's highway,
Singin' so gay and haily?
The base word is hale = strong or healthy, in Scots; as in "hale and hearty."
3) "Ingram lord" as sung by Robert Shiflett in 1961:
Her Ingram Lord came home that night,
Inquiring for his lady,
It's been suggest that it is perhaps "own grim lord" but "grim" seems wrong. Also it could be similarly "Ane" grim lord, the "ane" being Scot for "own."
4) His horse is a "darby" (Go saddle me up my darby, --Brown A, see also Brown B) and his hat is a "derby" (see Lunsford and his Collection where it's "Then bridle and saddle my old gray mare/ And hand me down my derby )-- how could singers get mixed up?
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In the US the ballad has been recorded as Black Jack Davy/David and was a commercial hit for country musician Cliff Carlisle (Listen: Cliff Carlisle 1939 Black Jack David) whose version was covered (or recorded based on a very similar collected version) by the Carter Family (Listen: Carter Family 1940 Black Jack David). Carlisle learned his version from T. Texas Tyler (AKA David Myrick) in the 1930s when they worked together on radio.
The ballad was first recorded for Paramount in 1929 by I.G. Greer and his wife, who played dulcimer. The Greers recorded two sides -- Black Jack David Part 1 on the A side and then part 2 on the B side. The text to Greer's version is found in The Brown Collection, version E from c. 1915 which appears to be a compilation of at least two traditional versions (see Greer MS). Another traditional version from North Carolina was recorded before by Lunsford with banjo (Listen: Bascom Lamar Lunsford; Black Jack Davy) in 1935 but was learned about 10 years earlier.
Two other important commercial country renditions titled, Black Jack David followed the Carter's 1940 version. The first, by T. Texas Tyler And His Oklahoma Melody Boys (Tyler was the source of Carlisle's version) was made in 1946 and then Warren Smith's Sun records version in 1956. In Smith's version she won't go off with Gypsy David unless they're married.
After the mid-1930s it's hard to determine if subsequent recordings and collected versions were based on recordings. The ballad also appeared in print but it seems that print versions were not copied. The issue is recordings by Warren Smith and later by Doc and Merle Watson. Who know Smith's source but it seems to be arranged. Although North Carolina was one of the prominent states where traditional versions of the ballad proliferated, Doc seems to have further arranged the ballad from a recording.
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Bizarre is the version from the Keystone Folklore Quarterly 2:1 (spring 1957) pp. 21-22, which is attributed to David Irwin, McElhattan, Pennsylvania. It was collected and submitted by Henry W. Shoemaker, with additional notes. The problem is-- it's identical to Child C, collected by Motherwell from the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan, 27 July, 1825. At this point I have not included the version due to its obvious derivation from print.
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The ballad has been rewritten and or morphed into a western "cowboy" version by Woody Guthrie and also Harry Jackson who recorded it as Clayton Boone. Jackson learned Clayton Boone in Wyoming in the late 1930s from a cowboy named Ed Marchbank. Kenny Goldstein wrote that Harry met Ed Marshbank while he was a teenager working on Wyoming ranches, including the Whitt ranch on Rawhide Creek and the River Ranch on Wood River. On both these ranches, he apparently worked with Marshbank building corrals, and learned many songs from him, including "Clayton Boone." Apparently the song refers to Clayton Boone, 1847-1947, a New Mexico pioneer, early settler and homesteader in the New Mexico Territory in 1897 and co founder of Hobbs New Mexico. He was also a famous spurmaker and the patriarch of the Boone Boys Wild West Show. The ballad was recorded by Ed Trickett on People Like You (1982), and by Larry Hanks on Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail (1982).
Archie Hughes
What is fascinating are the versions, actually one version, of Gypsy Davy that were adapted to the Minstrel stage. Attributed to famous Brooklyn, NY minstrel singer and entertainer Archy (Archie) Hughes the minstrel version first appeared in the 1863 collection of songs, Hooley's Opera House Songster. It was reprinted by De Witt's Forget-Me-Not Songster in 1872 and in Wehman's Universal Songster Volume 7 in the 1880s. The chorus which was added to revamped traditional verses was:
Elopements now are all the go,
They set the darkeys crazy;
Take warning all, both great and small,
And beware of the Gypsy Davy!
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Identification of some North American versions:
There are several specific ways to sort out the versions from North America based on published and collected versions.
1) The minstrel versions. Gypsy Davy by Archy (Archie) Hughes as published in 1863 Hooley's Opera House Songster
2. "The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies," also Raggle Taggle Gypies versions. In 1940 Belden wrote that this was "a version now in oral circulation in England, with a pleasing tune, is likely to become current per ora virum in this country from the singing of the Fuller Sisters and others. Collectors in search of American texts should take notice and examine pedigrees when this turns up anywhere." Belden got the warning from Kittredge in the 1917 JAF (songs and Ballads)- see also Davis, MoreTBVa, 1960.
Raggle-Taggle [adj. English] (sometimes shortened to rag-tag), meaning scruffy, disorganized, unwashed, is still in common usage in parts of England (ref. Mudcat). Also "raggle" is a noun meaning rag or shred. "Taggle" is a verb meaning to tag or follow. See Sharp and Marson, Folk-Songs from Somerset, No. 9, I : 18-I9 (cf. p. 61). Sharp, One Hundred English Folksongs, No. 5, pp. xviii, 13-16; Baring-Gould MS; (Harvard College Library), p. 5; cf. Notes and Queries, IIth series, I8: 176 (1913). While "draggle tail," a slattern who suffers her gown to trail in the mire, is also drabble-tail, or the like, in some versions.
The unusual adaptation "radical Gypsy David" (from Virginia both Davis D, 1921 and the Vass/Shellans 1959 version of that name) appears to be a mondegreen derived from "raggle taggle."
Some versions include Cox, 1925 (FSMWV); Eddy, 1939 (Ohio); Boswell, 1949 (Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee);
3) The Dark-Eyed Gipsy O, the Irish versions. These are based on or similar to the Irish broadside of the same name dated 1867 (see Barry F; and at Bodleian http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/15000/12697.gif). They are identified by lord Charles or just Charley; the final line of some stanza having "dark-eyed gypsy O" (dark-eyed gypsy true); the line "eat the grass and drink the dew" and a stanza with "rode East and rode West." Found mainly in North East US and Canada.
4) The Gypsy Laddie versions. In North American it's almost always Gypsy Davy/David or Black Jack Davy/David. Some rare older versions (est. mid to late 1700s) usually found in Virginia (Shenandoah Valley; see Davis; Scarborough; Foss; Wilkinson) have "Gypsy Laddie" or "Gypsies and Laddies."
5) Versions with Floating Stanzas added. These versions, which included Davis DD, have floating stanzas found in Devilish Mary and other regional folk-songs.
6) Versions which end with: Now I lay on an old straw tick/ bed of hay and have these variants:
Now I lay on an old straw tick/ bed of hay
With the gypsies all around me.
With the calves bawling all around me. (Gentry/ Sharp D, 1916)
With the animals all round me.
With the wolves howling all around me
6) Older versions often:
A) have the line "looked to the east, looked to the west;" see an example above.
B) name the town where she is recovered. It's "Barley" in Song Ballads & Other Songs of the Pine Mountain Settlement School (1923) pp. 38-39. Other names include: Bosly/Borzey/Morty.
C) use "gypsy laddie" instead of Black Jack Davy or Gypsy Davy
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Mike Yeats (mudcat 2015) from his notes:
Gypsies, the 'Lords of Little Egypt', do not come from Egypt. If they come from anywhere, then it is from the Indus Basin and the Hindu Kush. In the 10th and 11th centuries CE they began the first of many migrations westwards, through what is now Turkey, then through the Balkans and into Europe; or south, along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa and up into Spain. In the mid-thirteenth century Gypsies serving as armourers, blacksmiths and camp-followers of the Tartar invaders of south-east Europe found their blood-brothers already well-established there in considerable numbers. By the year 1427 Gypsies had arrived in Paris. A few years later they were in London. In 1492 the Royal Court of Scotland was to welcome Johnny Faa, one of whose relatives was to later become the 'Gypsy Laddie' of popular balladry. Having persuaded the Court that they were also of royal blood they rather overplayed their hand by claiming appropriate privileges. Such flirtations with royalty, however, were to be short lived. They were soon to become better known, not as members of a foreign nobility, but rather as wandering marauders, and the Scottish Parliament quickly passed laws which said that Gypsies could be apprehended on sight and hanged. It was the Gypsy who was to become the Black Man of Scottish demonology. It was the Gypsy who was to provide Shakespeare with his evil Egyptian sorcerers; and it was the Gypsy, Europe's first 'coloured' race, who was to become the scapegoat for British custom and society.
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Below (CONTENTS) is a list of versions appearing so far. There are hundreds of traditional US and Canadian versions which is the focus of this ballad collection. Some versions based on traditional versions appear but I'm limiting it to a select few, Woody Guthrie, Mike Seeger, and Jean Ritchie. Here are some of the larger collections I have:
Traditional Ballads in New England II by Phillips Barry A-G (also below)
Sharp A-J (E, F, G, H, J are music with one verse/Chorus, only I has 8 verses)
Brown Collection A-G with several additional versions in Vol. 4 (complete, also attached to Recordings & Info)
British Ballads From Maine- Barry A-E
Max Hunter Collection 5 versions
Wolfe Folklore Collection (3 version)
Ozark Folksong Collection (9 versions see also Wolf/ Hunter). Also Parler's versions are labeled A-C (also in Bronson) while D-J are from the Ozark Collection (with J also in Max Hunter's Collection).
