200THE GYPSY LADDIE

A.‘Johny Faa, the Gypsy Laddie,’ Ramsay’s Tea-Table Miscellany, vol. iv, 1740. Here from the edition of 1763, p. 427.

B. a.The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany (vol. lxxx of the Scots Magazine), November, 1817, p. 309.b.A fragment recited by Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay.

C.‘Davie Faw,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 381; ‘Gypsie Davy,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, 1827, p. 360.

D.‘The Egyptian Laddy,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 331.

E.‘The Gypsie Laddie,’ Mactaggart’s Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, 1824, p. 284.

F.‘Johnny Faa, the Gypsey Laddie,’ The Songs of England and Scotland [P. Cunningham], London, 1835, II, 346.

G. a.‘The Gypsie Loddy,’ a broadside, Roxburghe Ballads, III, 685.b.A recent stall-copy, Catnach, 2 Monmouth Court, Seven Dials.

H.‘The Gipsy Laddie,’ Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne, p. 550.

I.Communicated by Miss Margaret Reburn, as sung in County Meath, Ireland, about 1860.

J. a.‘The Gipsey Davy,’ from Stockbridge, Massachusetts.b.From a lady born in Maine.

K.‘Lord Garrick,’a,b, communicated by ladies of New York.

The English ballad, though derived from the Scottish, may perhaps have been printed earlier. A conjectural date of 1720 is given, with hesitation, toG a, in the catalogue of the British Museum.

The Scottish ballad appears to have been first printed in the fourth volume of the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1740, but no copy of that edition has been recovered. From the Tea-Table Miscellany it was repeated, with variations, some traditional, some arbitrary, in: Herd’s Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, 1769, ‘Gypsie Laddie,’ p. 88, ed. 1776, II, 54; The Fond Mother’s Garland, not dated, but earlier than 1776; Pinkerton’s Select Scotish Ballads, 1783, I, 67; Johnson’s Museum, ‘Johny Faa, or, The Gypsie Laddie,’ No 181, p. 189; Ritson’s Scotish Songs, 1794, II, 176; and in this century, Cromek’s Select Scotish Songs, 1810, II, 15; Cunningham’s Songs of Scotland, 1825, II, 175. A transcript in the Campbell MSS, ‘The Gypsies,’ I, 16, is from Pinkerton.

“The people in Ayrshire begin this song,

‘The gypsies cam to my lord Cassilis’ yett.’

They have a great many more stanzas ... than I ever yet saw in any printed.” Burns, in Cromek’s Reliques, 1809, p. 161. (So Sharpe, in the Musical Museum, 1853, IV, 217, but perhaps repeating Burns.)B, from Galloway, has eight more stanzas thanA, andE, also from Galloway, fourteen more, but quite eight of the last are entirely untraditional,[38]and the hand of the editor is frequently to be recognized elsewhere.

Finlay, Scottish Ballads, 1808, II, 39, inserted two stanzas afterA2, the first of which is nearly the same as 5, and the second asB3,C3. The variations of his text, and others in his notes, are given underA. Kinloch MSS, V, 299; Chambers, Scottish Ballads, 1829, p. 143; Aytoun, 1859, I, 187, repeat Finlay, with a few slight changes. The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, I, 9, follows Chambers.

The copy in Smith’s Scotish Minstrel, III, 90, is derived fromB a, but has readings ofother texts, and is of no authority. That in Maidment’s Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1868, II, 185, isB awith changes. Ten stanzas in a manuscript of Scottish songs and ballads, copied 1840 or 1850 by a granddaughter of Lord Woodhouselee, p. 46, are fromB a. This may be true also ofB b, which, however, has not Cassilis in 11.

Cis from a little further north, from Renfrewshire;Dfrom Aberdeenshire.Fis from the north of England, and resemblesC. The final stanza ofG ais cited by Ritson, Scotish Songs, II, 177, 1794. ‘The Rare Ballad of Johnnie Faa and the Countess o Cassilis,’ Sheldon’s Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 326, which the editor had “heard sung repeatedly by Willie Faa,” and of which he “endeavored to preserve as much as recollection would allow,” has the eleven stanzas of the English broadside, and twelve more of which Sheldon must have been unable to recollect anything.H-Kare all varieties of the broadside.

