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The Gypsy Laddie

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"The Gypsy Laddie" (Roud 1, Child 200, also known as "Black Jack Davy" and "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies" among many other titles) is a traditional folk ballad, possibly written about 1720. The ballad has since been used and recorded many different times in many different variations in Scotland, England, the United States, Canada, and Ireland.

History

Francis James Child's acclaimed compilation, the five volume The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-1898), provides an excellent history on this ballad. The Gypsy Laddie is ballad number 200 in the collection, and he describes that the printed versions of this ballad probably date back to at least 1720. The earliest known printing was in Tea Table Miscellany (1740). Lady Casslilles Lilt (aka Johnny Faa, the Gypsiey Laddie) is in the Skene Manuscripts which holds documents from the 17th century.

In 1624, Gypsies were banished from Scotland. According to sleevenotes by Alex Campbell, Lady Jean Hamilton, wife of the sixth earl of Doon, fell in love with Sir John Fall. Sir John led a band of sixteen (not seven) men to abduct her. They were caught and hanged on the "Dool Tree" in 1643. And yet .... the Skene MSS (c. 1630) contains the earliest known version of this ballad.

Description

The song tells of a Gypsy who tries, successfully, to charm the unmarried daughter of a squire. He promises her wealth and she goes off with him. When the squire comes home and discovers what has happened he rides off in search of her. After a long chase he finds her. The final encounter is where the daughter refuses to come home, saying "What care I for your fine feather sheets".

In other versions she is married, and her lord comes home to find his lady "gone with the gypsy laddie." He saddles his fastest horse to follow her. He finds her and bids her come home, asking "would you forsake your husband and child?"; she will not return, preferring the cold ground and the gypsy's company to her lord's wealth and fine bed.

In another version the gypsy has six brothers, and when the squire has caught up with them he has all seven of the raggle taggle Gypsies hung. In some versions the gypsy turns out to be genuinely wealthy. The song "Lizzie Lindsay" has a similar theme. Robert Burns adapted the song into "Sweet Tibby Dunbar", a shorter version of the story.

Although the hero of this song is often called "Johnny Faa" or even "Davy Faa," he should not be confused with the hero/villain of "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)." [Silber and Silber mis-identify all their texts] as deriving from "Child 120," which is actually "Robin Hood's Death." According to "The Faber Book of Ballads" this name was common among Gypsies in the 17th century.

Alternate titles

  • "Black Jack Davy"
  • "Black Jack Davey"
  • "Black Jack David"
  • "Blackjack David"
  • "Clayton Boone"
  • "The Gypsy Davy"
  • "The Gypsy Rover"
  • "Johnny Faa"
  • "Davy Faa"
  • "The Raggle Taggle Gipsies"
  • "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies"
  • "The Wraggle Taggle Gypsy"
  • "The Lady and the Gypsy"
  • "Harrison Brady"
  • "Gypson Davy"
  • "Gypsy Davey"
  • "Black-Eyed Davy"
  • "Black Eyed Daisy"
  • "The Heartless Lady"
  • "Egyptian Davio"
  • "It Was Late in the Night"
  • "When Johnny Came Home"
  • "The Gyps of Davy"
  • "The Dark-Clothed Gypsy"
  • "Seven Yeller Gypsies"

Relation to other folk traditions

The theme of the wandering gypsy or labourer is frequently found in folk music (e.g. an Irish language song called 'An Spailpín Fánach' has an Irish Traveller or a seasonal labourer).

Recordings

  • Cliff Carlisle, "Black Jack David" (Decca 5732, 1939)
  • Carter Family, "Black Jack David" (Conqueror 9574, 1940)
  • Woody Guthrie, "Gypsy Davy" (on A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings, 1941)
  • O. J. Abbott, "The Gypsy Daisy"
  • John Jacob Niles, "The Gypsy Laddie" (on Sings American Folk Songs, ?1956)
  • :(on Irish and British Songs from the Ottawa Valley, 1961, recorded 1957)