Cox- Folk Songs from the South (Included)
Randolph (A-G)
Davis- Traditional Ballads of Virginia (A-H)
Davis; More TBVa, 1960 (AA-EE)
Scarborough (A-G complete)
Flanders Ancient Ballads A-Y includes Vermont FS & B- Flanders/Brown and Ballads Migrant
Ohio, B & Songs- Eddy (2 done)
Warner (1 done)
Lunsford Collection (about 5 versions- see Digital Appalachia)
Child's 4 versions (done)
Looks like I have 244 versions after putting the first batch on. There are several books (and thesis) I do not have and I am missing the WPA versions and some of the LOC versions (about 25 items- see a list below at the bottom of this page).
R. Matteson 2012, 2015
1. See also Brown D, not mentioned because of the questionable claims made by the collector, Thomas Smith of Zionville, NC which may have been fabricated (see also claims by Thomas Smith and his brother in More TBVa, 1960, Davis).
2. It must be stated that Bronson's list of the most popular ballads (he ranks The Gypsy Laddie-- 5th) does not take into account North America only or the recent (since 1950) trends of the ballads in popular culture. For example, Scarborough Fair (The Elfin Knight) because of recordings (Simon & Garfunkel), TV and movies (The Graduate), is much better known than Lady Isabel. The same can be said of The Gallows Pole (The Maid and the Hangman) which has been propelled into pop culture by Leadbelly and Led Zepplin.
Obviously Bronson's ranking is based on the number of traditional versions collected, which is no longer a measure of popularity. It can safely be said that in the last 40 years the ballad, as found in tradition, has died and its popularity is measured now by it's currency in the mass media.]
CONTENTS: (Individual version may be viewed by clicking on the highlighted blue title below or clicking on the title attached to this page- in green- on the left hand column)
1) Black-Eyed Davy- Perry (NC) c.1778 Smith/Brown D -- From Brown Collection of NC Folklore; Vol. 2, 1952. Music at bottom of this page is from Vol. 4, D. A third text supplied by Thomas Smith. "Sung March 11, 1915, by Mrs. Peggy Perry, Silverstone, Watauga county. The lady is past 75 years of age and heard the song sung by her grandfather 'Clem Dosset,' who was a soldier in the American Revolution. Mrs. Perry . . . has sung this song, she says, to her children and grandchildren for many years." This would be a very important version because of the age if not supplied by Smith, who makes similar exaggerations in More TBVa, 1960, Davis.
2) Lord Garrick- Brown (NY) 1790 (NY) Child K a -- From The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child; Volume 7: Ballads 189-225; published December 1890. "From Miss Emma A. Clinch of New York. Derived, 1820, or a little later." Both apparently are from "Miss Phoebe Wood, Huntington, Long Island, and perhaps learned from English soldiers there stationed during the Revolutionary war." The 1790 date was given in The Roxburghe Ballads.
3) Lord Garrick- Clinch (NY) c.1820 Child K b -- From: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child; Volume 7: Ballads 189-225; published December 1890. K b. is "From Miss Emma A. Clinch of New York. Derived, 1820, or a little later." Her source is "Miss Phoebe Wood, Huntington, Long Island, and perhaps learned from English soldiers there stationed during the Revolutionary war."
4) Gypson Davy- McKinney (AR-KY) c.1820s --From: Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers: An Interview with Tip Mckinney by Julia Hager and Jim Olin in the spring of 1973 originally printed in the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts Newsletter.
5) The Gypsy Davy- Farmer (ME) c.1840 Child J b -- My title, same as J a title except for spelling. From: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child; Volume 7: Ballads 189-225; published December 1890. J b was reconstructed from end-notes and was taken from the singing of Mrs. Farmer, born in Maine, as learned by her daughter, about 1840.
6) The Gipsey Davy- Peponn (MA) c.1845 Child J a -- From: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child; Volume 7: Ballads 189-225; published December 1890. Written down by Newton Peponn, as learned from a boy with whom he went to school in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, about 1845.
7) Gypsy Davy- Sensenbaugh (OH) pre1850 Belden D -- From: Five Old-Country Ballads, Belden; The Journal of American Folk-lore, Volume 25; 1912. Communicated in December, 1911, by Professor George B. Woods, of Miami University, Oxford, O., who had it from one of his pupils, Mr. C. V. Sensenbaugh. The ballad was learned by Mr. Sensenbaugh's grandmother, before 1850, from a family named Wolf. Woods also published a detailed version in Modern Language Notes, 1912.
8) The Gypsy Davy- Johnson (MA) c.1850 Barry C --
9) Gypsy Davy- Longee (NH) c1858 Barry MS
10) Gypsy Davy- Benjamin (ME) c.1860s Flanders K
Gypsy Davy- Hughes (PA) 1863 Hooley's Songster
Gypsy Davy- Laws (IN-MO) 1869 Belden C1
The Gyptian Laddie- Laws (MO-KY) c1869 Belden C2
Gyspy Davie- M. L. F. (ME) pre1870 Barry O
The Gypsy Laddie- Ryan (VA) c1871 Stone/Davis E
The Gypsy Davy- Dexter (MA) c1872 Kittredge JAF
Gipsy Davy- Delorme (NY-VT) c1876 Flander H
Gypsy David- Griffin (GA-FL) pre1877 Morris A
Gipsy Davy- (NY) 1880s Wehman's Universal Songster
The Gypsy Davy- hired men (IL) c.1880 Cox A
The Gypsy Daisy- Davis (WV) c.1880 Cox B
Gypsy Davy- Skofield (FL-ME) c1880 Morris B
Gypsy Davy- Hubbard/Heed (UT) pre1885 Hubbard
Gypsy Daisy- Slade (MA) c.1889 Linscott
Gypsy Davy O- Cornelison (MO) c1890 Randolph E
Two Little Babes- Headrick (TN) c.1890 Anderson
Gypsy Davey- Bracey (ME-CT) c.1893 Flanders J
Gypsy Davy- McCord (MO) c1895 Randolph G
Gypsy Davey- Jenness (ME) pre1897 Flanders I
The Gypsy Daisy- old man (NS-MA) 1904 Barry A
The Gypsy Davy- M. B. (MA) 1904 Barry B
The Gypsy Davie- I. L. M. (MA) 1904 Barry D
The Gypsy Davie- Flint (RI) 1904 Barry E
The Gypsy Daisy- M. B. (MA) 1904 Barry F
Gypsy Davy- Dana (MA) 1904 Barry G
Black Jack Daley- Dean (MO) 1905 Belden A
Gipsy Davy- L.N.C. (MA-VT) 1907 Barry/ Flanders P
Gypsy Davy- M.E.H. (PA) 1907 Barry K
Black Jack Davy- Hogan (MO) 1909 Belden B
Black Jack David- Grogan (NC) 1914 Smith/Brown B
The Egyptian Davy O- (NC) 1914 T.Smith/Brown C
The Dark-Eyed Gypsie O- (KY) McGill c.1914
The Gypsy Laddie- mtn. woman (VA) 1914 Davis C
Black Jack David- Hampton (NC) 1914 Rawn/Sharp
Black Jack David- (NC) c.1915 Rawn/Brown A
Black-Eyed Davy- (NC) c1915 Greer/Brown D1
Black Jack David- (NC) c.1915 Greer/Brown E
Black Jack Daly- (NE) 1915 Pound- Syllabus
The Gypsen Davy- Coates (TN) 1916 Sharp A
The Gypsy Davy- Norton (TN) 1916 Sharp B
The Gypsy Laddie- House (NC) 1916 Sharp C
The Gypsy Davy- Gentry (NC) 1916 Sharp D
Gypsy Davy- Gwynne (TN) 1916 Sharp E
The Gypsy Laddie- Buckner (NC) 1916 Sharp F
Black-Boy Davy- Chisholm (VA) 1916 Sharp G
A Neat Young Lady- W. Palmer (VA) 1916 Davis EE
Gypsum Davey- Price (RI) pre1916 Flanders D
Gypsy Davey- Franklin (KY) 1917 Sharp H
I'll Saddle Up- Sloan (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
Gipsum Davy- Gibson (VA) 1918 Sharp I
Gypsy Davy- Hughes (NC) 1918 Sharp J
Gypsen Baby- Calloway (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
Bill Harman- Mitchell (WV) 1918 Cox D
Gipsum Davy- Ayres (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
Gipsum Davy- Mitchell (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
