No. 200: The Gypsy Laddie (Black Jack Davy)
[This is one of the most popular ballads, rated by Bronson as the 5th most popular (see: About the Most Popular British Ballads). Certainly that ranking should be changed since it was written in the 1960s. I would rank it the 2nd or 3rd most popular today and provide as evidence the large number of recordings since 1950. Lord Thomas, Lord Randall and Lady Isabel - ballads widely sung in the early 1900s- have not proven to command as high a ranking in pop culture as they once did. They have been replaced by Our Goodman, Gypsy Davy, The Gallows Pole and even Scarborough Fair (Elfin Knight) or The Devil and the Farmer.
Four versions from the US are given by Child as J a-b and K a-b. Known in the US and Canada usually as Black Jack Davy, the ballad has been recorded and was a commercial hit for country musician Cliff Carlisle (Listen: Cliff Carlisle 1939 Black Jack David) whose version (or a very similar version) was covered by the Carter Family a year later (Listen: Carter Family 1940 Black Jack David). A more traditional version with banjo was recorded before by Lunsford (Listen: Bascom Lamar Lunsford; 1935 Black Jack Davy).
According to Wilgus (1964): Judith Ann Knoblock (WF, XIX, 35 ff.) has pointed out that "The Gypsy Laddie" seems to derive from and possibly parody "King Orfeo" (Child 19). See her article attached to my Recordings & Info page. I have also noticed the similarity of the seduction of the lady by Gypsy Davy and the seduction of lady in "The House Carpenter."
Many Appalachian versions have inserted two stanzas from "Pretty Little Miss" (Seventeen Come Sunday) which usually follow the opening stanza. Many of these hybrids are found in North Carolina (see Brown Collection). Versions from the Northeast and Canada seem to be closer to British versions and those from Newfoundland close the Irish Broadside (Barry F) that has ends stanzas with "dark-eyed gypsies O."
Baring-Gould sent Child a "reconstructed" version (see Atkinson/Roud also Gregory) in two parts titled "The Gipsy Countess" which was "Taken down from an old and illiterate hedger [James Parsons], son of a more famous singer. Neither could read or write. The father died some years ago." In Baring Gould's MS it's written as a single ballad but in Songs and Ballads of the West (1892) he divides it into two parts with two melodies-- attributing the second part to a blacksmith named Woodrich. The first part of The Gipsy Countess tells the story before the ballad of The Gypsy Laddie while the second part is a variation of the standard ballad with a different ending. Child mentions them in his headnotes (below) but chose to print neither. They seem to be stilted and reworked rather than traditional. Child did accept and publish a similar reconstruction from Baring-Gould which, with a broadside, formed Child 295, The Brown Girl. Here is the text of the ballad(s) The Gipsy Countess:
The Gypsy Countess Part 1 [Attributed to James Parsons]
1. There came an Earl a riding by,
A gipsy maid espyed he;
"O nut-brown maid, from green wood glade,
O prithee come along with me!"
"In greenwood glade, fair Sir," she said,
I am so Blythe, as bird so gay,
In thy Castle tall, in bower and hall,
I fear for grief I'd pine away."
2. “Thou shalt no more be set in stocks,
And trump about from town to town,
But thou shalt ride in pomp and pride,
In velvet red and broidered gown?
“My brothers three no more I'd see,
If that I went with thee, I know."
They sing me to sleep, with songs so sweet,
They sing as on our way we go."
3 "Thou Shall not be torn by thistle and thorn,
With thy bare feet all in the dew.
But Shoes shall wear of Spanish leather
And silken stockings all of blue."
“I will not go to thy castle high.
For thou wilt weary soon.
I know, of the gipsy maid, from green-wood glade,
And drive her forth in rain and snow."
4. “All night you lie neath the starry sky
In rain and snow you trudge all day,
But thy brown head, in a feather bed,
I When left the gipsies, thou shalt lay.”
“I love to lie ’neath the starry sky,
I do not heed the snow and rain,
But fickle is wine, I fear to find
The man who now my heart would gain?
5 “I will thee wed, sweet maid," he said,
“I will thee wed with a golden ring,
“Thy days shall be spent in merriment;
For us the marriage bells shall swing."
The dog did howl, and screech’d the owl,
The raven croaked, the night-wind sighed;
The wedding bell from the steeple fell,
As home the Earl did hear his bride.
[According to Baring Gould verses 11 and 12 missing]
Gypsy Countess Part 2
1. Three gypsies stood at the castle gate,
They sang so high, they sang so low,
The lady sate in her chamber late,
Her heart it melted away as snow,
Away as snow
Her heart it melted away as snow.
2. They sang so sweet, they sang so shrill,
That fast her tears began to flow,
And she laid down her golden gown,
Her golden rings, and all her show,
All her show &c
3. She plucked off her high-heeled shoes,
A-made of Spanish leather, O
She would in the street, with her bare, bare feet;
All out of the wind and weather, O.
Weather, O! &c
4 She took in her hand but a posie,
The wildest flowers that do grow.
And down the stair, went the lady fair,
To go away with the gypsies, O!
The gyspies O! &c
5 At past midnight her lord came home,
And where his lady was would know.
All servants replied on every side,
"She's gone away with the gipsies O!"
The gipsies O! &c
6 Then he rode high, and he rode low,
He rode through hills and valleys O,
Until he spied his fair young bride
Who'd gone away with the gipsies O,
The gipsies O! &c
7 O will you leave your house and lands,
Your golden treasures for to go,
Away from your lord that weareth a sword.
To follow along with the gipsies, O!
The gipsies O! &c
8 O I will leave my house and lands,
My golden treasures for to go.
I love not my lord that weareth a sword,
I'll follow along with the gipsies O!
The gipsies O! &o:
9 'Nay, thou shalt not!‘ then he drew, I wot,
The sword that hung at his saddle bow.
And once he smote on her lily-white throat,
And there her red blood down did flow
Down did flow, &c
10 Then dipp'd in blood was the posie good,
That was of the wildest flowers that blow.
She sank on her side, and so she died,
For she would away with the gipsies O!
The gipsies O!
For she would away with the gipsies O!
* * * *
According to Jim Brown, (Mudcat 2015), the lady has been put under a spell in some of the Scottish versions given by Child (A, B, C, D, F) where they "cast their glamour o'er her" etc. According to the Dictionary of the Scots Language (http://www.dsl.ac.uk), glamour = "Magic, enchantment, witchcraft; a spell, esp. one affecting the sight, as in phr. to cast (the) [glamour] ower someone('s een)". On the other hand the mondegreen in Child G ("They called their grandmother over") might suggest that already in the 18th century not everyone got the meaning, at least outside Scotland. "Charmed" could also mean there was magic involved, but it doesn't have to. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the non-magical meaning of "charm" as "powerfully attract, fascinate" also goes back to Middle English.
Poetically speaking he thinks it makes more sense if we assume that their magic (real or metaphorical) couldn't have such an effect on her if she wasn't already open to the possibility of running away. Child B has an interesting ending from this point of view: she declares herself free of the Gypsies' influence, but still won't go back to her husband.