    • Pete Seeger, "Gypsy Davy" (on Pete Seeger Sings American Ballads, 1957)
    • Harry Jackson, "Clayton Boone" (on The Cowboy: His Songs, Ballads & Brag Talk, 1957)
    • Burl Ives "Tibby Dunbar" (on In the Quiet of the Night, 1958)
    • Mary Jo Davis, "Black Jack Davy" (on Folk Music U.S.A., 1959)
    • Harry Cox, Jeannie Robertson, Paddy Doran [composite] "The Gypsy Laddie" (as "The Gypsie Laddie"),
  • :(on Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Classis Ballads of Britain and Ireland, vol 2, 2000, originally issued in shorter form in 1961)

    • Margaret MacArthur, "Gypsy Davy" (on Folk songs of Vermont, 1963)
    • Maire Aine Ni Dhonnchadha, "The Gypsy-O"
  • :(on Traditional Music of Ireland, vol 2: Songs and Dances from Down, Kerry and Clare, 1963)

    • Lawrence Older, "Gypsy Davy" on Adirondack Songs, Ballads and Fiddle Tunes, 1963
    • New Lost City Ramblers, "Black Jack David"
  • :(on The New Lost City Ramblers, vol 4, 1962);
  • :(also "Black Jack Daisy" (on Remembrance of Things to Come, 1966)

  • :(on British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains, vol 1, 1961)

  • :(on The End of an Old Song, 1975)

    • Tannahill Weavers, "Gypsy Laddie" on Are Ye Sleeping Maggie (1976)
    • Dolores Keane, "Seven Yellow Gypsies" (on There Was A Maid, 1978)
    • The Bully Wee Band "Tibby Dunbar" (on Madmen of Gotham 1981)
    • Golden Bough, "Black Jack Davy" (on The Boatman's Daughter (1983).
    • Bob Dylan, "Blackjack Davey" (on Good as I Been to You, 1992)
    • Chesapeake, "Black Jack Davey" (on Rising Tide, 1994)
    • Cordelia's Dad, "Gypsy Davy" (on Comet, 1995)
    • Sandra And Nancy Kerr, "Seven Yellow Gypsies" (on Neat and Complete, 1996)
    • Rapalje "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" (on Into Folk, 1998)
    • Dave Alvin, "Blackjack David" (on Blackjack David, 1998)
    • "Ragggle Taggle Gipsies" on Broken Ground (1999)
    • The White Stripes, "Black Jack Davey" (on Seven Nation Army, 2003)
    • Rosie Doonan & Ben Murray, "Gypsy Davy" (on Mill Lane, 2004)
    • Harem Scarem "Tibby Dunbar" (on The Birnam Witch Project, 2005)
    • Nic Jones, "Seven Yellow Gypsies" (on Game Set Match, 2006)
    • Black Eyed Casey (2008 Timothy J. Vallier and Mallory P. Cackin (Edited by Austin Sailors) With Strong Approval by Casey Gilreath, Kenton Bales, and M. Chovine Harden)

    Broadsides

    • Bodleian, Harding B 11(1446), "Gypsy Laddie," W. Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1838; also Harding B 11(2903), "Gypsy Loddy"; Harding B 19(45), "The Dark-Eyed Gipsy O"; Harding B 25(731), "Gipsy Loddy"; Firth b.25(220), "The Gipsy Laddy"; Harding B 11(1317), "The Gipsy Laddie, O"; Firth b.26(198), Harding B 15(116b), 2806 c.14(140), "The Gipsy Laddie"; Firth b.25(56), "Gypsie Laddie"
    • Murray, Mu23-y3:030, "The Gypsy Laddie," unknown, 19C
    • NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(092), "The Gipsy Laddie," unknown, c. 1875
    • Black Eyed Casey (2008 Timothy J. Vallier and Mallory P. Cackin (Edited by Austin Sailors) With Strong Approval by Casey Gilreath, Kenton Bales, and M Chovine Harden)

    Cross references

    • cf. "The Roving Ploughboy" (theme, lyrics, tune)

    Songs that refer to

    None. However there is a joke:- How many folksingers does it take to change a light bulb?

    There were seven yellow Gypsies all in a row
    They were brave and bonny-O
    One to change the bulb and one to tell the tale
    And there's five to run away with the lady-O

    Source: Lightbulb jokes

    Actually one, Bob Dylan's Tombstone Blues:

    And Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he burns out their camps
    With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps

    See also

    External links



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