The Gipsy Laddie- Fitzgerald (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
Gipsum Davy- Webb (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
Gipsies All Around- Coffey (VA) 1918 Sharp MS
Black Jack Davy- Arnold (NC) c1918 Shellans
Gypsy Davy- W. Guthrie (OK) c.1920s REC
The Gypsy Davy- Miller (NC) c.1921 Sutton/Brown F
Gypso Davy- Plummer (VA) 1921 Stone/Davis B
Gypsies to Laddie-O: Keeton(VA) 1921 Stone/Davis D
Gypsen Davy- Hart (VA) 1921 Stone/Davis F
Gypsy Davy- Mulleins (VA) 1921 Stone/Davis G
The Gypsy Davy- Cogar (WV) 1922 Cox C
Raggle Taggle Gypsies-O: Dennis (KY) 1922 Cox C1
Gipsum Davy- (KY) 1923 Pine Mt. Settlement School
The Gypsy Laddie- Harmon (VA) 1923 Davis A
Gypsy Davy- Gentry/comp (NC) 1924 Raine/Sharp D
Blackjack Daisy- Harmon (NC-AR) c.1924 Burton
Gypsy Davy- Widdener (NY-OH) 1925 Scarborough G
Gipsy Davy- DeCoster (ME) 1925 Barry A1
Amos Furr- Woofter (WV) 1925 Combs
Raggle Taggle Gypsies-O: Manassee(WV-NY) 1925 Cox
Black Jack Davie- Littrell (NC) 1925 Lunsford Coll
Black Jack Davy- Chubb (NC) c.1925 Lunsford REC
The Dark-Eyed Gipsy O- Robbins (ME) 1926 Barry E1
Gypsy Davy- (SM) pre1927 Sandburg
Gypsie Davy- Kincaid (KY) 1928 Booklet
Gipsy Davy- Patch (ME) 1928 Barry G1
Dark-Clothed Gypsy- White (NL) 1929 Greenleaf A
Gipsy Davy- King (ME) pre1929 Stanley/Barry C1
The Gypsies- White (NL) 1929 Greenleaf B
Gypsy Davy- Carr (ME) pre1929 Barry D1
The Gipsy Laddie- Quilter (NL) 1929 Karpeles A
Gypsy Davy- Harmon (NC) 1930 Henry A
Gypsy Davy- Blair (NJ-NC) 1930 Henry B
Seven Gypsies- Anderson (VT) 1930 Flanders A
Gypsy Daisy- Harrington (VT) 1930 Flanders W
Dark-Eyed Gypsy- Northcott (NL) 1930 Karpeles B
The Dark-Eyed Gipsy- Courage(NL) 1930 Karpeles C
Seven Young Gypsies- Mitchell(NL) 1930 Karpeles D
Dark-Eyed Gypsy True- Hunt (NL) 1930 Karpeles E
Gypsy Davy- Dusenbury (AR) 1930 Randolph A
The Gypsy Laddie- Wenzel (MO) 1930 Randolph B
Gypsy Davy- (AR) 1930 Goodhue/Randolph C
Gypsy Davey- Prevost (VT) 1930 Brown/Flanders X
Gipsey Davey- Service (VT) 1931 Flanders E
Gyp's Come Tripping- Taylor (MA) 1931 Flanders S
The Lady and the Gypsy- Carter (KY) 1932 Niles
Black Jack Davy- Wallace (VA) 1932 Davis AA
Black Jack David- Roberts (MS) 1932 Hudson B
The Gyps of Davy- Sutherland (VA) 1932 Davis CC
Harvey Walker- Salyer (VA) 1932 Davis DD
Gypsy Daisy- Brigham (VT) 1933 Flanders N
Gypsy Daisy- George (VT) 1933 Flanders U
Black Jack Davy- Schell (NC) 1933 Matteson/Henry
Black Jack Davie- Southall (IL) 1933 McIntosh
Black Jack Davy- Gant (TX) 1934 Lomax
The Dark-eyed Gypsy- (ME) 1934 Flanders C
Gypsy Davey- Merrill (ME) 1934 Eckstorm/Flanders Q
Gypsy Davy- (TN-VA) 1934 Cambiaire
Gypsy Davy- Wright (NY) 1935 Thompson NYFQ
Gypsie Laddie-O: Morris (VA) 1935 Wilkinson A
Gypsum Davy- Lam (VA) 1935 Wilkinson D
The Three Gypsies- Callahan (NC) 1936 Scarb. B
Gypsia Song- Gibson (VA) 1936 Scarborough C
Gypsia All Daises- Gibson (VA) 1936 Scarborough D
Gypsy Davy- Foster (SC) 1936 Scarborough E
The Lady's Disgrace- Ingersoll (NY) 1936 Scarb. F
Gypsy Davy- Cartwright (NC) 1936 Chappell
Gypsy Dardy- Carter (VA) 1936 Wilkinson C
Black Jack David- Ellis (NC) c.1936 Lunsford Coll.
Black Jack Davie- Yarborough(NC) 1936 Lunsford Col
The Gypsy Daisy- Bryant (IN) 1936 Brewster
The Gypsy Laddie- Swetnam (MS-KY) 1936 Hudson A
High-Heeled Boots- Benz (IO) pre1936 Stout
Black Jack Davey- Kendall (NC) 1937 Matteson
Gypsy Daisy- Harrison (VA) 1937 Wilkinson B
Black Jack Davy- Stout (TN) 1938 Perry
Black Jack Davie- Rice (NC) c.1938 Lunsford Coll.
Black Jack Davie- (NC) c.1938 Lunsford Collection
Black Jack David- Carlisle (KY) 1939 REC
Raggle Taggle Gypsies- Daixel (OH) 1939 Eddy A
Gypsy Davy- Prather (NC) 1939 Brown 4G1
Gypsy Davy- Hobart (OH) pre1939 Eddy B
Black Jack David- (NC) c1939 Brown 4H
Black Jack David- Proffitt (NC) 1939 Brown 4I
Black Jack David- Irvin (IL) 1939 Neely
Gyps of Davy- York (NC) 1939 Abrams/Brown G
Black Jack David- Church (NC) 1939 Brown 4B1
Heartless Lady- McCord/Reid (MO) 1939 Randolph F
Black Jack David- Carter Family (VA) 1940 REC
Black Jack David- Hicks (NC) 1940 Abrams/Brown 4A
Blackjack Davy- Davis (CA/OK) 1940 Todd
Black-eyed Davey- Fish (NH) 1940 Flanders B
Gypsy Davy- stanley (NC) c. 1940 Abrams
Black Jack Davy- Cook (NC) 1940 Abrams REC
Black Jack Davy- Webb (NC) 1940 Abrams REC
Black Jack Daisy- Pitkin (CA/AR) 1941 Todd
The Davy- Grover (ME) 1941 Lomax REC
Gypsy Davy- Texas Gladden (VA) 1941 Lomax REC
Harrison Brady- Dietrick (WV) 1942 Bayard
Gypsy Davey- Hall (AR) 1942 Randolph D
The Gypsy Lover- Trail (AR) 1942 Randolph H
Gypsy Davey- Hayes (ME) 1942 Olney/Flanders R
Gypsy Davey- Richards (NH) 1942 Olney/Flanders T
Gipsy Daisy- Pease (NH) c1942 Olney/Flanders V
Gypsy Daisy- Coffin (ME) 1943 Flanders Y
Gypsy Davy- Ledford (KY) 1944 REC Lomax
Black-Jack Davy- Lowrimore (CA) 1945 Lowrimore
The Gypsy Daisy- Davis (VT) pre1945 Flanders G
Dark-Skinned Davy- Cargill (KY) pre1945 REC
Gypsy Davy- Perry (WI-AL) 1946 REC
Black Jack Davy- Mast (NC) 1946 Abrams REC
Gypsy Davey- Bracey (ME) 1947 Flanders M
When Carnal First Came to Arkansas- (AR) pre1947
Black Jack Gypsy- Downing (AZ) 1948 Eskin REC
Black Cat Davy- McAlexander (VA) 1948 Davis BB
Raggle Taggle Gypsies- Gregory (TN) 1949 Boswell
Gypsy Davy- Gallagher (NS) 1950 Creighton
The Gypsy Davy- Shelton (NC) 1950 Karpeles
Black Jack David- Roberts (NC) 1950 Karpeles REC
Gypsy Daisy- Fox (CT) pre1950 Flanders F
Black Jack Davy- M.J. Davis (AR) 1950 Parler D
Roving Gypsy- Ghaney (NL) 1951 Leach
Ra-Ta-Tum-De-Dum; Pennington (AL) 1952 Browne
Black Jack Davy- Davis (AR) 1953 Parler A
Black Jack Davy- Gardner (AR) 1953 Parler H
Black Jack David- Pennington (AR) 1954 Parler C
Gypsy Davey- Henderson (ME) 1954 Flanders O
Black Jack Davy- Davis (AL) 1955 REC Parker
Black Jack Davie- Jeanie West (GA) 1956 REC
Gypsy Davy- Rittenhouse (WV) pre1957 Musick
Black Jack Daisy- Johnson (AR) 1957 Wolf C REC
Black Jack Davey- Scott (KY) 1957 Roberts
The Gypsy Daisy- Couchey (NY) pre1957 Porter
The Gypsy Daisy- Abbott (ON) pre1957 Fowke
Gypsy Laddie-O- Bennett (NL) 1958 Peacock
Black Jack Davy- Buttery (AR) 1958 Wallace
Gypsies Ladde-O: McAllister (VA) 1958 Clayton
Gypsy Draily- Houser (AR) 1958 Bronson/ Parler B
Black Jack Davey- W. Jones (AR) 1958 Hunter A
Black Jack David- Warren Smith (MS) 1959 REC
The Radical Gypsy David- Vass (VA) 1959 Shellans
The Gypsy Davy- Hite (AR) 1959 Parler I
The Gypsy Davy- Ripley (MO) 1959 Hunter/Parler J
Black Jack Daisy- Hodges (AR) 1960 Parler E
Black Jack Davy- Berry (AR) 1960 Parler G
Black Jack Davy- Ramsey (NC) 1961 REC
Black Jack Davy- Barnes (AR) c.1961 Wolf REC
Gypsy Davey- R. Shiflett (VA) 1961 Foss REC
Gypsy Laddie- Ritchie (KY) 1961 REC
Clayton Boone- Jackson (WY) 1961 REC
Last Night I Slept- Kid Mike (PA) 1961 Abrahams
Gyps of David- Frank Proffitt (NC) 1962 Paton REC
Gypsies & the Laddies- F. Shiflett (VA) 1962 Foss
Gypsy Davey- Bailey (VT) 1962 MacArthur REC
The Gypsy Laddie- Campbell (ON) 1962 Fowke
Gypsies & the Laddies- D. Morris(VA) 1962 Foss REC
Black Jack Davy- Fox (AR) 1963 Wolf REC
Gypsy Davy- Older (NY) 1963 REC
Gypsy Davy- Clark (ON) pre1963 Fowke REC
Black Jack Davie- Bill Monroe (KY) 1963 REC
The Gypsy Davy- Okun (NY) 1963 REC
Black Jack Davey- Riddle (AR) 1964 REC
Blackjack Davy- Risinger (OK) pre1964 Moores
Black Jack Davey- Jones (AR) 1965 Parler F
Black Jack Davie- Greer (OH) 1966 REC
Black Jack Davy- Winters (TN) 1966 Burton/Manning
Black Jack Davy- Bell (AR) 1969 Hunter B
Gypsy Davey- Gilbert (AR) 1969 Hunter C
Black Jack Boy- Hayes (TX) 1969 Hunter D