Although the degree of influence the spell, charm or "glamour" is unknown, in my opinion it would be safe to assume that the intention of ur-ballad is that the reason she gave away her valuables and left her husband is "the spell." Assuming that is true, then she is not responsible for her actions. This important fact is not often considered when analyzing the ballad.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (Found at the end of Child's Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-L (L is given in a later edition in "Additions and Corrections." Changes for B b, G b J b, and K b given in End-notes. An additional short 3 stanza version is given from H. A. Kennedy's "Professor Blackie: his Sayings and Doings, London, 1895.")
5. End-notes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: 200. The Gypsy Laddie
A. Roud No. 1: The Gypsy Laddie (654 Listings)
B. Johnny Faa and Black Jack Davy: Cultural Values
C. "The Gypsy Laddie" (Child 200): Medieval Romance
D. The Ballad of the Gypsy Davy- Woods 1912
E. Brown Collection: 37. The Gypsy Laddie (complete versions from Vol. 2 & 4)
2. Sheet Music: 200. The Gypsy Laddie (Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-L with additional notes)]
Child's Narrative: 200. The Gypsy Laddie
A. 'Johny Faa, the Gypsy Laddie,' Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, vol. iv, 1740. Here from the edition of 1763, p. 427.
B. a. The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscel lany (vol. lxxx of the Scots Magazine), November, 1817, p. 309.
b. A fragment recited by Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay.
C. 'Davie Faw,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 381; 'Gypsie Davy,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, 1827, p. 360.
D. 'The Egyptian Laddy,' Kinloch Manuscripts, V, 331.
E. 'The Gypsie Laddie,' Mactaggart's Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, 1824, p. 284.
F. 'Johnny Faa, the Gypsey Laddie,' The Songs of England and Scotland [P. Cunningham], London, 1835, II, 346.
G. a. 'The Gypsie Loddy,' a broadside, Roxburghe Ballads, III, 685.
b. A recent stall-copy, Catnach, 2 Monmouth Court, Seven Dials.
H. 'The Gipsy Laddie,' Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne, p. 550.
I. Communicated by Miss Margaret Reburn, as sung in County Meath, Ireland, about 1860.
J. a. 'The Gipsey Davy,' from Stockbridge, Massachusetts,
b. From a lady born in Maine.
K. 'Lord Garrick,'
a. communicated by ladies of New York.
b. communicated by ladies of New York.
[L. Communicated to the Journal of The Gypsy Society, II, 85, by Mr. John Sampson, from the dictation of Lias Robinson, a Gypsy. A translation into Gypsy, by Robinson and his brothers, is given at p. 84 of the same.]
The English ballad, though derived from the Scottish, may perhaps have been printed earlier. A conjectural date of 1720 is given, with hesitation, to G a, in the catalogue of the British Museum.
The Scottish ballad appears to have been first printed in the fourth volume of the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1740, but no copy of that edition has been recovered. From the Tea-Table Miscellany it was repeated, with variations, some traditional, some arbitrary, in: Herd's Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, 1769, 'Gypsie Laddie,' p. 88, ed. 1776, II, 54; The Fond Mother's Garland, not dated, but earlier than 1776; Pinkerton's Select Scotish Ballads, 1783, I, 67; Johnson's Museum, 'Johny Faa, or, The Gypsie Laddie,' No 181, p. 189; Ritson's Scotish Songs, 1794, II, 176; and in this century, Cromek's Select Scotish Songs, 1810, II, 15; Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, 1825, II, 175. A transcript in the Campbell Manuscripts, 'The Gypsies,' I, 16, is from Pinkerton.
"The people in Ayrshire begin this song,
'The gypsies cam to my lord Cassilis' yett.'
They have a great many more stanzas ... than I ever yet saw in any printed." Burns, in Cromek's Reliques, 1809, p. 161. (So Sharpe, in the Musical Museum, 1853, IV, 217, but perhaps repeating Burns.) B, from Galloway, has eight more stanzas than A, and E, also from Galloway, fourteen more, but quite eight of the last are entirely untraditional,[1] and the hand of the editor is frequently to be recognized elsewhere.
Finlay, Scottish Ballads, 1808, II, 39, inserted two stanzas after A 2, the first of which is nearly the same as 5, and the second as B 3, C 3. The variations of his text, and others in his notes, are given under A. Kinloch Manuscripts, V, 299; Chambers, Scottish Ballads, 1829, p. 143; Aytoun, 1859, I, 187, repeat Finlay, with a few slight changes. The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, I, 9, follows Chambers.
The copy in Smith's Scotish Minstrel, III, 90, is derived from B a, but has readings of other texts, and is of no authority. That in Maidment's Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1868, II, 185, is B a with changes. Ten stanzas in a manuscript of Scottish songs and ballads, copied 1840 or 1850 by a granddaughter of Lord Woodhouselee, p. 46, are from B a. This may be true also of B b, which, however, has not Cassilis in 11.
C is from a little further north, from Renfrewshire; D from Aberdeenshire. F is from the north of England, and resembles C. The final stanza of G a is cited by Ritson, Scotish Songs, II, 177, 1794. 'The Rare Ballad of Johnnie Faa and the Countess o Cassilis,' Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 326, which the editor had "heard sung repeatedly by Willie Faa," and of which he "endeavored to preserve as much as recollection would allow," has the eleven stanzas of the English broadside, and twelve more of which Sheldon must have been unable to recollect anything. H-K are all varieties of the broadside.
The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has most obligingly sent me a ballad, taken down by him from the singing of an illiterate hedger in North Devon, in which 'The Gypsy Laddie,' recomposed (mostly with middle rhyme in the third verse, as in A 1, 8), forms the sequel to a story of an earl marrying a very reluctant gypsy maid. When the vagrant who has been made a lady against nature hears some of her tribe singing at the castle-gate, the passion for a roving life returns, and she deserts her noble partner, who pursues her, and, not being able to induce her to return to him, smites her "lily-white" throat with his sword. This little romance, retouched and repaired, is printed as No 50 of Songs and Ballads of the West, now publishing by Baring-Gould and Sheppard. Mr. Baring-Gould has also given me a defective copy of the second part of 'The Gipsy Countess' (exhibiting many variations), which he obtained from an old shoemaker of Tiverton.
Among the Percy papers there is a set of ballads made over by the Bishop, which may have been intended for the contemplated extension of his Reliques. 'The Gipsie Laddie,' in eighteen stanzas, and not quite finished, is one of these. After seven stanzas of A, not much altered, the husband ineffectually pursues the lady, who adopts the gipsy trade, with her reid cheek stained wi yallow. Seven years pass, during which the laird has taken another wife. At Yule a wretched carline begs charity at his gate, who, upon questioning, reveals that she had been a lady gay, with a comely marrow, but had proved false and ruined herself.
A. 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 (so B-F, G b). 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. (It is extremely likely that this version has lost several stanzas.)
Our lord, unnamed in A, is Lord Cassilis in B, C, F (so Burns, and Johnson's Museum). Cassilis has become Cassle, Castle in E, G, Corsefield[2] in D, Cashan in Irish I, Garrick[3] in American K. The Gypsy Laddie is again Johnie, Jockie, Faa in B, D, E; but Gipsy Davy in C (where Lady Cassilis is twice called Jeanie Faw), and in American lab; and seems to be called both Johnnie Faw and Gypsie Geordie in F. The lady gives the gypsies the good wheat bread B, E (beer and wine, Finlay); they give her (sweetmeats, C) ginger, nutmeg, or both, and she gives them the ring (rings) off her finger (fingers), B, C, E, G, I, (and Finlay).
