Gypsy Davy- Widdemer (NY) 1925 Scarborough G/ Cox 10A
[From Scarborough; A Songcatcher; 1937 and also Traditional Ballads & Folk Songs Mainly from West Virginia- John Harrington Cox, version A. Edited by George Herzog and Herbert Halpert 1939. I'm posting Cox text then notes about the ballad and the text from the Mudcat forum (Scarborough G) -- note chorus differences.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
10A - GYPSY DAVY (Cox)
(The Gypsy Laddie, Child, No. 200)
Contributed by Mrs. Margaret Widdener Schauffler, New York City, November 10, 1925. Obtained from Miss Lucia Sanderson, Cleveland, Ohio, who had it from an Englishwoman. Music noted by Miss Frances Sanders, Morgantown, Monongalia County.
Gypsy Davy came over the hill,
Down through the valley shady,
He whistled and sang till the wild woods rang,
And ho won the heart of a lady.
Refrain:
Ah dee doo, ah dee doo, doo day,
Ah dee doo, doo doo, day dee----
He whistled and sang till the wild woods rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.
My lord returning home that night,
Asking for the lady;
The servants made him this reply,
"She's gone with the gypsy Davy."
"0 saddle to me my jet black steed,
The brown is not so speedy,
0 saddle to me my jet black steed,
Till I seek and find my lady."
He sought her up, he sought her down,
Through woods and valleys shady,
He sought her down by the muddy water side,
And there he found his lady.
"What made you leave your home and lands,
What made you leave your baby?
What made you leave your own wedded lord
To go with Gypsy Davy?"
"I never loved you in my life,
I never loved my baby,
I n€ever loved my own wedded lord,
As I love the Gypsy Davy."
---------------------------
I've taken this from Mudcat posted by Jim Carroll and edited it:
John Harrington Cox, in 1939, published the same version of "Gypsy Davy" that Dorothy Scarborough has published in 1937 from Mrs. Margaret Widdemer Schauffler of New York City. The note from Cox reads:
"Contributed by Mrs. Margaret Widdemer Schauffler, New York City, Novermber 10, 1925. Obtained from Miss Lucis Sanderson, Cleveland, Ohio, who had it from an Englishwoman. Music noted by Miss Frances Sanders, Morgantown, Monongalia County (WVa)" [From: Folksongs Mainly From West Virginia by John Harrington Cox, published by the Works Progress Administration in June of 1939. This was subsequently published as Traditional Ballads Mainly From West Viginia in 1939 and again in 1964 (ed. George Boswell). Cox's version has been reprinted in Bronson's The Traditional Tunes Of The Child Ballads, vol. 3, p. 205.]
Cox's and Scarborough's texts are almost identical. Scarborough has "Gypsy Davy came over the hills, down thro the valleys shady," and Cox has "Gypsy Davy came over the hill, down through the valley shady." There is a difference in the chorus. Cox has:
Ah dee doo, ah dee doo, doo day,
Ah dee doo, doo doo, day dee.
He whistled and sang ...
Cox does print a tune.
Mrs. Widdermer/Schauffler gives two conflicting sources. She tells Scarborough that the song was "given to me orally by Mrs. Margaret Leamy, who learned it as a child in Ireland." She tells Cox that she got it from Miss Lucia Sanderson of Cleveland, who got it from an "Englishwoman".
In Dorothy Scarborough's book A Song Catcher In The Southern Mountains, published in 1937, pp. 224-225. Dorothy Scarborough says:
"Margaret Widdemer gave me the words and music for another account of the elopement. She wrote, "This is a variant of the Raggle-Taggle Gypsies, evidently. It was given to me orally by Mrs. Margaret Leamy, who learned it as a child in Ireland. It is a lullaby, as is clear not only from the refrain, but from the interesting reproach in the last stanza..."
(G) GYPSY DAVY
Gypsy Davy came over the hills,
Down thro the valleys shady,
He whistled and sang till the wild woods rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.
CHORUS: Ah de doo ah de day,
Ah de day dee,
He whistled and he sang till the wold(sic)woods rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.
My lord returning late at night,
Asking for his lady,
The servants said, "She's out of door,
She's gone with the Gypsy Davy."
Oh, saddle to me my jet black steed,
The brown one is not so speedy;
Oh saddle to me my jet black steed,
I'll off and find my lady!
He sought her up, he sought her down,
Thro woods and valleys shady,
He sought her down by the waterside,
And there he found his lady.
What made you leave your house and home?
What made you leave your baby?
What made you leave your own wedded lord
To go with the Gypsy Davy?
I never loved my house and home,
I never loved my baby,
I never loved my own wedded lord
As I love the Gypsy Davy.