The Gypsy Davy [my title]- Shelton (NC) 1950 Karpeles
[According to two sources, Cecil Sharp took a great interest was Emma Hensley, a girl of thirteen, of beautiful, Madonna-like appearance, who lived with her parents, Reuben and Rosie Hensley in the remote mountain valley of Carmen, N. C. Sharp collected over thirty songs from her. This version was collected from her, now under her married name- Mrs. Donald Shelton, 34 years later by Maud Karpeles. Verses 6 & 7 are from another version collected by Sharp in 1916.
Sharp did not collect a version from her or her parents in 1916-1918.
R. Matteson 2012]
From: A Return Visit to the Appalachian Mountains
by Maud Karpeles
Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Dec., 1951), pp. 77-82
Excerpt: The four tunes that are appended to this article have not previously been noted. 'The Gypsy Laddie ' was sung by Mrs. Donald Shelton, whom readers of the Life of Cecil Sharp will remember as Emma Hensley, then a girl of thirteen. She has inherited her parents' love of the songs and their musical talent. Her version of the tune, given below, is similar to one which was noted by Cecil Sharp in the same district (on the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee), but it is more economical in the use of passing notes and is a pure pentatonic tune.
The Gypsy Davy [my title] THE GYPSY LADDIE
Recorded in 1950 from the singing of Mrs. Donald Shelton (Emma Hensley).
1. It was late night when the squire came home
Enquiring for his lady.
The answer that they gave to him:
She's gone with the gipsy Davy.
Rattle tum a gipsum, gipsum,
Rattle tum a gipsum Davy O.
2. Go catch up my old grey mare,
The black he ain't so speedy,
I'll ride all night and I'll ride all day
Till I overtake my lady.
3. He rode and he rode till he came to the town,
And he rode till he came to Barley.
The tears came rolling down his cheeks
And there he spied his lady.
4. O come back, my own true love
0 come back, my honey.
I'll lock you up in the chamber so high
Where the gypsums can't come round you.
5. I won't come back, your own true love,
Nor I won't come back, your honey.
I wouldn't give a kiss from the gypsum's lips
For all your land and money.
6. She soon ran through her gay clothing
Her velvet shoes and stockings;
Her gold ring off her finger was gone
And the gold plate from her bosom.
7. O once I had a house and land,
Feather-bed and money,
But now I've come to an old straw pad
With the gypsums all around me.
Note.- The last two stanzas were sung from the printed copy of the version noted from Mrs. J. G. Coates at Flag Pond, Tenn., September 1st, 1916.