Two Little Babes- Headrick (TN) c.1890 Anderson
[From Geneva Anderson's "A Collection of ballads and songs from East Tennessee." Master's Thesis, University of North Carolina, 1932.
The title is local. This is one of the rare American versions with "Gypsy laddie" in the text.
R. Matteson 2015]
"The Two Little Babes"- sung by Mrs. Nathan Headrick of Townsend, Blout Cloounty, TN. She heard this ballad in 1890.
1. "O where is your ma, my two little babes,
O where is your ma, my honey;
O where is your ma, my two little babes?"
"She's gone with the gypsy laddie."
2. "So saddle up my milk-white steed,
The black one is not so speedy,
I'll ride to the East, I'll ride to the West,
I'll overtake your mammy."
3. We rode to the east, we rode to the west,
Where didn't we ride, sweet bonny,
And there I spied my bonny bride,
With the gypsies all around her.
4. "Come back, come back, my true love,
Come back, come back, my honey,
I'll lock you up in a room so high,
Where the gypsies won't come 'round you."
5 [text upcoming]