Raggle Taggle Gypsies [my title]- Daixel (OH) 1939 Eddy A
[From Eddy's Ballads and Songs from Ohio, 1939.
Eddy points out that his is very close to Sharp's 1916 "Wraggle Taggle Gypsies- O" from One Hundred English Folksongs, Boston, Oliver Ditson Co. I've put Sharp's version below for comparison.
I've changed the title from her generic, The Gypsy Laddie.
R. Matteson 2012]
Raggle Taggle Gypsies [The Gypsy Laddie]- Mr. Daixel (Canton, OH) 1939 Eddy A
There came three gypsies to my door,
And downstairs 'round my lady, ho!
One sang high, the other sang low,
And the third sang bonnie, bonnie, bonnie ho!
She pulled down her silken gown
And put on ne of leather, ho!
And the bell rang, rang, about the door,
She's gone with the raggle taggle gypsies, ho!
It was late last night, when my lord came home,
Inquiring for his lady, ho!
The servants stood at every end,
She's gone with the raggle taggle gypsies, ho!
He rode, rode high and he rode, rode low,
And he rode through woods and copses low,
Until he came to the wide open field,
And there he discovered his lady, ho!
What made you leave your horses and land?
What made you leave your stable, ho?
What made you leave your goose-feather bed,
And the sheets turned down so bravely, ho!
What care I for your horses and land?
What care I for your stable, ho?
I'd rather stay in a wideopen field,
Alone with the raggle taggle gypsies, ho!
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[Compare to:]
"Wraggle Taggle Gypsies- O" Sharp, C (ed), 1916, One Hundred English Folksongs, Boston, Oliver Ditson Co
Sharp wrote:
Compare this song with "The Gipsy Countess" (Songs of the West, no 50, 2d ed.) and "The Gipsy" (A Garland of Country Song, no 32). A Scottish version of the words is in Ramsey's Tea-Table Miscellany (volume iv); see also "Gypsie Laddie," in Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs (volume ii, p. 95, ed. 1791). In Finlay's Scottish Ballads (1808) the ballad appears as "Johnnie Faa," and in Chambers Picture of Scotland, a valiant effort is made, after the manner of Scottish commentators, to provide the story with a historical foundation.
The tune is in the AEolian mode. I have noted no less than eighteen variants.
There were three gypsies a come to my door,
And downstairs ran this lady, O!
One sang high and another sang low,
And the other sang bonny, bonny, Biscay, O!
Then she pulled off her silk finished gown
And put on hose of leather, O!
The ragged, ragged, rags about our door,
She's gone with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!
It was late last night, when my lord came home,
Enquiring for his a-lady, O!
The servants said, on every hand,
She's gone with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!
O saddle to me my milk-white steed,
Go and fetch me my pony, O!
That I may ride and seek my bride,
Who is gone with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!
O he rode high and he rode low,
He rode through woods and copses too,
Until he came to an open field,
And there he espied his a-lady, O!
What makes you leave your house and land?
What makes you leave your money, O?
What makes you leave your new wedded lord?
To go with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!
What care I for my house and my land?
What care I for my money, O?
What care I for my new wedded lord?
I'm off with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!
Last night you slept on a goose-feather bed,
With the sheet turned down so bravely, O!
And to-night you'll sleep in a cold open field,
Along with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!
What care I for a goose-feather bed?
With the sheet turned down so bravely, O!
For to-night I shall sleep in a cold open field,
Along with the wraggle taggle gypsies, O!