Black Jack David- J.E. Mainer (NC) 1970 REC
Gypsy Davy- Dornan (NB) pre1971 Creighton
The Gypsy Davy- Kelley (WV) pre1975 Gainer
Black Jack Daisy- Chandler (NC) 1975 REC
Black Jack Davy- McBee (TN) 1977 REC, Film
Gypsy Davie- Doc Watson (NC) 1979 REC
Black Jack Davey- Seeger (DC) 1988 REC
Black Jack Davy- Chandler/Adams (NC) 2000 REC
Black Jack Davy- Mary Lomax (GA) 2007 REC
Black Jack Davy- Rhodes (MI) pre-2009 Rosenbaum
Gypsy Davy- Gilliam (AL) 2009 REC Rosenbaum
Gypson Davie- Stein (MO) c.2013 Video HECTV
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Notes: Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Song Society, 1940 Belden
The Gypsy Laddie
(Child 200)
Of the twelve versions of this ballad recognized by Child (five Scotch and two from the north of England, one Irish, one from Shropshire, one from gypsies, one from Massachusetts, and one from New York) the northern broadside, G, is apparently the source of or at least the nearest akin to the American texts. It was also printed by Catnach, and had sufficient popularity in this country to be burlesqued in Dewitt's Forget-Me-Not Songster (New York, 1972, p. 223). Child gives no analogs from other languages ; but since Child's work was completed Olrik, in his continuation of Grundvig's work, has published (DgF No. 369) a Scandinavian ballad in which a proud girl who has refused princes and noblemen is fooled into marrying a roaming 'skinner,' the Danish equivalent of gypsy or tinker, and ends as a tinker's trull. The jingling refrain commonly found in American versions (as in Miss Laws's text, below) I have not found in British texts. The compelling charm of gypsy music (regarding which see
JEFDSS II 83-91) is fairly well retained in America, north and south, as are also the shoes (or boots) of Spanish leather; the latter derive from the English broadside. But what has apparently most pleased American singers is the contrast between domesticity, security, and luxury on the one hand and the homeless poverty of the wandering gypsies on the other. Few texts miss the comparison between the warm feather bed and the cold, cold ground. Texts have been recorded from tradition since Child's time in Aberdeenshire (LL 126-9; also in Ord), Oxfordshire (FSUT 122), Berkshire (FSUT 120), and Somerset (FSSom 18); and on this side of the water in Newfoundland (FSN 13-6, BSSN 38-9), Nova Scotia (JAFL XVIII 191), Maine (BBM 269-77), Vermont (GGMS 7B-9, VFSB 220-1), Massachusetts (JAFL XVIII 191-3, XXX 324-5), Rhode Island (JAFL XVIII 194), Nantucket (by way of New Jersey, JAFL XVIII 193), Pennsylvania (JAFL XXIV 846), Virginia (TBV 423-31, SharpK I 294-9, SCSM 219-21), West Virginia (FSS 180-6), Kentucky (FSKM 14-7, SharpK I 237-9), Tennessee (ETWVMB 59-60, sharpK I 233-4,236, FSSH 110-2), North Carolina (SharpK I 234-6, 237, 219, FSSH 112, BMFSB 6-7, TBSSG 4-5, SCSM 216-9), South Carolina (SCSM 221-3), Mississippi (FSM 117-9), Ohio (JAFL: XXV 174-5), Illinois (JAFL XLVIII 385-6, TSSI 140-1, SCSM 223-4), Iowa (MAFLS XXIX 11), and Missouri. It is given without precise location in FSSM 4-5.
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The Gypsy Laddie (Ancient Ballads, III, 1963 notes)
(Child 200)
This is a very well-known song, one of the few Child ballads sung by educated persons who have no interest in folklore. It tells a romantic tale that would do justice to an operatic setting. Some gypsies sing bewitching songs at a lord's gate. So fascinating is the music, the lady of the house comes down and finds herself completely charmed. she gives herself to the gypsy leader Johnny Faw, or Johnny the Seer, and they ride off. Her lord finds her gone upon his return and hurries off in pursuit. Sometimes he captures the gypsies and hangs them. More often the tale takes a more sentimental turn and the lady refuses to return with her husband, giving away her baby and feather bed for true love.
Johnny Faw was a common name for gypsies. Child, IV, 61 f., lists a number of incidents where men called this were sentenced to death, and he also cites the tendency in Aryshire to associate the story with the wife of the Earl of Cassilis. In America, however, the names Faw and Cassilis are never mentioned, and the "gypsies" may become only "a lover" or even "an Indian." The New World texts vary widely as to detail and story. See Coffin, 120-124, for discussion and bibliography. Over here the versions are generally related to the child G-J tradition, but localization of events and corruption by other songs, such as "I'm Seventeen come Sunday" is not unusual. "The Gypsy Laddie" was parodied in The Forget-me-not Songster (New York, 1872), and most American texts, unlike the British, have nonsense refrains.
The twenty-six Flanders texts give one a fairly good summary of the song as it is in the New World. The A version, with the seven gypsies in a row, follows the Child G-I tradition. Flanders B is striking in that stanzas 2-6 are a monologue by the lady and are framed by two descriptive stanzas --the opening one being unusual and the closing one consisting of lines that often start the song. C is a version of a broadside from the Alfred M. Williams Collection of Irish Broadsides in the Providence Public Library (see Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 275, and his text E). Flanders D-F are of the most common American sort, although E may be unique in this country if "Lord o' Castle" was once "Lord Cassilis." The G-Y group is from the same tradition as Child J (see Barry, op. cit., 269 f., for discussion), In that series, J has the remarkable finish in which the lord kilts his wife as well as the gypsy. H and I are not so unusual in having the lord remarry (see Child J), but this feature is often left out. R and S are interesting for their phraseology, S perhaps being corrupted by "The Frog Went a-Courtin' " and other matter.
For bibliography beyond that in Coffin, see Dean-Smith, 69, and Belden, 73-74 (English); Greig and Keith, 126-129, and Ord , 411 (Scottish). There is an analogous Danish ballad in Svend Grundtvig, Danmarhs gamle Folheviser (Copenhagen, 1853), No. 369.
With the exception of the L.N.C. tune, and the possible exception of the Brigham tune, all the tunes for Child 200 are related. The remaining ones can be divided into sub-families as follows: I) Pease, Richards, Taylor; 2) Woodbury, Erskine; 3) Fish. The Pease and Taylor tunes are especially close.
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Notes from Ballads and Songs by G. L. Kittredge
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369
THE GYPSY LADDIE (Child, No. 200).
For American copies see Child, 4 : 71-73; JAFL 18: 191-195; 19 :294-295; 24 :346-348; 25 : 173-175; 26 :353; G. B. Woods, "Modern Language Notes," December, 1912 (reprinted in "The Miami Student," Jan. 9, 1913); McGill, "Folk-Songs from the,
Kentucky Mountains," 1917, pp. 14-17. One stanza from West Virginia (Child's J, st. I) is printed by Cox, 44 : 428 (with a burden), two texts are reported by him (45 : 16o; JAFL 29 : 400). Compare Belden, No. 10; Pound, p. 10; F. C. Brown, p. 9; Virginia Folk-Lore Society, Bulletin, No. 3, P. 5; No. 5, p. 8; JAFL 22 :80; 27: 59, 62-63; 28 : 200-202; Dr. Bertrand L. Jones has found the ballad in Michigan. The lady repents in a text printed in "Arlington's Banjo Songster" (Philadelphia, cop. 186o), pp. 47-48. The ordinary English broadside version (Child's Gb) is different.