B a has a full story from this point on. The gypsy asks the lady to go with him, and swears that her lord shall never come near her. The lady changes her silk mantle for a plaid, and is ready to travel the world over with the gypsy, B a 5, A 3, C 4, D 3, E 4, F 4, (B a 6 is spurious). They wander high and low till they come to an old barn, and by this time she is weary. The lady begins to find out what she has undertaken: last night she lay with her lord in a well-made bed, now she must lie in an old barn, B a 7, 8, A 4, C 6, D 7, F 5 (reeky kill E 8, on a straw bed H 7, in the ash-corner I 6). The gypsy bids her hold her peace, her lord shall never come near her. They wander high and low till they come to a wan water, and by this time she is weary. Oft has she ridden that wan water with her lord; now she must set in her white feet and wade, B a 11, C 5, D 5, 6, E 7, (and carry the gipsie laddie, B a 11, badly; follow, B b). The lord comes home, is told that his lady is gone off with the gypsy, and immediately sets out to bring her back (so all). He finds her at the wan water, B a 14; in Abbey Dale, drinking wi Gipsey Davy, C 10; near Strabogie, drinking wi Gypsie Geordie, F 10;[4] by the riverside, J a 4; at the Misty Mount, K 5, 6. He asks her tenderly if she will go home, B a 15, E 15, F 12, he will shut her up so securely that no man shall come near, B a 15, E 15; he expostulates with her, more or less reproachfully, C 11, F 11, G 9, H 5, J 5. She will not go home; as she has brewed, so will she drink, B a 16, G 10; she cares not for houses or lands or babes (baby) G 10, H 6, J 6. But she swears to him that she is as free of the gypsies as when her mother bare her, B a 17, E 16.
Fifteen gypsies are hanged, or lose their lives, A 10, B 18, D 14; sixteen, all sons of one mother, C 12, 13; seven, F 13, G 11, (cf. I 1).[5]
D 8-11 is ridiculously perverted in the interest of morals: compare B a 17, E 16. 'I swear that my hand shall never go near thee,' D 8, is transferred to the husband in I 5: 'A hand I'll neer lay on you' (in the way of correction).
In G 4 the lady, in place of exchanging her silk mantle for a plaidie, pulls off her high-heeled shoes, of Spanish leather, and puts on Highland brogues. In I 7 gypsies take off her high-heeled shoes, and she puts on Lowland brogues. The high-heeled shoes, to be sure, are not adapted to following the Gypsy Laddie, but light may perhaps be derived from C 12, where the gypsies 'drink her stockings and her shoon.' In K these high-heeled shoes of Spanish leather are wrongly transferred to Lord Garrick in the copy as delivered, but have been restored to the lady.
It is not said (except in the spurious portions of B) that the lady was carried back by her husband, but this may perhaps be inferred from his hanging the gypsies. In D and K we are left uncertain as to her disposition, which is elsewhere, for the most part, to stick to the gypsy. J, a copy of very slight authority, makes the lord marry again within six months of his wife's elopement.
The earliest edition of the ballad styles the gypsy Johny Faa, but gives no clew to the fair lady. Johnny Faa was a prominent and frequent name among the gypsies. Johnne Faw's right and title as lord and earl of Little Egypt were recognized by James V in a document under the Privy Seal, February 15, 1540, and we learn from this paper that, even before this date, letters had been issued to the king's officers, enjoining them to assist Johnne Faw "in execution of justice upon his company and folks, conform to the laws of Egypt, and in punishing of all them that rebels against him." But in the next year, by an act of the Lords of Council, June 6, Egyptians are ordered to quit the realm within thirty days on pain of death, notwithstanding any other letters or privileges granted them by the king, his grace having discharged the same. The gypsies were expelled from Scotland by act of Parliament in 1609. Johnne, alias Willie, Faa, with three others of the name, remaining notwithstanding, were sentenced to be hanged, 1611, July 31. In 1615, January 25, a man was delated for harboring of Egyptians, especially of Johnne Fall, a notorious Egyptian and chieftain of that unhappy sort of people." In 1616, July 24, Johnnë Faa, Egyptian, his son, and two others were condemned to be hanged for contemptuous repairing to the country and abiding therein. Finally, in 1624, January 24, Captain Johnnë Faa and seven others were sentenced to be hanged for the same offence, and on the follow ing 29th Helen Faa, relict of the late Captain Johnnë Faa, with ten other women, was sentenced to be drowned, but execution was stayed. Eight men were executed, but the rest, "being either children and of less-age and women with child or giving suck to children," were, after imprisonment, banished the country under pain of death, to be inflicted without further process should they be found within the kingdom after a day fixed.[6] The execution of the notorious Egyptian and chieftain Johnny Faa must have made a considerable impression, and it is presumable that this ballad may have arisen not long after. Whether this were so or not, Johnny Faa acquired popular fame, and became a personage to whom any adventure might plausibly be imputed. It is said that he has even been foisted into 'The Douglas Tragedy' ('Earl Brand'), and Scott had a copy of 'Captain Car' in which, as in F, G, of that ballad, the scene was transferred to Ayrshire, and the incendiary was called Johnny Faa.[7]
Toward the end of the last century we begin to hear that the people in Ayrshire make the wife of the Earl of Cassilis the heroine of the ballad. This name, under the instruction of Burns, was adopted into the copy in Johnson's Museum (which, as to the rest, is Ramsay's), and in the index to the second volume of the Museum, 1788, we read, "neighboring tradition strongly vouches for the truth of this story." After this we get the tradition in full, of course with con siderable variety in the details, and sometimes with criticism, sometimes without.[8]
The main points in the traditional story are that John, sixth earl of Cassilis, married, for his first wife, Lady Jean Hamilton, whose affections were preengaged to one Sir John Faa, of Dunbar. Several years after, when Lady Cassilis had become the mother of two children,[9] Sir John Faa took the opportunity of the earl's absence from home (while Lord Cassilis was attending the Westminster Assembly, say some) to present himself at the castle, accompanied by a band of gypsies and himself disguised as a gypsy, and induced his old love to elope with him. But the earl returned in the nick of time, went in pursuit, captured the whole party, or all but one,[10] who is supposed to tell the story, and hanged them on the dule tree, "a most umbrageous plane, which yet flourishes upon a mound in front of the castle gate." The fugitive wife was banished from board and bed, and confined for life in a tower at Maybole, built for the purpose. "Eight heads carved in stone below one of the turrets are said to be the effigies of so many of the gypsies."[11] The ford by which the lady and her lover crossed the River Doon is still called The Gypsies' Steps.
Several accounts put the abduction at the time when the Earl of Cassilis was attending the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. This was in September, 1643. It is now known that Lady Cassilis died in December, 1642. What is much more important, it is known from two letters written by the earl immediately after her death that nothing could have occurred of a nature to alienate his affection, for in the one he speaks of her as a "dear friend" and "beloved yoke-fellow," and in the other as his "dear bed-fellow." [12]
"Seldom, when stripped of extraneous matter, has tradition been better supported than it has been in the case of Johnie Faa and the Countess of Cassilis: " Maidment, Scotish Ballads, 1868, II, 184. In a sense not intended, this is quite true; most of the traditions which have grown out of ballads have as slight a foundation as this. The connection of the ballad with the Cassilis family (as Mr. Macmath has suggested to me) may possibly have arisen from the first line of some copy reading, 'The gypsies came to the castle-gate.' As F 13 has perverted Earl of Cassilis to Earl of Castle, so Castle may have been corrupted into Cassilis.[13]
Knortz, Schottische Balladen, p. 28, translates freely eight stanzas from Aytoun.