The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has most obligingly sent me a ballad, taken down by him from the singing of an illiterate hedger in North Devon, in which ‘The Gypsy Laddie,’ recomposed (mostly with middle rhyme in the third verse, as inA1, 8), forms the sequel to a story of an earl marrying a very reluctant gypsy maid. When the vagrant who has been made a lady against nature hears some of her tribe singing at the castle-gate, the passion for a roving life returns, and she deserts her noble partner, who pursues her, and, not being able to induce her to return to him, smites her “lily-white” throat with his sword. This little romance, retouched and repaired, is printed as No 50 of Songs and Ballads of the West, now publishing by Baring-Gould and Sheppard. Mr Baring-Gould has also given me a defective copy of the second part of ‘The Gipsy Countess’ (exhibiting many variations), which he obtained from an old shoemaker of Tiverton.

Among the Percy papers there is a set of ballads made over by the Bishop, which may have been intended for the contemplated extension of his Reliques. ‘The Gipsie Laddie,’ in eighteen stanzas, and not quite finished, is one of these. After seven stanzas ofA, not much altered, the husband ineffectually pursues the lady, who adopts the gipsy trade, with her reid cheek stained wi yallow. Seven years pass, during which the laird has taken another wife. At Yule a wretched carline begs charity at his gate, who, upon questioning, reveals that she had been a lady gay, with a comely marrow, but had proved false and ruined herself.

A.Gypsies sing so sweetly at our lord’s gate as to entice his lady to come down; as soon as she shows herself, they cast the glamour on her (soB-F,G b). She gives herself over to the chief gypsy, Johny Faa by name, without reserve of any description. Her lord, upon returning and finding her gone, sets out to recover her, and captures and hangs fifteen gypsies. (It is extremely likely that this version has lost several stanzas.)

Our lord, unnamed inA, is Lord Cassilis inB,C,F(so Burns, and Johnson’s Museum). Cassilis has become Cassle, Castle inE,G, Corsefield[39]inD, Cashan in IrishI, Garrick[40]in AmericanK. The Gypsy Laddie is again Johnie, Jockie, Faa inB,D,E; but Gipsy Davy inC(where Lady Cassilis is twice called Jeanie Faw), and in AmericanI a b; and seems to be called both Johnnie Faw and Gypsie Geordie inF. The lady gives the gypsies the good wheat breadB,E(beer and wine, Finlay); they give her (sweetmeats,C) ginger, nutmeg, or both, and she gives them the ring (rings) off her finger (fingers),B,C,E,G,I, (and Finlay).

B ahas a full story from this point on. The gypsy asks the lady to go with him, and swears that her lord shall never come near her. The lady changes her silk mantle for aplaid, and is ready to travel the world over with the gypsy,B a5,A3,C4,D3,E4,F4, (B a6 is spurious). They wander high and low till they come to an old barn, and by this time she is weary. The lady begins to find out what she has undertaken: last night she lay with her lord in a well-made bed, now she must lie in an old barn,B a7, 8,A4,C6,D7,F5 (reeky killE8, on a straw bedH7, in the ash-cornerI6). The gypsy bids her hold her peace, her lord shall never come near her. They wander high and low till they come to a wan water, and by this time she is weary. Oft has she ridden that wan water with her lord; now she must set in her white feet and wade,B a11,C5,D5, 6,E7, (and carry the gipsie laddie,B a11, badly; follow,B b). The lord comes home, is told that his lady is gone off with the gypsy, and immediately sets out to bring her back (so all). He finds her at the wan water,B a14; in Abbey Dale, drinking wi Gipsey Davy,C10; near Strabogie, drinking wi Gypsie Geordie,F10;[41]by the riverside,J a4; at the Misty Mount,K5, 6. He asks her tenderly if she will go home,B a15,E15,F12, he will shut her up so securely that no man shall come near,B a15,E15; he expostulates with her, more or less reproachfully,C11,F11,G9,H5,J5. She will not go home; as she has brewed, so will she drink,B a16,G10; she cares not for houses or lands or babes (baby)G10,H6,J6. But she swears to him that she is as free of the gypsies as when her mother bare her,B a17,E16.