See the following Harvard broadsides,[1] all of which agree closely in text: 25242.17, ii, 21 (G. Walker, Jr., Durham); ii, 171 (Carbutt, Tadeaster); ii, 191 (Forth, Bridlington; same in iii, 19); iv, 131 (J. Gilbert, Newcastle-upon-Tyne); iv, 208 bis (Forth, Pocklington); 25242.5.6 (161), No. 9 (= 25242.27, P. 211); 25242.25, P. 37 (Pitts); so in "A Garland" (E. Sergent), 25276.43.58, No. 21. Similar is the text in Gillington and Sellars, "Songs of the Open Road," No. 7, pp. 16-17; their No. 5 (pp. 12-13) differs.
"The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies," a version now in oral circulation in England,[2] with a pleasing tune, is likely to become current per ora virum in this country from the singing of the Fuller Sisters and others. Collectors in search of American texts should take notice and examine pedigrees when this turns up anywhere.
For copies of "The Gypsy Laddie" ("The Gypsy Davy"), revised or altered with comic intent, see Belden, JAFL 25 : 171 (fragment); broadside, H. de Marsan, New York, List 3, Song 28 (Brown University); De Witt's "Forget-Me-Not Songster," p. 223; Hooley's "Opera House Songster," p. 46.
Footnotes:
1 Such's broadside No. 46 (25242.17, xi, 46) varies from these.
2 See Sharp and Marson, Folk-Songs from Somerset, No. 9, I : 18-I9 (cf. p. 61). Sharp, One Hundred English Folksongs, No. 5, pp. xviii, 13-16; Baring-Gould MS; (Harvard College Library), p. 5; cf. Notes and Queries, IIth series, I8 : 176 (1913).
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Davis; Traditional Ballads of Virginia; 1929
THE GYPSY LADDIE
(Child, No. 200)
The eight texts and three tunes of this ballad found in Virginia differ notably from one another, and all are included here. "The Gipsy Laddie" and "Gypsy Davy" are the usual titles.
The ballad story of the ballad is recounted by Child for his A version as follows: "Gypsies sing so sweetly at our lord's gate as to entice his lady to come down; as soon as she shows herself, they cast the glamour on her. She gives herself over to the chief gypsy, Johny Faa by name, without reserve of any description. Her lord, upon returning and finding her gone, sets out to recover her, and captures and hangs fifteen gypsies." Of the historical prominence of Johnny Faa, Child cites numerous facts, among them that Johnny 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 expelled from Scotland by act of Parliament in 1609. Soon after this date there are several records of the execution of Johnny, or Willie, Faa, and of other Egyptians. The execution of the notorious Johnny Faa seems to have made a considerable impression on the popular mind, as the ballad testifies. Later eighteenth century copies of the ballad seek to identify the lady as the wife of the Earl of Cassilis. But neither Johnny Faa nor the Earl of Cassilis is mentioned in any Virginia variant.
The Virginia variants pass very lightly over the first part of the story, the coming of the gypsies and the charming of the lady, and they also suppress the catastrophe of the hanging of the gypsies. The ballad ends with the lady's evidently final refusal to return with her husband. Only one text, Virginia B, has a spurious ending of two stanzas, in which the wife tires of the Gypsy,
asks her husband to let her return, and is refused -- a puritanical appendage in the interest of morals. The Virginia texts are most like the Child sequence H, I, J.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 9; Belden, No. 10 (fragment); Brown, p. 9 (North Carolina); Bulletin, Nos.3, 5, 8, 9, 11; Campbell and Sharp, No. 27: (Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia; cf. Sharp, Songs, 11, No. 2); Child, v: (Massachusetts, New York, Maine); Cox, No. 21, and p. 524 (four texts, melody); Hudson, No. 18 (Mississippi); Journal, xvlii, 191 (Barry, Nova
Scotia, text and melody, Massachusetts, four texts and two melodies, Rhode Island, fragment and melody); xix, 294 (Belden, Missouri); xxii, 80 (Barry, Massachusetts, melody only); xxiv, 346 (Barry, Pennsylvania, Maine); xxv, 173 (Belden, Missouri, Ohio); xxvi,353 (Pound, Nebraska, fragment); xxx, 323 (Kittredge, Massachusetts, text and melody); McGill, p. 15; Pound,
Nebraska, fragment); xxx,323 (Kittredge, Massachusetts, text and melody); xxvi, p. 353; Pound, Syllabus, p. 10 (fragment). For additional references, see Cox, p. 130; Journal, xxx, 323.
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[Notes from Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands, 1938 by Mellinger Henry]
22. THE GYPSY LADDIE
(Child, No. 200)
For American texts, see Barry, No. 9; Barry-Eckstorm-Smyth, 269—277; Belden, No. 10; Brown, p. 9; Campbell and Sharp, No. 27; Cox, No. 21; Davis, No. 37; Flanders and Brown, p. 220; Hudson, No. 18; McGill, p. 15; Pound, Syllabus, p. 10; Journal, XVIII, 191 (Barry); XIX, 294 (Belden); XXII, 80 (Barry, melody only); XXIV, 346 (Barry); XXV, 173 (Belden); XXVI, 353 (Pound); XXX, 323 (Kittredge). Add Lunsford and Stringfield, 30 and 1 Folk Songs from the Southern Mountains, New York (Carl Fischer), p. 4; Bradley Kincaid, My Favorite Mountain Ballads and Old-Time Songs, Chicago, 1928, p. 33.
Professor I. G. Greer and Mrs. Greer with dulcimer accompaniment have recorded the song on Paramount Records 3195A and 3195B. Professor Greer is on the faculty of the State Normal School at Boone, N. C, where it has been our privilege to listen to his singing of "The Gypsy Laddie" and a number of other traditional ballads. He is a genuine son of the mountains of North Carolina and has a large collection of native folksongs. Mrs. Greer is a skilled accompanist.
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The Lions of the Lord: a tale of the old West - Page 376
Harry Leon Wilson - 1903 [Randolph E, sung by Miss Rose O'Neill, Day, Mo. She learned the ballad from Mr. Conrad Cornelison, Reeds Spring, Mo., in the late 90's. ]
And then one afternoon in early May a strange youth came singing down the canon; came while she mused by the brook-side in her best-loved dream. Long before she saw him, she heard his music, a young, clear, care-free voice ringing down from the trail that went over the mountains to Kanab and into Kimball Valley; one of the ways that led out to the world that she wondered about so much. It was a voice new to her, and the words of his ballad were also new. At first she heard them from afar: —
"There was a young lady came a-tripping along,
And at each side a servant-O,
And in each hand a glass of wine
To drink with the Gypsy Davy-O.
"And will you fancy me, my dear,
And will you be my Honey-0?
I swear by the sword that hangs by my side
You shall never want for money-O.
"Oh, yes, I will fancy you, kind sir,
And I will be your Honey-O,
If you swear by the sword that hangs by your side
I shall never want for money-O."
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[This excellent version is certainly of an old lineage and is the only version from North America to name Lord Cassilis (Lord Castle) and a stanza about the hanging of the gypsies for charming Lady Cassilis.
The "I hae been east and I hae been West," stanza (see Child E and also Child A added stanzas) is fully developed and the location or town, Niceree, should be compared also to the "lang town o Kircadie."
British Ballads in Ontario by Edith Fowke
Midwest Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Autumn, 1963), pp. 133-162
TEXT 3: THE GYPSY LADDIE- Sung by Robert Campbell, Weston, Ontario, 1962.
1. Seven gypsies on yon hill,
They were neither bright nor bonny 0,
But they sang so sweet with the changing of their notes
That they stole Lord Castle's lady O.
2. When Lord Castle he came home
He inquired for his lady O,
But the waiting maid she thus replied,
"She is gone with a gypsy laddie O."
3. "Come saddle to me my milk-white steed,
The bay is not so speedy O,
And I'll ride east and I'll ride west
Till I overtake my lady O."
4. So he rode east and he rode west
Till he came to Niceree Valley 0,
And there he met a poor old man,
He was both weary and tired 0.
5. "Have you been east and have you been west,
Have you been to Niceree Valley O?
And did you see my lady fair,
And is she going with a gypsy laddie 0?"
6. "Yes, I've been east and I've been west,
And I've been to Niceree Valley 0,
And there I saw your lady fair,
And she was staying with a gypsy laddie 0."
7. So he rode east and he rode west
Till he came to Niceree Valley 0,
And there he found his lady fair
And she was going with a gypsy laddie 0.
8. "Will you come home, my dear," he said,
"Will you come home, my honey O?
And by the point of my broadsword
Not a gypsy shall ever come nigh thee 0."
9. "No I won't come home, my dear," she said,
"Nor I won't go home, my honey 0,
For I'd rather have a kiss from a gypsy laddie's lips
Than all Lord Castle's body 0."
10. "Will you forsake your house and land,
Will you forsake your baby too,
Will you forsake your own dear lord,
And go with a gypsy laddie 0?"
11. "Yes, I'll forsake my house and land,
And I'll forsake my baby too,
And I'll forsake my own dear lord,
And go with a gypsy laddie 0.
12. "Last night I slept on a bed of down,
Me and my honey 0,
But tonight I'll sleep on a cold barn floor
With nothing but gypsies around me 0.
13. "They gave to me the honey sweet,
And they gave to me the sugar too,
But I gave to them far better things,
I gave seven gold rings from my fingers 0."
14. Seven gypsies on yon hill,
They were neither bright nor bonny 0,
But they all came down for to die
For the stealing of Lord Castle's lady 0.
