Roving Gypsy- Ghaney (NL) 1951 Leach
[Published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada. Also online, a description of the town in NS where the informant lived follows.
Listen online: http://www.mun.ca/folklore/leach/sounds/NFLD2/14-05_51.mp3
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
Fermeuse is located just south of Ferryland on the eastern Avalon Peninsula on the Southern Shore. Like other communities in the area, Fermeuse was used as a summer fishing station in the 1500s by the Portuguese and is referred to on early Portuguese maps as R. Fermoso and Rio Fremoze. It is believed that the name is derived from the Portuguese for "beautiful river." Originally settled by English migratory fishermen in the early 1700s, by the late 1800s those of Irish descent comprised a significant portion of the settlement population.
Roving Gypsy- collected by MacEdward Leach in 1951 from Mrs. T. Ghaney of Fermeuse, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada.
Standing by her window one day,
Gazing out at those Gypsies gay,
When a silly thought ran in her mind,
To follow those rovin' Gypsies true.
Her husband came home late that night,
Inquiring for his lady gay;
I'm afraid, I'm afraid, said the gay kitchen maid,
She has followed those rovin' Gypsies true.
Come saddle my horses, get ready my cane,
Come saddle my horses, and l will go see;
With a brace of pistols hang'd to his side,
As he followed those rovin' Gypsies true.
He rode east and he rode west,
Finding out of those Gypsies gay;
Oh, farmer, farmer, come tell me true,
Did you see any rovin' Gypsies there?
You go down to yonder valley green,
You go down to yonder valley, go;
It is you will see your own wedded love,
In the arms of a rovin' Gypsy true.
Will you forsake your houses and lands?
Will you forsake your children, too?
Will you forsake your own wedded love,
And follow those rovin' Gypsies true?
Yes, I'll forsake my houses and lands,
Yes I'll forsake my children, too;
Yes I'll forsake my own wedded love,
And I'll follow those rovin' Gypsies true.
Last night you lay on a warm feather bed,
With a blanket warm about you spread;
And tonight you must lie on the cold, cold ground,
In the arms of a rovin' Gypsy true.
I would eat of the grass, I would drink of the dew,
I would eat of the grass, I would drink of the dew;
I would eat of the grass, and I'd drink of the dew,
And I'd follow the rovin' Gypsy true.