Fifteen gypsies are hanged, or lose their lives,A10,B18,D14; sixteen, all sons of one mother,C12, 13; seven,F13,G11, (cf.I1).[42]

D8–11 is ridiculously perverted in the interest of morals: compareB a17,E16. ‘I swear that my hand shall never go near thee,’D8, is transferred to the husband inI5: ‘A hand I’ll neer lay on you’ (in the way of correction).

InG4 the lady, in place of exchanging her silk mantle for a plaidie, pulls off her high-heeled shoes, of Spanish leather, and puts on Highland brogues. InI7 gypsies take off her high-heeled shoes, and she puts on Lowland brogues. The high-heeled shoes, to be sure, are not adapted to following the Gypsy Laddie, but light may perhaps be derived fromC12, where the gypsies ‘drink her stockings and her shoon.’ InKthese high-heeled shoes of Spanish leather are wrongly transferred to Lord Garrick in the copy as delivered, but have been restored to the lady.

It is not said (except in the spurious portions ofE) that the lady was carried back by her husband, but this may perhaps be inferred from his hanging the gypsies. InDandKwe are left uncertain as to her disposition, which is elsewhere, for the most part, to stick to the gypsy.J, a copy of very slight authority, makes the lord marry again within six months of his wife’s elopement.

The earliest edition of the ballad styles the gypsy Johny Faa, but gives no clew to the fair lady. Johnny Faa was a prominent and frequent name among the gypsies. Johnnë Faw’s right and title as lord and earl of Little Egypt were recognized by James V in a document under the Privy Seal, February 15, 1540, and we learn from this paper that, even before this date, letters had been issued to the king’s officers, enjoining them to assist Johnnë Faw “in execution of justice upon his company and folks, conform to the laws of Egypt, and in punishing of all them that rebels against him.” But in the next year, by an act of the Lords of Council, June 6, Egyptians are ordered to quit the realm within thirty days on pain of death, notwithstanding any other letters or privileges granted them by the king, his grace having discharged the same. The gypsies were expelled from Scotland by act of Parliament in 1609. Johnnë,aliasWillie, Faa, with three others of the name, remaining notwithstanding, were sentenced to be hanged, 1611, July 31. In 1615, January 25, a man was delated for harboring of Egyptians,“specially of Johnnë Fall, a notorious Egyptian and chieftain of that unhappy sort of people.” In 1616, July 24, Johnnë Faa, Egyptian, his son, and two others were condemned to be hanged for contemptuous repairing to the country and abiding therein. Finally, in 1624, January 24, Captain Johnnë Faa and seven others were sentenced to be hanged for the same offence, and on the following 29th Helen Faa, relict of the late Captain Johnnë Faa, with ten other women, was sentenced to be drowned, but execution was stayed. Eight men were executed, but the rest, “being either children and of less-age and women with child or giving suck to children,” were, after imprisonment, banished the country under pain of death, to be inflicted without further process should they be found within the kingdom after a day fixed.[43]The execution of the notorious Egyptian and chieftain Johnny Faa must have made a considerable impression, and it is presumable that this ballad may have arisen not long after. Whether this were so or not, Johnny Faa acquired popular fame, and became a personage to whom any adventure might plausibly be imputed. It is said that he has even been foisted into ‘The Douglas Tragedy’ (‘Earl Brand’), and Scott had a copy of ‘Captain Car’ in which, as inF,G, of that ballad, the scene was transferred to Ayrshire, and the incendiary was called Johnny Faa.[44]

Toward the end of the last century we begin to hear that the people in Ayrshire make the wife of the Earl of Cassilis the heroine of the ballad. This name, under the instruction of Burns, was adopted into the copy in Johnson’s Museum (which, as to the rest, is Ramsay’s), and in the index to the second volume of the Museum, 1788, we read, “neighboring tradition strongly vouches for the truth of this story.” After this we get the tradition in full, of course with considerable variety in the details, and sometimes with criticism, sometimes without.[45]