Versions of "The Gypsy Laddie" are extremely common and widespread in North America, but the others tell simply of a gypsy
who charms a lady from her home, and of her refusal to return to her husband. ("The Gypsy Daisy" which Mr. Abbott sang and which may be heard on his Folkways record, is typical of that form). However, the original story told of a band of gypsies rather than one, and in the end they were captured and hanged. This Ontario version retains that pattern, with its references to Lord Castle and the hanging of the seven gypsies not found in other North American versions. It differs from most versions in omitting any reference to the lady's conversation with the gypsies or to the changing of her clothes. In general it compares most closely to Child G, although it gives a more detailed account of the lord's search. The conversation with the old man does not occur specifically in any Child version, but it compares with the meeting "wi' a cheel" in E 12-13, and may be implied by G 7. Two stanzas, the eighth and the thirteenth, are paralleled most closely by I 5 and 2.
Mr. Campbell's father was of Scottish and his mother of Irish descent. His maternal great grandfather came out from Ireland
to the Ottawa valley in the early part of the nineteenth century. He believed he had learned this song from his mother, although one would have expected it to come from the Scottish side of his family.
_______________________________________
[This is a cover with textual changes of Karpeles E, 1930, which has no written music- so the melody is not Karpeles. Cf Karpeles E sung by Patrick Hunt of Placentia, NL.]
FOLKWAYS RECORDS Album # FG 3549
@ 1961 by Folkways Records and Service Corp., 121 W. 47th St. NYC USA
KAREN JAMES
THE GYPSY LADDIE
from Karpeles' Folk Songs of Newfoundland, Book I
Seven Gypsies came to my door,
And they sang so sweetly through the air.
They sang so sweet and so very very sweet
They charmed the heart of my lady fair.
She was sitting in her castle high,
Smiling on those gypsies oh
When a jealous thought came into her mind,
She would go with the dark-eyed Gypsy-oh.
When the lord came home that night,
Enquiring for his lady-o
I'm afraid, I'm afraid said the old kitchen maid,
That she's gone with the dark-eyed Gypsy-o.
Saddle my horse and saddle my team
Brace my pistol by my side
That I my ride till the broad daylight,
And follow the dark-eyed gypsy-o.
He rose west and he rode north,
Until he came to a farmer's door
And it's ''Farmer, farmer won't you tell me the truth
Have you seen the dark-eyed Gypsy-o.
You ride on the farmer cried,
Till you come to yonder valley-o
And there you'll find your dark-eyed bride
In the arms of the gypsy laddie-o.
Last night you slept in your own feather bed
With the blankets around you white as snow
Tonight you'll sleep on the cold damp ground
In the arms of the dark-eyed gypsy-o.
Won't you come home my lady fair?
Won't you come home my honey-o
Or will you forsake your own native land
For the sake of the dark-eyed gypsy-o?
I'll forsake my castle
And I'll forsake my native land
I'll eat of the grass and drink of the dew,
And I'll go with the dark-eyed gypsy-o.
Song Collecting in Newfoundland: Maud Karpeles, 1930
David Gregory, Athabasca University
Mrs. Flinn was Placentia housewife Margaret Flinn, and Maud noted two songs from her, “Constant Farmer’s Son” and “The Dreams of Lovely Nancy.” Karpeles next went collecting by motor boat. It was an hour's trip up the North East Arm to the village of Dunville, where the Hunt family lived. Maud recorded her candid impressions of the Hunts in her diary that evening:
[Jimmie] Hunt has known lots of songs, but he is old and childish and cannot remember things. However his son came to the rescue and gave me a couple of songs, and another son the words of “G. Laddie” – tune no good. It is a filthy house, but the people as every-where most charming and friendly. Absolutely no trouble to get them to sing. Only a little embarrassed in fear their lack of education will make the songs unsuitable ‘for the likes of me’. A lovely spot at the head of the N. East Arm – like a big lake surrounded by wooded hills. A lovely trip back to the harbour.
It was Patrick Hunt who sang “The Gypsy Laddie” for her, but Jimmie’s other son, John, proved the best informant.
_________________________________
Suggested reading: A Structural Analysis of the American Variants of The Gypsy Laddie (Child 200) David Anthony Brownell
Dept. of English, Stanford University, 1967 - Music - 548 pages
__________________________________
Two print versions;
Gipsy Davy; song, melody by MacKaye Percy [of U. S.] 4to. [2945 Feb. 11, 1919; 2 c. Feb. 12, 1919 ; E 442562 ; H. W. Gray co. New York. Broadside sold for 10 cents.
The American Star Songster, New York, 1851.
_______________________________
Coffin -1950
200. THE GYPSY LADDIE
Texts: Anderson, Coll Bids Sgs, 49 / Arlington's Banjo Songster (Philadelphia, 1860), 47 / Barry, Brit Bids Me, 269 / Belden, Mo F-S, 73 / Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 134 / Brown Coll / CFLO, V, 212 / Cambiaire, Ea Tenn Wstn Va Mt Bids, 59 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 37 / Chase, Trd Bid Sgs Sgng Games, 4 / Child, IV, 72 / Cox, F-S South, 130 / Cox, Trd Bid W Va, 31 / Cox, W. 7 a. School Journal and Educator, XLIV, 428 / Davis, Trd Bid Fa, 423 / De-Witt's Forget-me-not Songster (N.Y., 1872), 223 / Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 85 / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 67 / Flanders, Garl Gn Mt Sg, 69 / Flanders, Ft F-S Bids, 220 / Garrison,
Searcy Cnty, 10 / Gilbert, Lost Chords, 35 / Greenleaf and Mansfield, Bids Sea Sgs Newfdld, 38 / Hauri, Cocke Cnty, 65 / Henry, Beech Mt F-S, 6 / Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 1 10 / Hooley's. Opera House Songster, 46 / Hudson, .F-S Miss, 117 / Hudson, F-T Miss, 26 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L, Jfrrt JAFL, XVIII, 191 5 XIX, 294; XXIV, 346;XXV, 173;XXVI } 3 5 3 ;XXX, 323, XLVIII, 385; LII, 79 / Karpeles, F-S Newfdld, 13 / Ky Cnties Mss. / Kincaid, Fav Mi Bids, 33 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 207 / Lomax, Am Bids F-S, 292 / Lomax and Lomax, Our Sgng Cntry, i$6/ Lunsford and Stringfield, 30 & i F-S So Mts, 4 / Mclntosh, So III F-S, 17 / Martz' Sensational Songster, 6$ / Mason, Cannon Cnty, 21 / McGill, F-S Ky Mts, 15 / Minish Mss. / MLN, XXVII, 242 / Morris, F-S Fla, 455 / Musick, F-L Kirksville, 8 / Neely and Spargo, Tales Sgs So III, 140 / New York broadside (de Marsan, List 4^3, #28), Brown University Library / Owens, Sttidies Tex F-S, 28 / Perry, Carter Cnty, 86, 298 / Pound, Nebr Syllabus, io/ Raine, Land Sddle Bags, 119 / Randolph, OzF-S, I, 152 / Sandburg, Am Sgbag, 311 / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 215 / Sharp C, EngF-S So Aplcbns, #27 / SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, I, 237 / Smith and Rufty, Am Antb Old Wrld Bids, 44 / SFLQ, VIII, 1567 Stout, F-L la, ii / Va FLS Bull, #s 3, 5, 8, 9, n / Harry L. Wilson, Lions of tbe Lord, 37680.
Local Titles: Bill Harman, Black-eyed Davy, Black-jack Davy (David, Daley), Cross-eyed David, Egyptian Davy-O, Gay Little Davy, Georgia Daisy, Gypsea Song, Gypsie (Gypsen, Gypso) Davy, Gypsy Daisy, It was Late in the Night When Johnny Came Home, Oh Come and Go Back My Pretty Fair Miss, Seven Gypsies in a Row, The Dark-clothes Gypsy, The Gypsies, The Gypsy (Gyptian) Laddie, The Gypsy Lover, The Heartless Lady, The Lady's Disgrace, The Three Gypsies, When Carnal First Came to Arkansas, When the Squire Came Home.
Story Types: A: A gypsy sings or whistles before the lord's house and charms his lady away, often after he has received gifts of such things as wine, nutmeg, rings, etc. from her. When the lord returns and finds his wife gone, he orders his horses saddled and overtakes the elopers. He asks his lady if she has forsaken him, her child, and warm bed. Mentioning, in some
texts, that she married against her will in the first place, she assures him she has. Most texts include some of the following material: the husband asks- his wife who will care for the children and receives the reply, "you will"; the husband tells the wife to remove her fine Spanish shoes and give him her hand in farewell; some comments are made on the comparative poverty
of the woman's new station.
Examples: Barry (A); Cox, F-S South (C); Davis (A); JAFL, XVIII, 191 (B); Perry (B).
B: The story is the same as that of Type A, except that the wife writes her husband a few weeks later that she is tired of her lover and wishes to come home. He writes back that he has another girl, and she can stay with her gypsy. Examples: Davis (B).
C: The story is similar to that of Type A, except that the gypsy casts the lady off in the end.
Examples: Belden (C), Garrison.
D: The story is similar to that of Type A. However, in a fashion that is reminiscent of Type B, the lord remarries inside six months.
Examples: Child (J).
E: The story resembles Type A. However, the lady repents and goes home to her "feather bed and baby".
Examples: Cox, F-S South (B).