Footnotes:
1. In 18-21 the lady makes her lord not only forgive the abettors of Jockie Faa, whom he was about to hang, but present ten guineas to Jockie, whom he was minded to burn.
2. "Corse field may very possibly be Corse, the ancient seat of the Forbeses of Craigievar, from the close vicinity of which the reciter of this ballad came." Burton, in Kinloch MSS, V. 334.
3. Recalling Carrick, of which Maybole is the capital. "The family of Cassilis, in early times, had been so powerful that the head of it was generally termed the King of Carrick:" Sharpe. But Garrick may have come in in some other way.
4. F 7, if it belongs to the countess, gives her an unlady-like taste for brandy.
5. "There is indeed a stanza of no merit, which, in some copies, concludes the ballad, and states that eight of the gypsies were hanged at Carlisle, and the rest at the Border:" Finlay, II. 43
6. Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, III, 201, 307 f., 397-9, 559-62, 592-94; Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, IV, 440.
7. Sharpe's Ballad Book, ed. Laing. 1880, pp. 142, 154. I have unluckily lost my voucher for Johnny Faa's figuring in 'The Douglas Tragedy.'
8. Finlay, II, 35; The Scots Magazine, LXXX, 306, and the Musical Museum, 1853, IV, 2I7, Sharpe; Chambers, Scottish Ballads, p. 143; The New Statistical Account of Scotland, V, 497; Paterson, The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire. I, 10; Maidment, Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1868, II, 179.
9. She had four children according to the Historical Account of the Noble Family of Kennedy, Edinburgh, 1849, p. 44.
10. 'We were a' put down but ane' first appears in Herd. 1769.
11. These eight heads would correspond very neatly to the number of gypsies executed in 1624. But in the circumstantial account given by Chambers we are told that the house belonging to the family at Maybole was fitted for the countess's reception "by the addition of a fine projecting stair-case, upon which were carved heads representing those of her lover and his band... The effigies of the gypsies are very minute, being subservient to the decoration of a fine triple window at the top of the stair-case, and stuck upon the tops and bottoms of a series of little pilasters which adorn that part of the building. The head of Johnie Faa himself is distinct from the rest, larger, and more lachrymose in the expression of the features. Some windows in the upper fiat of Cassilis Cattle are similarly adorned; but regarding them tradition it silent."
12. Sharp, in Johnson's Museum, 1853, IV, 218*; Paterson, in Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, 1, 13. It is also clear from these letters that the countess was a sober and religious woman. Some minor difficulties which attend the supposition of this lady's absconding with Johnny Faa, or any gypsy, are barely worth mentioning. At the time when Johnny Faa was put down, in 1624, the countess was seven teen years old, and yet she is made the mother of two children. If we shift the elopement to the other end of her life, there was then (so severe had been the measures taken with these limmers) perhaps not a gypsy left in Scotland. See Aytoun, 1859, I, 186.
13. John, seventh earl of Cassilis, son of the sixth earl by a second wife, married for his second wife, some time before 1700, Mary Foix (a name also spelt Faux): Crawford's Peerage, 1716, p. 76, corrected by the Decreets of the Lords of Council and Session, vol. 145, div. 2. May this explain the Faws coming to be associated in the popular mind with a countess of Cassilis? (A suggestion of Mr. Macmath's.) The lady is even called Jeanie Faw in C 7, 11, first by the gypsy, then by her husband. The seventh earl had two children by Mary Foix.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
The earliest edition of the ballad styles the Gypsy Johny Faa, but gives no clew to the fair lady. Johnny Faa was a prominent and frequent name among' the gypsies. Johnne 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 bv act of Parliament in 1609. Johnne, alias Willie, Faa, with three others of the name, remained notwithstanding, and were sentenced to be hanged, 1611. In 1616, July 24, Johnne Faa, Egyptian, his son, and two others were condemned to be hanged for contemptuous repairing to the country and abiding therein. Finally, in 1624, January 24, Captain Johnne Faa and seven others were sentenced to be hanged for the same offence. The execution of the notorious Egyptian and chieftain Johnny Faa must have made a considerable impression, and it is presumable that this ballad may have arisen not long after. Whether this were so or not, Johnny Faa acquired popular fame, and became a personage to whom any adventure might plausibly be imputed.
Toward the end of the eighteenth century we begin to hear that the people in Ayrshire make the wife of the Earl of Cassilis the heroine of the ballad; but there is positive evidence that this lady (who died in 1642) had never done anything to alienate her husband's affections.
The Scottish ballad appears to have been first printed in the fourth volume of the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1740, but no copy of that edition has been recovered. The English version (G), though derived from the Scottish ballad, may perhaps have been printed earlier; it is found in a broadside in the Roxburghe collection, III, 685.
Child's Ballad Texts
'Johny Faa, the Gypsy Laddie'- Version A; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, vol. iv, 1740. from the London edition of 1763, p. 427.
1 The gypsies came to our good lord's gate,
And wow but they sang sweetly!
They sang sae sweet and sae very compleat
That down came the fair lady.
2 And she came tripping down the stair,
And a' her maids before her;
As soon as they saw her well-far'd face,
They coost the glamer oer her.
3 'Gae tak frae me this gay mantile,
And bring to me a plaidie;
For if kith and kin and a' had sworn,
I'll follow the gypsie laddie.
4 'Yestreen I lay in a well-made bed,
And my good lord beside me;
This night I'll ly in a tenant's barn,
Whatever shall betide me.'
5 'Come to your bed,' says Johny Faa,
'Oh come to your bed, my deary;
For I vow and I swear, by the hilt of my sword,
That your lord shall nae mair come near ye.'
6 'I'll go to bed to my Johny Faa,
I'll go to bed to my deary;
For I vow and I swear, by what past yestreen,
That my lord shall nae mair come near me.
7 'I'll mak a hap to my Johnny Faa,
And I'll mak a hap to my deary;
And he's get a' the coat gaes round,
And my lord shall nae mair come near me.'
8 And when our lord came hame at een,
And speir'd for his fair lady,
The tane she cry'd, and the other reply'd,
'She's away with the gypsie laddie.'
9 'Gae saddle to me the black, black steed,
Gae saddle and make him ready;
Before that I either eat or sleep,
I'll gae seek my fair lady.'
10 And we were fifteen well-made men,
Altho we were nae bonny;
And we were a' put down for ane,
A fair young wanton lady.
----------
['The Gypsie Laddie'] Version B a; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
a. The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, being a new series of the Scots Magazine (vol. lxxx of the entire work), November, 1817, p. 309, communicated by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, as taken down from the recitation of a peasant in Galloway,
b. A fragment recited by Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay, as communicated by Mr. Alexander Laing, 1 873.
1 The gypsies they came to my lord Cassilis' yett,
And O but they sang bonnie!
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That down came our fair ladie.
2 She came tripping down the stairs,
And all her maids before her;
As soon as they saw her weel-far'd face,
They coost their glamourie owre her.
3 She gave to them the good wheat bread,
And they gave her the ginger;
But she gave them a far better thing,
The gold ring off her finger.