The main points in the traditional story are that John, sixth earl of Cassilis, married, for his first wife, Lady Jean Hamilton, whose affections were preëngaged to one Sir John Faa, of Dunbar. Several years after, when Lady Cassilis had become the mother of two children,[46]Sir John Faa took the opportunity of the earl’s absence from home (while Lord Cassilis was attending the Westminster Assembly, say some) to present himself at the castle, accompanied by a band of gypsies and himself disguised as a gypsy, and induced his old love to elope with him. But the earl returned in the nick of time, went in pursuit, captured the whole party, or all but one,[47]who is supposed to tell the story, and hanged them, on the dule tree, “a most umbrageous plane, which yet flourishes upon a mound in front of the castle gate.” The fugitive wife was banished from board and bed, and confined for life in a tower at Maybole, built for the purpose. “Eight heads carved in stone below one of the turrets are said to be the effigies of so many of the gypsies.”[48]The ford by which the lady and her lover crossed the River Doon is still called The Gypsies’ Steps.

Several accounts put the abduction at the time when the Earl of Cassilis was attending the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. This was in September, 1643. It is now known that Lady Cassilis died in December, 1642. What is much more important, it is known from two letters written by the earl immediately after her death that nothing could have occurred of a nature to alienate his affection, for in the one he speaks of her as a “dear friend” and “beloved yoke-fellow,” and in the other as his “dear bed-fellow.”[49]

“Seldom, when stripped of extraneous matter, has tradition been better supported than it has been in the case of Johnie Faa and the Countess of Cassilis:” Maidment, Scotish Ballads, 1868, II, 184. In a sense not intended, this is quite true; most of the traditions which have grown out of ballads have as slight a foundation as this. The connection of the ballad with the Cassilis family (as Mr Macmath has suggested to me) may possibly have arisen from the first line of some copy reading, ‘The gypsies came to the castle-gate.’ AsF13has perverted Earl of Cassilis to Earl of Castle, so Castle may have been corrupted into Cassilis.[50]

Knortz, Schottische Balladen, p. 28, translates freely eight stanzas from Aytoun.

Ramsay’s Tea-Table Miscellany, vol. iv, 1740. Here from the London edition of 1763, p. 427.

1The gypsies came to our good lord’s gate,And wow but they sang sweetly!They sang sae sweet and sae very compleatThat down came the fair lady.2And she came tripping down the stair,And a’ her maids before her;As soon as they saw her well-far’d face,They coost the glamer oer her.3‘Gae tak frae me this gay mantile,And bring to me a plaidie;For if kith and kin and a’ had sworn,I’ll follow the gypsie laddie.4‘Yestreen I lay in a well-made bed,And my good lord beside me;This night I’ll ly in a tenant’s barn,Whatever shall betide me.’5‘Come to your bed,’ says Johny Faa,‘Oh come to your bed, my deary;For I vow and I swear, by the hilt of my sword,That your lord shall nae mair come near ye.’6‘I’ll go to bed to my Johny Faa,I’ll go to bed to my deary;For I vow and I swear, by what past yestreen,That my lord shall nae mair come near me.7‘I’ll mak a hap to my Johnny Faa,And I’ll mak a hap to my deary;And he’s get a’ the coat gaes round,And my lord shall nae mair come near me.’8And when our lord came hame at een,And speir’d for his fair lady,The tane she cry’d, and the other reply’d,‘She’s away with the gypsie laddie.’9‘Gae saddle to me the black, black steed,Gae saddle and make him ready;Before that I either eat or sleep,I’ll gae seek my fair lady.’10And we were fifteen well-made men,Altho we were nae bonny;And we were a’ put down for ane,A fair young wanton lady.

1The gypsies came to our good lord’s gate,And wow but they sang sweetly!They sang sae sweet and sae very compleatThat down came the fair lady.

The gypsies came to our good lord’s gate,

And wow but they sang sweetly!

They sang sae sweet and sae very compleat

That down came the fair lady.

2And she came tripping down the stair,And a’ her maids before her;As soon as they saw her well-far’d face,They coost the glamer oer her.

And she came tripping down the stair,

And a’ her maids before her;

As soon as they saw her well-far’d face,

They coost the glamer oer her.

