Banjo, Vocal, Percussion
- Robin
Bass - Barry Wiesenfeld
Also known as "Blackjack Davy", "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies" and other versions, Child Ballad #200. This is a popular theme - people being carried off by gypsies, those exotic, dark, hippy-ish, happy-go-lucky, somewhat frightening nonconformists. In most traditional Anglo-American ballads, if a woman runs off and abandons her husband and family, there's hell to pay, literally. But this version, which I suspect was started amongst the working class, lets her leave without guilt or recrimination. I learned this song from Hedy West, who taught it to me. The refrain has a measure of 4/4 and a measure of 3/4, which gives this version its unusual rhythmic cadence.
Gypsy Davy
It was late last night when
the squire came home and he's asking for his lady
Only answer that he got, "she's gone with the Gypsy Davy"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Go saddle me up my
milk white steed, the black one he ain’t so speedy
I’’ll ride all night I ride all day til I bring home my lady"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
Well he rode all night
until broad daylight til he comes to a river raging,
There he spied his darling bride in the arms of Blackjack Davy
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Come home my true
love, come home my honey
I’ll put you in a tower so high where the gypsies can’t come around
you"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Well I won’t
come home my true love, I won’t come home my honey
I wouldn’t give a kiss from the gypsy’s lips for all your lands and
money"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Would you forsake your house and home would you forsake your baby?
Would you forsake your husband dear for the love of Gypsy Davy?"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Yes, I’ll forsake
my house and home, I’ll forsake my baby
And I’ll forsake my husband dear, for the love of Gypsy Davy"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Pull off, pull off
your long black gloves made of Spanish leather
Jump beside me on my horse and we’ll ride home together"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
She pulled off her long
black gloves, made of Spanish leather
She gave to him her lily-white hand, but she said goodbye forever
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O
"Last night I slept
in a warm feather bed beside my husband and baby
Tonight I’ll sleep on the cold cold ground in the arms of Blackjack Davy"
Rattle to my Gypsum, Gypsum, Rattle to my Gypsum Davy-O