The Gypsy Lover- Trail (AR) 1942 Randolph H
[From Ozark Folksongs; Randolph, I, 1946, p. 160 (H). His notes follow. Also Bronson TTCB, No. 40.
R. Matteson 2015]
Many texts of the "Gypsy Davy" ballad are found in British collections (Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1882-1898, No. 200). For American versions see JAFL 30, 1917, p. 323. Also the Bulletin of the Virginia Folk-Lore Society (No. 8, p. 7; No. 9, p. 7; No. 11, p. 8). Compare Campbell and Sharp (English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1917, No. 27), Raine (Land of the Saddle-Bags, 1924, p. 119), Cox (Folk-Songs of the South, 1925, p. 130), Kincaid (My Favorite Mountain Ballads,1928, p. 33), Davis (Traditional Ballads of Virginia, 1929, pp. 423-431), Lunsford and Stringfield (30 and. 1 Folk-Songs, 1929, p. 4), Greenleaf (Ballads and, Sea Songs from Newfoundland, 1933, pp. 38-39), Chappell (Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Albemarle, 1939, p. 37), Eddy (Ballads and Songs from Ohio, 1939, pp.67-69), Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England, 1939, p.207), Neely (JAFL 52, 1939, p. 79), Belden (Ballad; and Songs, 1940, pp.73-76), Brewster (Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, p. 13a), Rayburn (Ozark Country, 1941, pp.200-201), Morris (Southern Folklore Quarterly 8, 1944, p. 156), and the Brown (North Carolina Folk-Lore Society) collection.
H. "The Gypsy Lover" --Sung by Mrs. Olga Trail, Farmington, Ark., February 4, 1942, learned from her father.
1. Go fetch out my 1ittle black horse.
I he speed it is of all,
I've rode all day and I'll ride all night,
Or I'll overtake my lady
I'll overtake my lady.
2. I rode and I rode to the broad river's side,
And there I could ride no farther;
And there I spied my lily-white love
Talkin' to her Gypsy lover,
Talkin' to her Gypsy lover.
3. Oh, give to me your lily-white hand
Encased in Spanish leather,
And give to me your lily-white hand
And leave your Gypsy lover,
And leave your Gypsy lover.
4. Pull off, pull off those dainty little shoes,
All made of Spanish leather,
And give to me your lily-white hand
And leave your Gypsy lover,
And leave your Gypsy lover.
5. I'll pull off my dainty little shoes.
All made of Spanish leather,
And I'll give to you my lily-white hand,
But I'll stay with my Gypsy lover,
But I'll stay with my Gypsy lover.