3‘Gae tak frae me this gay mantile,And bring to me a plaidie;For if kith and kin and a’ had sworn,I’ll follow the gypsie laddie.

‘Gae tak frae me this gay mantile,

And bring to me a plaidie;

For if kith and kin and a’ had sworn,

I’ll follow the gypsie laddie.

4‘Yestreen I lay in a well-made bed,And my good lord beside me;This night I’ll ly in a tenant’s barn,Whatever shall betide me.’

‘Yestreen I lay in a well-made bed,

And my good lord beside me;

This night I’ll ly in a tenant’s barn,

Whatever shall betide me.’

5‘Come to your bed,’ says Johny Faa,‘Oh come to your bed, my deary;For I vow and I swear, by the hilt of my sword,That your lord shall nae mair come near ye.’

‘Come to your bed,’ says Johny Faa,

‘Oh come to your bed, my deary;

For I vow and I swear, by the hilt of my sword,

That your lord shall nae mair come near ye.’

6‘I’ll go to bed to my Johny Faa,I’ll go to bed to my deary;For I vow and I swear, by what past yestreen,That my lord shall nae mair come near me.

‘I’ll go to bed to my Johny Faa,

I’ll go to bed to my deary;

For I vow and I swear, by what past yestreen,

That my lord shall nae mair come near me.

7‘I’ll mak a hap to my Johnny Faa,And I’ll mak a hap to my deary;And he’s get a’ the coat gaes round,And my lord shall nae mair come near me.’

‘I’ll mak a hap to my Johnny Faa,

And I’ll mak a hap to my deary;

And he’s get a’ the coat gaes round,

And my lord shall nae mair come near me.’

8And when our lord came hame at een,And speir’d for his fair lady,The tane she cry’d, and the other reply’d,‘She’s away with the gypsie laddie.’

And when our lord came hame at een,

And speir’d for his fair lady,

The tane she cry’d, and the other reply’d,

‘She’s away with the gypsie laddie.’

9‘Gae saddle to me the black, black steed,Gae saddle and make him ready;Before that I either eat or sleep,I’ll gae seek my fair lady.’

‘Gae saddle to me the black, black steed,

Gae saddle and make him ready;

Before that I either eat or sleep,

I’ll gae seek my fair lady.’

10And we were fifteen well-made men,Altho we were nae bonny;And we were a’ put down for ane,A fair young wanton lady.

And we were fifteen well-made men,

Altho we were nae bonny;

And we were a’ put down for ane,

A fair young wanton lady.

a.The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, being a new series of the Scots Magazine (vol. lxxx of the entire work), November, 1817, p. 309, communicated by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, as taken down from the recitation of a peasant in Galloway.b.A fragment recited by Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay, as communicated by Mr Alexander Laing, 1873.

1The gypsies they came to my lord Cassilis’ yett,And O but they sang bonnie!They sang sae sweet and sae completeThat down came our fair ladie.2She came tripping down the stairs,And all her maids before her;As soon as they saw her weel-far’d face,They coost their glamourie owre her.3She gave to them the good wheat bread,And they gave her the ginger;But she gave them a far better thing,The gold ring off her finger.4‘Will ye go with me, my hinny and my heart?Will ye go with me, my dearie?And I will swear, by the staff of my spear,That your lord shall nae mair come near thee.’5‘Sae take from me my silk mantel,And bring to me a plaidie,For I will travel the world owreAlong with the gypsie laddie.6‘I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,I could sail the seas with my dearie;I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,And with pleasure could drown with my dearie.7They wandred high, they wandred low,They wandred late and early,Untill they came to an old tenant’s-barn,And by this time she was weary.8‘Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,And my noble lord beside me,And now I must ly in an old tenant’s-barn,And the black crew glowring owre me.’9‘O hold your tongue, my hinny and my heart,O hold your tongue, my dearie,For I will swear, by the moon and the stars,That thy lord shall nae mair come near thee.’10They wandred high, they wandred low,They wandred late and early,Untill they came to that wan water,And by this time she was wearie.11‘Aften have I rode that wan water,And my lord Cassilis beside me,And now I must set in my white feet and wade,And carry the gypsie laddie.’12By and by came home this noble lord,And asking for his ladie,The one did cry, the other did reply,‘She is gone with the gypsie laddie.’13‘Go saddle to me the black,’ he says,‘The brown rides never so speedie,And I will neither eat nor drinkTill I bring home my ladie.’14He wandred high, he wandred low,He wandred late and early,Untill he came to that wan water,And there he spied his ladie.15‘O wilt thou go home, my hinny and my heart,O wilt thou go home, my dearie?And I’ll close thee in a close room,Where no man shall come near thee.’16‘I will not go home, my hinny and my heart,I will not go home, my dearie;If I have brewn good beer, I will drink of the same,And my lord shall nae mair come near me.17‘But I will swear, by the moon and the stars,And the sun that shines so clearly,That I am as free of the gypsie gangAs the hour my mother did bear me.’18They were fifteen valiant men,Black, but very bonny,And they lost all their lives for one,The Earl of Cassillis’ ladie.