4 'Will ye go with me, my hinny and my heart?
Will ye go with me, my dearie?
And I will swear, by the staff of my spear,
That your lord shall nae mair come near thee.'
5 'Sae take from me my silk mantel,
And bring to me a plaidie,
For I will travel the world owre
Along with the gypsie laddie.
6 'I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,
I could sail the seas with my dearie;
I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,
And with pleasure could drown with my dearie.
7 They wandred high, they wandred low,
They wandred late and early,
Untill they came to an old tenant's-barn,
And by this time she was weary.
8 'Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,
And my noble lord beside me,
And now I must ly in an old tenant's-barn,
And the black crew glowring owre me.'
9 'O hold your tongue, my hinny and my heart,
O hold your tongue, my dearie,
For I will swear, by the moon and the stars,
That thy lord shall nae mair come near thee.'
10 They wandred high, they wandred low,
They wandred late and early,
Untill they came to that wan water,
And by this time she was wearie.
11 'Aften have I rode that wan water,
And my lord Cassilis beside me,
And now I must set in my white feet and wade,
And carry the gypsie laddie.'
12 By and by came home this noble lord,
And asking for his ladie,
The one did cry, the other did reply,
'She is gone with the gypsie laddie.'
13 'Go saddle to me the black,' he says,
'The brown rides never so speedie,
And I will neither eat nor drink
Till I bring home my ladie.'
14 He wandred high, he wandred low,
He wandred late and early,
Untill he came to that wan water,
And there he spied his ladie.
15 'O wilt thou go home, my hinny and my heart,
O wilt thou go home, my dearie?
And I'l close thee in a close room,
Where no man shall come near thee.'
16 'I will not go home, my hinny and my heart,
I will not go home, my dearie;
If I have brewn good beer, I will drink of the same,
And my lord shall nae mair come near me.
17 'But I will swear, by the moon and the stars,
And the sun that shines so clearly,
That I am as free of the gypsie gang
As the hour my mother did bear me.'
18 They were fifteen valiant men,
Black, but very bonny,
And they lost all their lives for one,
The Earl of Cassillis' ladie.
----------
'Davie Faw'- Version C; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 381, from the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan, 27 July, 1825.
1 There cam singers to Earl Cassillis' gates,
And oh, but they sang bonnie!
They sang sae sweet and sae complete,
Till down cam the earl's lady.
2 She cam tripping down the stair,
And all her maids before her;
As soon as they saw her weel-faurd face,
They coost their glamourye owre her.
3 They gave her o the gude sweetmeats,
The nutmeg and the ginger,
And she gied them a far better thing,
Ten gold rings aff her finger.
4 'Tak from me my silken cloak,
And bring me down my plaidie;
For it is gude eneuch,' she said,
'To follow a Gipsy Davy.
5 'Yestreen I rode this water deep,
And my gude lord beside me;
But this nicht I maun set in my pretty fit and wade,
A wheen blackguards wading wi me.
6 'Yestreen I lay in a fine feather-bed,
And my gude lord beyond me;
But this nicht I maun lye in some cauld tenant's-barn,
A wheen blackguards waiting on me.'
7 'Come to thy bed, my bonny Jeanie Faw,
Come to thy bed, my dearie,
For I do swear, by the top o my spear,
Thy gude lord'll nae mair come near thee.'
8 When her good lord cam hame at nicht,
It was asking for his fair ladye;
One spak slow, and another whisperd out,
'She's awa wi Gipsey Davy!'
9 'Come saddle to me my horse,' he said,
'Come saddle and mak him readie!
For I'll neither sleep, eat, nor drink
Till I find out my lady.'
10 They socht her up, they socht her doun,
They socht her thro nations many,
Till at length they found her out in Abbey dale,
Drinking wi Gipsey Davy.
11 'Rise, oh rise, my bonnie Jeanie Faw,
Oh rise, and do not tarry!
Is this the thing ye promised to me
When at first I did thee marry?'
12 They drank her cloak, so did they her goun,
They drank her stockings and her shoon,
And they drank the coat that was nigh to her smock,
And they pawned her pearled apron.
13 They were sixteen clever men,
Suppose they were na bonny;
They are a' to be hangd on ae tree,
For the stealing o Earl Cassilis' lady.
14 'We are sixteen clever men,
One woman was a' our mother;
We are a' to be hanged on ae day,
For the stealing of a wanton lady.'
-----------
'The Egyptian Laddy'- Version D; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
Kinloch Manuscripts, V, 331, in the handwriting of John Hill Barton; from a reciter who came from the vicinity of Craigievar.
1 There came Gyptians to Corse Field yeats,
Black, tho they warna bonny;
They danced so neat and they danced so fine,
Till down came the bonny lady.
2 She came trippin down the satir,
And her nine maidens afore her;
But up and starts him Johny Fa,
And he cast the glamour oer her.
3 'Ye'll take frae me this gay mantle,
And ye'll gie to me a plaidie;
For I shall follow Johny Fa,
Lat weel or woe betide me.'
4 They've taen frae her her fine mantle,
And they've gaen to her a plaidie,
And she's awa wi Johny Fa,
Whatever may betide her.
5 When they came to a wan water,
I wite it wasna bonny,
. . . . .
. . . . .
6 'Yestreen I wade this wan water,
And my good lord was wi me;
The night I man cast aff my shoes and wide,
And the black bands widen wi me.
7 'Yestreen I lay in a well made bed,
And my good lord lay wi me;
The night I maun ly in a tenant's barn,
And the black bands lyin wi me.'
8 'Come to yer bed,' says Johnie Fa,
'Come to yer bed, my dearie,
And I shall swer, by the coat that I wear,
That my hand it shall never go near thee.'
9 'I will never come to yer bed,
I will never be yer dearie;
For I think I hear his horse's foot
That was once called my dearie.'
10 'Come to yer bed,' says Johny Fa,
'Come to yer bed, my dearie,
And I shall swear, by the coat that I wear,
That my hand it shall never go oer thee.'
11 'I will niver come to yer bed,
I will niver be yer dearie;
For I think I hear his bridle ring
That was once called my dearie.'
* * * * *
12 When that good lord came hame at night,
He called for his lady;
The one maid said, and the other replied,
'She's aff wi the Gyptian laddy.'
13 'Ye'll saddle to me the good black steed,
Tho the brown it was never so bonny;
Before that ever I eat or drink,
I shall have back my lady.'
* * * * *
14 'Yestreen we were fifteen good armed men;
Tho black, we werena bonny;
The night we a' ly slain for one,
It's the Laird o Corse Field's lady.'
-----------
'The Gypsie Laddie'- Version E; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, by John Mactaggart, 1824, p. 284.
1 The gypsies they came to Lord Cassle's yet,
And O but they sang ready!
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That down came the lord's fair lady.
2 O she came tripping down the stair,
Wi a' her maids afore her,
And as soon as they saw her weelfared face
They cuist their glaumry owre her.
3 She gaed to them the gude white bread,
And they gaed to her the ginger,
Then she gaed to them a far brawer thing,
The gowd rings af her finger.
4 Quo she to her maids, There's my gay mantle,
And bring to me my plaidy,
And tell my lord whan he comes hame
I'm awa wi a gypsie laddie.
5 For her lord he had to the hounting gane,
Awa in the wild green wuddie,
And Jockie Faw, the gypsie king,
Saw him there wi his cheeks sae ruddy.