F: A West Virginia adaption of the ballad to a local event has the husband follow the elopers and give up the chase when he loses their trail. Examples: Cox, F-S South (D),
G: The sexes become reversed in some texts (though in the garbled Scarborough example the original arrangement remains in the opening stanza), and the lady runs off with another girl.
Examples: Scarborough (C); JAFL, XVIII, 194 (F).
H: The versions that have been corrupted by stanzas from the old English folksong "I'm. Seventeen Come Sunday" have the "gypsy" ask the girl her age and get the "seventeen (sixteen ) next Sunday" reply. He may also ask the girl whether or not she will flee with him and again get the "next Sunday" reply. She then removes her low (high) shoes of Spanish leather, puts
on her high (low)-heeled ones, and rides off with her new lover. The normal pursuit of the husband, the usual scorning of him, and the "cold ground- feather bed" comparison follow.
Examples: Hudson, F-S Miss (B); JAFL, XLVIII, 385; III, 79.
I: A short lyric has been found: last night I lay in my feather bed, but tonight in the arms of a gypsy. The story is completely gone, and only the comparison of the two lives remains.
Examples: Flanders, Vt F-S Bids (A).
Discussion: The basic outline of the traditional story (see Child, IV, 61 ff. for detail) is as follows : Some gypsies sing at a lord's gate and entice the lady down. When she shows herself they cast a spell over her, and she gives herself over to the gypsy chief (Johnny Faa from Seanin an Faith or Johnny the Seer in Gaelic. See Linscott, F-S Old NE 9 208.) without reservation. Her
lord, upon returning and finding her gone, sets out to recover her. He captures and hangs fifteen gypsies.
The song is probably the rationalization of a fairy-lover story (The Randolph, Oz F-S, E text has the lady admit she is bewitched. This may, of course, be a modern reversal to the original motif, or it may be a survival of that motif.) that has later become allied with a traditional story of the love affair and subsequent elopement of one Johnny Faa and Lady Cassilis, wife of the Earl of Cassilis. (See Child, IV, 63 ff. where the name Johnny Faa is stated to be a very common one among the nomads and where the story is discussed.)
There are any number of minor variations in this story as told by the American ballads. In this country, the hanging of the gypsies and the names Faa and Cassilis are omitted. The rationalization has frequently been carried further so that the gypsy becomes merely a lover and the lady a landlord's wife, etc. (See Cambiaire, Ea Tenn Wstn Va Mt Bids. Note also Davis,
Trd Bid Fa, E where the gypsies are on their way to becoming Indians.) For a detailed discussion of one America (Ohio) text see MLN, XXVII, 242-4.
In general, it may be said that American texts follow the Child H and I versions most closely. There are, however, a large number of story types, the differences centering mostly about the final outcome of the tale. Type A tells the usual American narrative, with the rejection of the secure home for the insecure nomad life seeming to appeal to the New World (See Type I)*
The Spanish boots so frequently mentioned are to be found in Child G as well. Types B, C, and D reveal an almost puritanical revision of the end in the interests of seeing justice done or because of local incidents that have attached themselves to the story as Garrison, Searcy Cnty, II suggests. Type E is pure sentimentality, and Type F shows the influence of a local event on the narrative. The West Virginia elopement of Tim Wallace, a very ugly man, with Billy Harman's wife, an exceptionally pretty woman, is retold in the framework of The Gypsy Laddie. Type G is an example of degeneration through transmission in this case to the point of absurdity. (See Flanders, Ft F-S Bids, 220 and Reed Smith, SC Blds 9 37 for discussion.) Type H is the result of a corruption of the ballad by "I'm Seventeen Come Sunday". The amount of transfer varies to some degree within this type, but members of the group are not uncommon. See Haun, Cocke Cnty, 65; JAFL, LII, 79; Mason, Cannon Cnty, 21; and Neely and Spargo, Tales Sgs So III, 140; as well as others.
The jingling American refrains are not in the British texts. See Belden, Mo F-S, 74. Usually some nonsense phrase like "ring a ding", etc. or "diddle dum", etc. constitutes the refrain many times in the form of a chorus. However, meaningful refrains do occur. See "oh how I love thee" in Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 85 (Tennessee). Also, a "raggle-taggle gypsy" line often
recurs. See Cox, Trd Bid W 7 a, C.
Barry, Brit Bids Me, 273 expresses the belief that he has found a text of the song of Irish origin.
The ballad has been the subject of a number of burlesques. See particularly DeWit's Forget-me-not Songster (N. Y., 1872), 223.
--------------
Not to be confused with the fiddle tune identified with Joe Thompson, Joe; Black Eyed Daisy.
----------------------
GYPSY DAVIE- Doc Watson; Merle Watson. From Doc & Merle Watson, "Look Away!" United Artists, UA-LA887-H, 1979. Also Doc & Richard Watson's "Third Generation Blues."
1. Oh, the Gypsy Davie came a-ridin' along, singin' so loud and gaily.
With his old guitar and a lusty song, he charmed the heart of a lady,
The heart of a pretty little lady.
2. "How old are you, my pretty little miss? How old are you, my lady?"
"Come next week. I'll be sixteen. I've a husband and a baby,
A man and a pretty little baby."
3. "Oh, would you leave your house and land, your husband and your baby?
Would you leave them all behind to go with the Gypsy Davie,
Ride along with the Gypsy Davie?"
4. She dressed in silks and rings of gold and shoes of Spanish leather,
Then she got on a pony fine and they rode off together,
And they rode off together.
5. That night when the man of the house came home, asking for his lady,
Well, the only answer that he got: "She's gone with the Gypsy Davie,
Rode away with the Gypsy Davie."
6. He called for his boots and he called for his hat, his pistol, and his saddle,
Then he sprang on his very best horse and after them did travel,
And after them did travel.
[Instrumental break]
7. When he saw the man who'd wronged him so, his wrath was hotly kindled,
Then he thought of his lady's tender love, and his anger slowly dwindled,
His anger slowly dwindled.
8. "Oh, would you leave your house and land, your true love and your baby?
Oh, would you leave us all behind to go with the Gypsy Davie,
With the likes of the Gypsy Davie?"
9. "I care not for your house and land, and you can have my baby.
Yes, I'll leave you all behind to go with the Gypsy Davie,
For I love this Gypsy Davie."
10. When the silks and the gold and the rings were gone, old Davie would not tarry.
He says, "You're not a Gypsy girl and you I cannot marry,
You I cannot marry."
11. As a beggar now she's dressed in rags. In her heart, she's still a lady.
Tonight she'll cry herself to sleep thinkin' about her baby,
True love and her baby.
------------------
Black Jack David- Sung by Warren Smith; Sun records; 1956
1 Black Jack David come a-ridin' through the woods,
Singin' so loud and merry,
His voice kept ringin' through the green green trees
He spied a fair-haired maiden,
He spied a fair-haired maiden.
2 'Would you forsake your husband dear?
Would you forsake your baby?
Would you forsake your fine, fine home
And go with Black Jack David,
Go with Black Jack David?
3 No, dear Jack, I cannot go
Away and leave my baby;
I cannot forsake my husband and home
And go with you, Black Jack David,
Go with you, Black Jack David.
Listen, dear lass, my name is Jack,
I've come from afar
Lookin' for a fair-haired lass like you;
Won't you come and be my bride,
Come and be my bride.
Yes, I'll forsake my husband dear,
And I'll forsake my baby,
I'll forsake my fine, fine home
And go with you, Black Jack David,
Go with you, Black Jack David.
Last night she slept on a fine feather bed
Beside her husband and baby,
Tonight she slept on the cold, cold, ground
Beside old Black Jack David
Beside old Black Jack David.
-----------------
Gipsy Davy- Sung by Robert Shifflet, Brown's Cove, Va. July 15, 1961 LC/AAFS rec. No. 12,004 Collected by George Foss.
http://www.klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/HHI/GeorgeFoss/SONGS/song2.html
Young Gypsy Davey came merrily by
Whistling loud and gaily,
He whistled and sang till the green wood rang.
Charmed the heart of a lady.
Merrily down the castle stair
Came this fair young lady,
In her hand so fine was a glass of wine,
To drink a health to Davey.
Her Ingram (own grim) Lord came home that night,
Inquiring for his Iady,
The waiting maid cried, as she replied,
"She's gone with Gypsy Davey."
"Oh, saddle with speed my milk-white steed,
Quicklv make him ready,
I will de this night, 'till broad daylight,
Till I overtake my lady."
He rode that night, he rode next day,
Till he come to the banks of the river.
On the other side his wife he spied,
Beside her gypsy lover.
"Turn back, turn back my own fair one,
Turn back to your home and baby,
How can you roam from your fair home,
To follow a gypsy laddie?
"I won't turn back, I shan't turn back,
For neither lord nor baby.
I would give your home and the rest you own,
For one sweet kiss from Davey.
"Last night on a bed of down you lay,
Your baby lay by you.
Tonight you will lay on the cold, cold clay,
With the gypsy lad beside you."
"I won't turn back, I shan't turn back,
For all your words of honey.
I wouldn't give a kiss from the Gypsy's lips,
For all your land and money.
"Take off, take off your costly glove,
That's made of Spanish leather.
Your hand I will grasp in a farewell clasp,
'Twill be farewell, forever."
Foss: It was specifically in search of this version of the ballad, "The Gypsy Laddie," that I came to meet and know Robert Shifflett. I had been recording the singing of Marybird McAllister along with two friends and fellow folksong collectors, Roger Abrahams and Paul Clayton, when they told me about a man who lived just up the road. They said he knew a version of "The Gypsy Laddie" with the most intricate and beautiful internal rhyming:
"He whistled and sang till the green wood rang."