1The gypsies they came to my lord Cassilis’ yett,And O but they sang bonnie!They sang sae sweet and sae completeThat down came our fair ladie.

The gypsies they came to my lord Cassilis’ yett,

And O but they sang bonnie!

They sang sae sweet and sae complete

That down came our fair ladie.

2She came tripping down the stairs,And all her maids before her;As soon as they saw her weel-far’d face,They coost their glamourie owre her.

She came tripping down the stairs,

And all her maids before her;

As soon as they saw her weel-far’d face,

They coost their glamourie owre her.

3She gave to them the good wheat bread,And they gave her the ginger;But she gave them a far better thing,The gold ring off her finger.

She gave to them the good wheat bread,

And they gave her the ginger;

But she gave them a far better thing,

The gold ring off her finger.

4‘Will ye go with me, my hinny and my heart?Will ye go with me, my dearie?And I will swear, by the staff of my spear,That your lord shall nae mair come near thee.’

‘Will ye go with me, my hinny and my heart?

Will ye go with me, my dearie?

And I will swear, by the staff of my spear,

That your lord shall nae mair come near thee.’

5‘Sae take from me my silk mantel,And bring to me a plaidie,For I will travel the world owreAlong with the gypsie laddie.

‘Sae take from me my silk mantel,

And bring to me a plaidie,

For I will travel the world owre

Along with the gypsie laddie.

6‘I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,I could sail the seas with my dearie;I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,And with pleasure could drown with my dearie.

‘I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,

I could sail the seas with my dearie;

I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,

And with pleasure could drown with my dearie.

7They wandred high, they wandred low,They wandred late and early,Untill they came to an old tenant’s-barn,And by this time she was weary.

They wandred high, they wandred low,

They wandred late and early,

Untill they came to an old tenant’s-barn,

And by this time she was weary.

8‘Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,And my noble lord beside me,And now I must ly in an old tenant’s-barn,And the black crew glowring owre me.’

‘Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,

And my noble lord beside me,

And now I must ly in an old tenant’s-barn,

And the black crew glowring owre me.’

9‘O hold your tongue, my hinny and my heart,O hold your tongue, my dearie,For I will swear, by the moon and the stars,That thy lord shall nae mair come near thee.’

‘O hold your tongue, my hinny and my heart,

O hold your tongue, my dearie,

For I will swear, by the moon and the stars,

That thy lord shall nae mair come near thee.’

10They wandred high, they wandred low,They wandred late and early,Untill they came to that wan water,And by this time she was wearie.

They wandred high, they wandred low,

They wandred late and early,

Untill they came to that wan water,

And by this time she was wearie.

11‘Aften have I rode that wan water,And my lord Cassilis beside me,And now I must set in my white feet and wade,And carry the gypsie laddie.’

‘Aften have I rode that wan water,

And my lord Cassilis beside me,

And now I must set in my white feet and wade,

And carry the gypsie laddie.’

12By and by came home this noble lord,And asking for his ladie,The one did cry, the other did reply,‘She is gone with the gypsie laddie.’

By and by came home this noble lord,

And asking for his ladie,

The one did cry, the other did reply,

‘She is gone with the gypsie laddie.’