6 On they mounted, and af they rade,
Ilk gypsie had a cuddy,
And whan through the stincher they did prance
They made the water muddy.
7 Quo she, Aft times this water I hae rade,
Wi many a laord and lady,
But never afore did I it wade
To folow a gypsie laddie.
8 'Aft hae I lain in a saft feather-bed,
Wi my gude lord aside me,
But now I maun sleep in an auld reeky kilt,
Alang wi a gypsie laddie.'
9 Sae whan that the yirl he came hame,
His servants a' stood ready;
Some took his horse, and some drew his boots,
But gane was his fair lady.
10 And whan he came ben to the parlour-door,
He asked for his fair lady,
But dome denied, and ithers some replied,
'She's awa wi a gypsie laddie.'
11 'Then saddle,' quoth he, 'My gude black naig,
For the brown is never sae speedy;
As I will neither eat nor drink
Till I see my fair lady.
12 'I met wi a cheel as I rade hame,
And thae queer stories said he;
Sir, I saw this day a fairy queen
Fu pack wi a gypsie laddie.
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.'
14 Sae his lordship has rade owre hills and dales,
And owre mony a wild hie mountain,
Until that he heard his ain lady say,
'Now my lord will be hame frae the hounting.'
15 'Than will you come hame, my hinnie and my love?'
Quoth he to his charming dearie,
'And I'll keep ye aye in a braw close room,
Where the gypsies will never can steer ye.'
16 Said she, 'I can swear by the sun and the stars,
And the moon whilk shines sae clearie,
That I am as chaste for the gypsie Jockie Faw
As the day my minnie did bear me.'
17 'Gif ye wad swear by the sun,' said he,
'And the moon, till ye wad deave me,
Ay and tho ye wad take a far bigger aith,
My dear, I wadna believe ye.
18 'I'll tak ye hame, and the gypsies I'll hang,
Ay, I'll make them girn in a wuddie,
And afterwards I'll burn Jockie Faw,
Wha fashed himself wi my fair lady.
19 Quoth the gypsies, We're fifteen weel-made men,
Tho the maist o us be ill bred ay,
Yet it wad be a pity we should a' hang for ane,
Wha fashed himself wi your fair lady.
20 Quoth the lady, My lord, forgive them a',
For they nae ill eer did ye,
And gie ten guineas to the chief, Jockie Faw,
For he is a worthy laddie.
21 The lord he hearkened to his fair dame,
And O the gypsies war glad ay!
They danced round and round their merry Jockie Faw,
And roosed the gypsie laddie.
22 Sae the lord rade hame wi his charming spouse,
Owre the hills and the haughs sae whunnie,
And the gypsies slade down by yon bonny burnside,
To beek themsells there sae sunnie.
----------
'Johnny Faa, the Gypsey Laddie'- Version F; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
The Songs of England and Scotland [by P. Cunningham], London, 1835, II, 346, taken down, as current in the north of England, from the recitation of John Martin, the painter.
1 The gypsies came to the Earl o Cassilis' gate,
And O but they sang bonnie!
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That down cam our fair ladie.
2 And she cam tripping down the stair,
Wi her twa maids before her;
As soon as they saw her weel-far'd face,
They coost their glamer oer her.
3 'O come wi me,' says Johnnie Faw,
'O come wi me, my dearie,
For I vow and swear, by the hilt of my sword,
Your lord shall nae mair come near ye.'
4 'Here, tak frae me this gay mantile,
And gie to me a plaidie;
Tho kith and kin and a' had sworn,
I'll follow the gypsie laddie.
5 'Yestreen I lay in a weel-made bed,
And my gude lord beside me;
This night I'll lie in a tenant's barn,
Whatever shall betide me.
6 'Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,
Wi silken hangings round me;
But now I'll lie in a farmer's barn,
Wi the gypsies all around me.
7 'The first ale-house that we come at,
We'll hae a pot o brandie;
The next ale-house that we came at,
We'll drink to gypsie Geordie.'
8 Now when our lord cam home at een,
He speir'd for his fair lady;
The ane she cried, [the] tither replied,
'She's awa wi the gypsie laddie.'
9 'Gae saddle me the gude black steed;
The bay was neer sae bonnie;
For I will neither eat nor sleep
Till I be wi my lady.'
10 Then he rode east, and he rode west,
And he rode near Strabogie,
And there he found his ain dear wife,
Drinking wi gypsie Geordie.
11 'And what made you leave your houses and land?
Or what made you leave your money?
Or what made you leave your ain wedded lord,
To follow the gypsie laddie?
12 'Then come thee hame, my ain dear wife,
Then come thee hame, my hinnie,
And I do swear, by the hilt of my sword,
The gypsies nae mair shall come near thee.'
13 Then we were seven weel-made men,
But lack! we were nae bonnie,
And we were a' put down for ane,
For the Earl o Cassilis' ladie.
-----------
'The Gypsie Loddy'- Version G a;Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
a. A broadside in the Roxburghe Ballads, III, 685, entered in the catalogue, doubtfully, as of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1720.
b. A recent stall-copy, Catnach, 2 Monmouth Court, Seven Dials.
1 There was seven gypsies all in a gang,
They were brisk and bonny, O;
They rode till they came to the Earl of Casstle's house,
And there they sang most sweetly, O.
2 The Earl of Castle's lady came down,
With the waiting-maid beside her;
As soon as her fair face they saw,
They called their grandmother over.
3 They gave to her a nutmeg brown,
And a race of the best ginger;
She gave to them a far better thing,
'Twas the ring from off her finger.
4 She pulld off her high-heeld shoes,
They was made of Spanish leather;
She put on her highland brog[u]es,
To follow the gypsey loddy.
5 At night when my good lord came home,
Enquring for his lady,
The waiting-maid made this reply,
'She's following the gypsey loddy.'
6 'Come saddle me my milk-white steed,
Come saddle it so bonny,
As I may go seek my own wedded wife,
That's following the gypsey loddy.
7 'Have you been east? have you been west?
Or have you been brisk and bonny?
Or have you seen a gay lady,
A following the gypsey loddy?'
8 He rode all that summer's night,
And part of the next morning;
At length he spy'd his own wedded wife,
She was cold, wet, and weary.
9 'Why did you leave your houses and land?
Or why did you leave your money?
Or why did you leave your good wedded lord,
To follow the gypsey loddy?'
10 'O what care I for houses and land?
Or what care I for money?
So as I have brewd, so will I return;
So fare you well, my honey!'
11 There was seven gypsies in a gang,
And they was brisk and bonny,
And they're to be hanged all on a row,
For the Earl of Castle's lady.
--------------
'The Gipsy Laddie'- Version H; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
Shropshire Lolk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne, p. 550, as sung May 23, 1885, by gypsy children.
1 There came a gang o gipsies by,
And they was singing so merry, O
Till they gained the heart o my lady gay,
. . . . .
2 As soon as the lord he did come in,
Enquired for his lady, O
And some o the sarvants did-a reply,
'Her's away wi the gipsy laddie.' O
3 'O saddle me the bay, and saddle me the grey,
Till I go and sarch for my lady;'
And some o the sarvants did-a reply,
'Her's away wi the gipsy laddie.'