"In her hand so fine was a glass of wine."
"Your hand I will grasp in a farewell clasp."
They told me of his reluctance to sing for them and I felt the challenge of trying to get this rare specimen for my collection. Over the next several years and during many visits with "Raz's Robert" I not only got this exceptional version of the ballad, but also benefited greatly from his knowledge of the region, his appreciation for old-timey things and his wonderful way of telling a tale.
____________________________________
Missing Versions:
Black Jack Davey
Contributor Names
Lomax, John Avery -- 1867-1948 (recordist)
Wilson, Joe (singer)
Created / Published
Comanche, Texas.
Subject Headings
- United States of America -- Texas -- Comanche
Notes
- Sung by Uncle Joe Wilson. (statement of responsibility)
- AFS 05617 B (AFS Number)
- 5617 (afsNum)
---------------
Gipsy Davy
Publisher No. 7 North Tenth Street, Philadelphia. Published by Johnson, the great song publisher., 1858
Complete Catalogue of Sheet Music and Musical Works Page 42 Board of Music Trade (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) - 1870 -
Gipsy Davy. 1. Morris.
---------
New York Times Book Review and Magazine - Page 394; 1969 for an old song entitled "Gipsy Davy,” would say that the song is, printed in Delaney's Song Book No. 14, published at 117 Park Row, New York City.
Gipsy Davy; song, melody by Percy MacKaye [of U. S.] 4to. [2945 © Feb. 11, 1919;
--------------------------
Gipsy Davy; Evanson, Jacob A. (Jacob Arthur) -- 1899-1994 (recordist) Crescent School students (singer)
Created / Published Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Notes - Sung by Crescent School students. (statement of responsibility) - AFS 08029 A (AFS Number)
- 8029 (afsNum)
---------------
Listen Salem Va. on 8/59:
http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-ix.do?ix=recording&id=552&idType=performerId&sortBy=abc
R. W. Gordon, "Folk Etchings," Forum 8o 1928, pp. 414-52, as "Geordie."
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Lomax, Our Singing Country pp.156-159
Performer Gant Family
Place collected USA : Texas : Austin
Collector Lomax, John A. & Alan
Don Edwards, West of Yesterday, Warner 4-46187, Cas (1996), trk# A.03 (Gypsy/Gypsum Davy/Daisy)
Brownie Ford, Stories from Mountains, Swamps & Honky-Tonks, Flying Fish FF-90 559, Cas (1990), trk# B.01 [1981/05]
Dave Fredrickson, . Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins, fol (1965), p 50 (Gypsy/Gypsum Davy/Daisy)
Jim Greer and the Mac-O-Chee Valley Boys. Stars of the WWVA Jamboree, Rural Rhythm RRGreer 152, LP (1966), trk# B.03
Kazee, Buell. Buell Kazee, June Appal JA 009, LP (1977), trk# 10 [1969]
Milt Okun, Adirondack Folk Songs and Ballads, Stinson SLP 82, LP (1963), trk# 8 (Gypsy/Gypsum Davy/Daisy)
Joseph Able Trivett, (Abe). Joseph Able Trivett, Folk Legacy FSA 002, LP (1962), trk# 14 [1961/09]
WRAGGLE TAGGLE GYPSIES, THE
Source Edith Fowke Coll. (FO 9)
Performer Brandon, Tom
Place collected Canada : Ontario : Peterborough
Collector Fowke, Edith
GIPSY DAVY
Source Johannsen, The House of Beadle and Adams 3 (1962) p.68
Performer
Place collected USA
Collector
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
BLACK JACK DAVID
Source Folk-Legacy FSA 2 (`Joseph Able Trivett')
Performer Trivett, Joseph Able
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Butler
Collector Paton, Sandy
CROSS-EYED DAVID
Source Mason: Southern Folklore Quarterly 11 (1947) pp.130-132
Performer Higgins, Nora Dean
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Cannon County
Collector Mason, Robert Leslie
GIPSY LADDIE, THE
Source Pound, Folk-Song of Nebraska ... Syllabus p.10
Performer
Place collected USA : Nebraska
Collector
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
GYPSY LADDIE, THE
Source Roberts: Kentucky Folklore Record 2:2 (1956) p.58
Performer Begley, Mrs. Amy
Place collected USA : Kentucky : Langley
Collector Dingus, Blanche E.
RATTLE-TUM-A-GIPSUM DAVIE (Appears under her married name, Mrs. Donna Shelton)
Source Folktrax 907-60 ('Songs of the Southern Appalachians 1')
Performer Hensley, Emma
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Carmen
Collector Karpeles, Maud
BLACK JACK DAVID
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.508 (version c)
Performer Kilgore, Mrs. Esco
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
BLACK JACK DAVID
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.508 (version e)
Performer Greear, Mrs. Florence
Place collected USA : Virginia : Back Valley
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
BLACK JACK DAVIE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.508 (version f)
Performer Hamilton, Eula
Place collected USA : Virginia : Wise
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
BLACK JACK DAVEY
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.508 (version g)
Performer Baker, John
Place collected USA : Virginia : Wise
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
BLACK JACK DAVEY
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.508 (version h)
Performer Fields, Mrs. Rhoda
Place collected USA : Virginia : Dungannon
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
WILLIAM DAVEY
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.508 (version i)
Performer Collins, Mrs. Daniel
Place collected USA : Virginia : Glamorgan
Collector Adams, John Taylor
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
BLACK JACK DAVID
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2823 B2
Performer Kilgore, Mrs. Esco
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 838 B2
Performer Burkett, Kate
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Mabel
Collector Lomax, John A.
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 897 A2
Performer Sing, Mrs. Alex
Place collected USA : S. Carolina : Murrells Inlet
Collector Lomax, John A.
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2846 B2
Performer Hagie, Mrs. & Mrs. Lena Bare Turbyfill
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Elk Park
Collector Halpert, Herbert
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2873 A1
Performer Hampton, Oscar & Mrs. Sabra Bare
Place collected USA : N. Carolina : Morgantownn
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
GYPSEN DAVY
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2824 A2
Performer Hubbard, Joe
Place collected USA : Virginia : Hamiltontown
Collector Halpert, Herbert
GYPSY DAISY, THE
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 1750 B1
Performer Bryant, Mrs. L.M.
Place collected USA : Indiana : Evansville
Collector Lomax, Alan & Elizabeth
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
GYPSY DAVY
Source Library of Congress AAFS recording 2823 A3 & B1
Performer Cain, Mrs. Mary Fuller
Place collected USA : Virginia : Clintwood
Collector Halpert, Herbert
Roud number 1 | Roud number search
GYPPIEIN DAVY, THE
Source Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection (Archives of Appalachia, E. Tenn. State Univ.) Disc BC-474
Performer
Place collected USA
Collector Cadle, Tillman
GYPSY LADDIE, THE (See note below- from Motherwell)
Source Keystone Folklore Quarterly 2:1 (spr 1957) pp.21-22
Performer Irwin, David
Place collected USA : Pennsylvania : McElhattan
Collector Shoemaker, Henry W.
[Bizarre is the version from the Keystone Folklore Quarterly 2:1 (spring 1957) pp. 21-22, which is attributed to David Irwin, McElhattan, Pennsylvania. It was collected and submitted by Henry W. Shoemaker. The problem is, it's identical to Child C, collected by Motherwell from the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan, 27 July, 1825.]
BLACK JACK DAVIE
Source Robert W. Gordon Collection (American Folklife Center, LOC) Cylinder A86 item NC 127
Performer Matthews, Effie
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Duncan, Ballads & Folk Songs Collected in Northern Hamilton County (1939) pp.82-87 (version a)
Performer Gentry, Pearl Green
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Sale Creek
Collector Duncan, Ruby
WHEN THE SQUIRE CAME HOME
Source Duncan, Ballads & Folk Songs Collected in Northern Hamilton County (1939) pp.88-95 (version b)
Performer Hughes, Mrs. Rosa
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Flat Top
Collector Duncan, Ruby
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source Duncan, Ballads & Folk Songs Collected in Northern Hamilton County (1939) pp.88-95 (version c)
Performer Thatcher, Mrs. Pearl
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Bakewell
Collector Duncan, Ruby
GYPSY LADDIE
Source Haun, Cocke County Ballads & Songs (1937) p.65
Performer Haun, Mrs. Maggie
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Cocke County
Collector
GYPSY LADDIE
Source Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.86
Performer Uncle Fred / Aunt Hildra
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Carter County
Collector
GYPSY LADDIE
Source Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.87
Performer Potter, Anne
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Carter County
Collector
GYPSY LADDIE
Source Perry, A Sampling of the Folklore of Carter County, Tennessee (1938) p.90
Performer Hicks, Alvin
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Carter County
Collector
GYPSY LADDIE
Source Mason, Folk Songs and Folk Tales of Cannon County, Tennessee (1939) p.21
Performer Shirley, Nora Dean
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Cannon County
Collector
BLACK JACK DAVY
Source University of Iowa Press ('Folk Voices of Iowa')
Performer Hinson, Stan
Place collected USA : Iowa : Iowa City
Collector Oster, Harry
Folk Voices of Iowa. Collected and edited by Harry Oster. One 12" LP disc. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1965.