13‘Go saddle to me the black,’ he says,‘The brown rides never so speedie,And I will neither eat nor drinkTill I bring home my ladie.’

‘Go saddle to me the black,’ he says,

‘The brown rides never so speedie,

And I will neither eat nor drink

Till I bring home my ladie.’

14He wandred high, he wandred low,He wandred late and early,Untill he came to that wan water,And there he spied his ladie.

He wandred high, he wandred low,

He wandred late and early,

Untill he came to that wan water,

And there he spied his ladie.

15‘O wilt thou go home, my hinny and my heart,O wilt thou go home, my dearie?And I’ll close thee in a close room,Where no man shall come near thee.’

‘O wilt thou go home, my hinny and my heart,

O wilt thou go home, my dearie?

And I’ll close thee in a close room,

Where no man shall come near thee.’

16‘I will not go home, my hinny and my heart,I will not go home, my dearie;If I have brewn good beer, I will drink of the same,And my lord shall nae mair come near me.

‘I will not go home, my hinny and my heart,

I will not go home, my dearie;

If I have brewn good beer, I will drink of the same,

And my lord shall nae mair come near me.

17‘But I will swear, by the moon and the stars,And the sun that shines so clearly,That I am as free of the gypsie gangAs the hour my mother did bear me.’

‘But I will swear, by the moon and the stars,

And the sun that shines so clearly,

That I am as free of the gypsie gang

As the hour my mother did bear me.’

18They were fifteen valiant men,Black, but very bonny,And they lost all their lives for one,The Earl of Cassillis’ ladie.

They were fifteen valiant men,

Black, but very bonny,

And they lost all their lives for one,

The Earl of Cassillis’ ladie.

Motherwell’s MS., p. 381, from the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan, 27 July, 1825.

1There cam singers to Earl Cassillis’ gates,And oh, but they sang bonnie!They sang sae sweet and sae complete,Till down cam the earl’s lady.2She cam tripping down the stair,And all her maids before her;As soon as they saw her weel-faurd face,They coost their glamourye owre her.3They gave her o the gude sweetmeats,The nutmeg and the ginger,And she gied them a far better thing,Ten gold rings aff her finger.4‘Tak from me my silken cloak,And bring me down my plaidie;For it is gude eneuch,’ she said,‘To follow a Gipsy Davy.5‘Yestreen I rode this water deep,And my gude lord beside me;But this nicht I maun set in my pretty fit and wade,A wheen blackguards wading wi me.6‘Yestreen I lay in a fine feather-bed,And my gude lord beyond me;But this nicht I maun lye in some cauld tenant’s-barn,A wheen blackguards waiting on me.’7‘Come to thy bed, my bonny Jeanie Faw,Come to thy bed, my dearie,For I do swear, by the top o my spear,Thy gude lord’ll nae mair come near thee.’8When her good lord cam hame at nicht,It was asking for his fair ladye;One spak slow, and another whisperd out,‘She’s awa wi Gipsey Davy!’9‘Come saddle to me my horse,’ he said,‘Come saddle and mak him readie!For I’ll neither sleep, eat, nor drinkTill I find out my lady.’10They socht her up, they socht her doun,They socht her thro nations many,Till at length they found her out in Abbey dale,Drinking wi Gipsey Davy.11‘Rise, oh rise, my bonnie Jeanie Faw,Oh rise, and do not tarry!Is this the thing ye promised to meWhen at first I did thee marry?’12They drank her cloak, so did they her goun,They drank her stockings and her shoon,And they drank the coat that was nigh to her smock,And they pawned her pearled apron.13They were sixteen clever men,Suppose they were na bonny;They are a’ to be hangd on ae tree,For the stealing o Earl Cassilis’ lady.14‘We are sixteen clever men,One woman was a’ our mother;We are a’ to be hanged on ae day,For the stealing of a wanton lady.’

1There cam singers to Earl Cassillis’ gates,And oh, but they sang bonnie!They sang sae sweet and sae complete,Till down cam the earl’s lady.

There cam singers to Earl Cassillis’ gates,

And oh, but they sang bonnie!