4 And he rode on, and he rode off,
Till he came to the gipsies' tentie,
And there he saw his lady gay,
By the side o the gipsy laddie.
5 'Didn't I leave you houses and land?
And didn't I leave you money?
Didn't I leave you three pretty babes
As ever was in yonder green island?'
6 'What care I for houses and land?
And what care I for money?
What do I care for three pretty babes?
. . . . .
7 'The tother night you was on a feather bed,
Now you're on a straw one,'
. . . . .
. . . . .
--------------
['The Gipsie Laddie'] Version I; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
From Miss Margaret Reburn, "as sung in County Meath, Ireland, about 1860."
1 There come seven gypsies on a day,
Oh, but they sang bonny! O
And they sang so sweet, and they sang so clear,
Down cam the earl's ladie. O
2 They gave to her the nutmeg,
And they gave to her the ginger;
But she gave to them a far better thing,
The seven gold rings off her fingers.
3 When the earl he did come home,
Enquiring for his ladie,
One of the servants made this reply,
'She's awa with the gypsie lad[d]ie.'
4 'Come saddle for me the brown,' he said,
'For the black was neer so speedy,
And I will travel night and day
Till I find out my ladie.
5 'Will you come home, my dear?' he said,
'Oh will you come home, my honey?
And, by the point of my broad sword,
A hand I'll neer lay on you.'
6 'Last night I lay on a good feather-bed,
And my own wedded lord beside me,
And tonight I'll lie in the ash-corner,
With the gypsies all around me.
7 'They took off my high-heeled shoes,
That were made of Spanish leather,
And I have put on coarse Lowland brogues,
To trip it oer the heather.'
8 'The Earl of Cashan is lying sick;
Not one hair I'm sorry;
I'd rather have a kiss from his fair lady's lips
Than all his gold and his money.'
--------------
'The Gipsey Davy'- Version J a; Child 200, The Gypsy Laddie
a. Written down by Newton Peponn, as learned from a boy with whom he went to school in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, about 1845.
b. From the singing of Mrs. Farmer, born in Maine, as learned by her daughter, about 1840.
1 There was a gip came oer the land,
He sung so sweet and gaily;
He sung with glee, neath the wild wood tree,
He charmed the great lord's lady.
Ring a ding a ding go ding go da,
Ring a ding a ding go da dy,
Ring a ding a ding go ding go da,
She's gone with the gipsey Davy.
2 The lord he came home late that night;
Enquiring for his lady,
'She's gone, she's gone,' said his old servantman,
'She's gone with the gipsey Davy.'
3 'Go saddle me my best black mare;
The grey is neer so speedy;
For I'll ride all night, and I'll ride all day,
Till I overtake my lady.'
4 Riding by the river-side,
The grass was wet and dewy;
Seated with her gipsey lad,
It's there he spied his lady.
5 'Would you forsake your house and home?
Would you forsake your baby?
Would you forsake your own true love,
And go with the gipsey Davy?'
6 'Yes, I'll forsake my house and home,
Yes, I'll forsake my baby;
What care I for my true love?
I love the gipsey Davy.'
7 The great lord he rode home that night,
He took good care of his baby,
And ere six months had passed away
He married another lady.
----------
'Lord Garrick'- Version K a; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
a. From Mrs. Helena Titus Brown of New York.
b. From Miss Emma A. Clinch of New York. Derived, 1 820, or a little later.
a directly, b indirectly, from the singing of Miss Phoebe Wood, Huntington, Long Island, and perhaps learned from English soldiers there stationed during the Revolutionary war.
1 'Go bring me down my high-heeled shoes,
Made of the Spanish leather,
And I'll take off my low-heeled shoes,
And away we'll go together.'
Lumpy dumpy linky dinky day
Lumpy dumpy linky dinky daddy
2 They brought her down her high-heeled shoes,
Made of the Spanish leather,
And she took off her low-heeled shoes,
And away they went together.
3 And when Lord Garrick he got there,
Inquiring for his lady,
Then up steps his best friend:
'She's gone with a gipsy laddie.'
4 'Go saddle me my bonny brown,
For the grey is not so speedy,
And away we'll go to the Misty Mount,
And overtake my lady.'
5 They saddled him his bonny brown,
For the grey was not so speedy,
And away they went to the Misty Mount,
And overtook his lady.
6 And when Lord Garrick he got there,
'Twas in the morning early,
And there he found his lady fair,
And she was wet and weary.
7 'And it's fare you well, my dearest dear,
And it's fare you well for ever,
And if you don't go with me now,
Don't let me see you never.'
----------
[The Roving Gypsies'] Version L; Child 200 The Gypsy Laddie
Communicated to the Journal of The Gypsy Society, II, 85, by Mr. John Sampson, from the dictation of Lias Robinson, a Gypsy. A translation into Gypsy, by Robinson and his brothers, is given at p. 84 of the same.
1 A band of gypsies, all in a road,
All so black and brawny, oh
Away come a lady all dressed in silk,
To follow the roving gypsies. oh
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
2 Her husband came home at ten o'clock of night,
An asked for his lady fair;
The servant informed him very soon
She had gone with the roving gypsies.
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
3 'Saddle to me my bonny gray mare,
Saddle to me my pony;
I will go where the green grass grow,
To find out the roving gypsies.
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
4 'Last night she slept in a fair feather-bed,
And blankets by bonins;
Tonight she sleeps in a cold shed-barn,
Through following the roving gypsies.
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
5 'Why did you leave your houses and your lands?
Why did you leave your babies?
Why did you leave your decent married man,
To follow the roving gypsies?'
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
6 'What cares I for my houses and my lands?
What cares I for my babies?
What cares I for my decent married man?
I will go with the roving gypsies.'
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
End-Notes
A. Variations of Finlay, II, 39 ff.
Inserted after 2:
'O come with me,' says Johnie Faw,
'O come with me, my dearie;
For I vow and I swear, by the hilt of my sword,
That your lord shall nae mair come near ye.'
Then she gied them the beer and the wine,
And they gied her the ginger;
But she gied them a far better thing,
The goud ring aff her finger.
42. Wi my.
43. But this.
63. For I vow and I swear, by the fan in my hand.
72. And wanting.
92. Otherwise: The brown was neer sae ready.
103. but ane.
104. For a.
Herd has in 103,4 but ane, For. Pinkerton follows Herd, with changes of his own in 1, 10, and the omission of 7. The copy in Johnson's Museum is Herd's, with changes: in 103,4, are a' put down for ane, The Earl of Cassilis' lady. Ritson follows Ramsay, except that in 62 he has And I'll, found in Herd; perhaps also in some edition of the Tea-Table Miscellany.
B. a. "Some lines have been omitted on account of their indelicacy:" p. 308 b. The reference is no doubt to a stanza corresponding to A 7, or perhaps to a passage like 5-7.
b. Only 1, 2, 5, 10-13, are preserved.
11, gipsies cam to oor ha-door.
14, doon stairs cam oor gay leddie.
22. afore.
24. An whan they.
24. cuist the glamour.
51. my gay mantle.
52. me my.
53. For I maun leave my guid lord at hame.
54. An follow the.
101. They travelld east, they travelld wast.
102. They travelld.
103. to the.
104. By that time she.
111. I crost this.
112. An my guid man.
113. Noo I maun put.
114. An follow.
121. Whan her guid lord cam hame at nicht.
122. He spierd for his gay.
123. The tane she cried an the ither replied.
124. She 's aff.
131. the brown, he said.
132. The black neer rides.
133. For I.
134. Till I've brought back.
C. 41. Originally plaid was written for cloak; evidently by accidental anticipation.
53. fit altered perhaps from fut; printed fit.
Motherwell has made several verbal changes in printing, and has inserted three stanzas to fill out the ballad. After 3,
'Come with me, my bonnie Jeanie Faw,
O come with me, my dearie;
For I do swear, by the head o my spear,
Thy gude lord'll nae mair come near thee.'
After 7,
'I'll go to bed,' the lady she said,
'I'll go to bed to my dearie;
For I do swear, by the fan in my hand,
That my lord shall nae mair come near me.
'I'll mak a hap,' the lady she said,
I'll mak a hap to my dearie,
And he 's get a' this petticoat gaes round,
And my lord shall nae mair come near me.'
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.
'O cam ye east? or cam ye west?
Or cam ye through Kirkaldy?
O saw na ye a bonny lass,
Following the gypsie laddie?'
'I cam na east, I cam na west,
Nor cam I through Kirkaldy;
But the bonniest hiss that eer I saw
Was following the gypsie laddie!'
See also G 7.
G. a. 43. broges.
b. In stanzas of eight lines.
11. There were.
22. With her.
23. fair wanting.
24. They cast the glamer over her.
32. Which was of the belinger.
34. 'T was wanting.
42. They were.
43. brogues.
44. laddy, and always.
61. me wanting.
63. That I may go and seek.
64. Who's.
74. Following a.
81. all the summer.
83. espied.
84. and wet
91. O why.
93. your own.
101. lands.
103. will I remain.
111. There were.
112. They were.
113. all in.
H. 21. the lawyer did.
J. b. 1. The gypsy came tripping over the lea,
The gypsy he sang boldly;
He sang till he made the merry woods ring,
And he charmed the heart of the lady.
Order: 1, 5, 6, 2, 3.
2 (as 4). The lord came home that self-same night,
Inquired for his lady;
The merry maid made him this reply,
'She 's gone with the gypsy Davy.'
3 (as 5). 'bring me out the blackest steed;
The brown one 's not so speedy;
I'll ride all day, and I'll ride all night,
Till I overtake my lady.'
4 (as 7). He rode along by the river-side,
The water was black and rily,
. . .
. . .
5 (as 2). 51,2. Will you.
53. Will you forsake your own wedded lord.
6 (as 3). 62. And I'll.
63. I will forsake my own wedded lord.
64. And go with the gypsy Davy.
7. wanting.
b 6. I lay last night. The rest wanting.
b 8. Puts the question whether she will go back.
b 9. I lay last night. The rest wanting.
K. a. The order as delivered was 3, 1, 2, etc., and the high-heeled shoes were attributed to Lord Garrick. Him, his, he in 2 have been changed to her, her, she. But a further change should be made for sense, in 1, 2: the lady should take off her high-heeled shoes and put on her low-heeled shoes; see G 4, I 8.
Burden given also:
Lal dee dumpy dinky diddle dah day
b. Burden:
Rump a dump a dink a dink a day
Rump a dump a dink a dink a dady.
Or,
Rink a dink a dink a dink a day
Rink a dink a dink a dink a day dee.
Order as in a.
11, fetch me.
13. And take away.
21. fetched him down his.
23. And they took away his.
31. got home.
34. with the.
41. Go fetch me out.
43. And we'll away to.
44. To for And.
51. They fetched him out
54. To overtake my.
62. lady bright
73. you won't
Additions and Corrections
To be Corrected in the Print.
66 a, B 51. Read Gar ... manteel.
68 a, D, third line. Read Corse for Cragievar.
69 a, 63. Read Stincher. 83. Read kill.
IV, 61 b. 'Johnnie Faa' in [Wm Chambers's] Exploits ... of the most remarkable Scottish Gypsies or Tinklers, 3d ed., 1823, p. 17, is B a. The ballad is not in the second edition, 1821, reprinted in 1886. (W. Macmath.)
P. 66. B a. A copy of this version in C. K. Sharpe's papers, "written from recitation in Nithisdale, November, 1814," shows that improvements had been introduced by two hands, one of them Sharpe's, neither of them the writer's. The changes are of no radical importance; simply of the familiar kind which almost every editor has, for some reason, felt himself called upon to make. It may be thought that they are no more worth indicating than they were worth making, but it has been an object in this book to give things exactly as they were delivered. The original readings are as follows.
11. C for Cassilis throughout.
13. so.
14. Till.
24. cast.
31. to wanting.
32,3. give.
34. rings of her fingers.
41,2. you.
43. hilt of.
44, 94, 164. no more.
61,3. Jackie.
73, 83. farmer's barn.
83, 113. most.
84. crae.
91,2. O wanting.
103, 111, 143. on water.
111. Many a time have.
174. mother bore me.
183. And wanting.
73. L. Communicated to the Journal of The Gypsy Society, II, 85, by Mr. John Sampson, from the dictation of Lias Robinson, a Gypsy. A translation into Gypsy, by Robinson and his brothers, is given at p. 84 of the same.
1 A band of gypsies, all in a road,
All so black and brawny, oh
Away come a lady all dressed in silk,
To follow the roving gypsies, oh
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
2 Her husband came home at ten o'clock of night,
And asked for his lady fair;
The servant informed him very soon
She had gone with the roving gypsies.
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
She had gone with the roving gypsies.
3 'Saddle to me my bonny gray mare,
Saddle to me my pony;
I will go where the green grass grow,
To find out the roving gypsies.
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To find out the roving gypsies.
4 'Last night she slept in a fair feather-bed,
And blankets by bonins;
Tonight she sleeps in a cold shed-barn,
Through following the roving gypsies.
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
Through following the roving gypsies.
5 'Why did you leave your houses and your lands?
Why did you leave your babies?
Why did you leave your decent married man,
To follow the roving gypsies?'
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies?'
6 'What cares I for my houses and my lands?
What cares I for my babies?
What cares I for my decent married man?
I will go with the roving gypsies.'
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
I will go with the roving gypsies.'
12. Var. and bonny.
From a small Manuscript volume, "Songs," entirely in C.K. Sharpe's handwriting, p. 32 (corresponding to B 11, D 6, E 7.)
Yestreen I rade yon wan water,
Wi my gude lord before me;
The day I maun pit down my bonnie fit and wade,
What ever may come oer me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P. 61 ff., V, 252. The three stanzas which follow are given in H.A. Kennedy's "Professor Blackie: his Sayings and Doings, London, 1895" as they were sung by Marion Stodart, Professor Blackie's aunt, to her sister's children. P. 12 f. (Communicated by Mr. David MacRitchie, of Edinburgh.)
There were seven gypsies all in a row,
And they were brisk and bonny; O
They sang till they came to the Earl o Cassilis' gate,
And there they sang sae sweetly. O
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That doun came the fair leddy;
And when they saw her weel-faured face
They cast the glamour ower her.
So she's taen off her high-heeled shoes,
That are made o the Spanish leather,
And she's put on her Highland brogues,
To skip amang the heather.
"On the discovery of which the earl 'saddled to him his milk-white steed,' and rested not till he had hanged the seven gypsies on a tree."
O at the end of the second and the fourth verse of each stanza.