They sang sae sweet and sae complete,

Till down cam the earl’s lady.

2She cam tripping down the stair,And all her maids before her;As soon as they saw her weel-faurd face,They coost their glamourye owre her.

She cam tripping down the stair,

And all her maids before her;

As soon as they saw her weel-faurd face,

They coost their glamourye owre her.

3They gave her o the gude sweetmeats,The nutmeg and the ginger,And she gied them a far better thing,Ten gold rings aff her finger.

They gave her o the gude sweetmeats,

The nutmeg and the ginger,

And she gied them a far better thing,

Ten gold rings aff her finger.

4‘Tak from me my silken cloak,And bring me down my plaidie;For it is gude eneuch,’ she said,‘To follow a Gipsy Davy.

‘Tak from me my silken cloak,

And bring me down my plaidie;

For it is gude eneuch,’ she said,

‘To follow a Gipsy Davy.

5‘Yestreen I rode this water deep,And my gude lord beside me;But this nicht I maun set in my pretty fit and wade,A wheen blackguards wading wi me.

‘Yestreen I rode this water deep,

And my gude lord beside me;

But this nicht I maun set in my pretty fit and wade,

A wheen blackguards wading wi me.

6‘Yestreen I lay in a fine feather-bed,And my gude lord beyond me;But this nicht I maun lye in some cauld tenant’s-barn,A wheen blackguards waiting on me.’

‘Yestreen I lay in a fine feather-bed,

And my gude lord beyond me;

But this nicht I maun lye in some cauld tenant’s-barn,

A wheen blackguards waiting on me.’

7‘Come to thy bed, my bonny Jeanie Faw,Come to thy bed, my dearie,For I do swear, by the top o my spear,Thy gude lord’ll nae mair come near thee.’

‘Come to thy bed, my bonny Jeanie Faw,

Come to thy bed, my dearie,

For I do swear, by the top o my spear,

Thy gude lord’ll nae mair come near thee.’

8When her good lord cam hame at nicht,It was asking for his fair ladye;One spak slow, and another whisperd out,‘She’s awa wi Gipsey Davy!’

When her good lord cam hame at nicht,

It was asking for his fair ladye;

One spak slow, and another whisperd out,

‘She’s awa wi Gipsey Davy!’

9‘Come saddle to me my horse,’ he said,‘Come saddle and mak him readie!For I’ll neither sleep, eat, nor drinkTill I find out my lady.’

‘Come saddle to me my horse,’ he said,

‘Come saddle and mak him readie!

For I’ll neither sleep, eat, nor drink

Till I find out my lady.’

10They socht her up, they socht her doun,They socht her thro nations many,Till at length they found her out in Abbey dale,Drinking wi Gipsey Davy.

They socht her up, they socht her doun,

They socht her thro nations many,

Till at length they found her out in Abbey dale,

Drinking wi Gipsey Davy.

11‘Rise, oh rise, my bonnie Jeanie Faw,Oh rise, and do not tarry!Is this the thing ye promised to meWhen at first I did thee marry?’

‘Rise, oh rise, my bonnie Jeanie Faw,

Oh rise, and do not tarry!

Is this the thing ye promised to me

When at first I did thee marry?’

12They drank her cloak, so did they her goun,They drank her stockings and her shoon,And they drank the coat that was nigh to her smock,And they pawned her pearled apron.

They drank her cloak, so did they her goun,

They drank her stockings and her shoon,

And they drank the coat that was nigh to her smock,

And they pawned her pearled apron.

13They were sixteen clever men,Suppose they were na bonny;They are a’ to be hangd on ae tree,For the stealing o Earl Cassilis’ lady.

They were sixteen clever men,

Suppose they were na bonny;

They are a’ to be hangd on ae tree,

For the stealing o Earl Cassilis’ lady.

14‘We are sixteen clever men,One woman was a’ our mother;We are a’ to be hanged on ae day,For the stealing of a wanton lady.’

‘We are sixteen clever men,

One woman was a’ our mother;

We are a’ to be hanged on ae day,

For the stealing of a wanton lady.’

Kinloch MSS, V, 331, in the handwriting of John Hill Burton; from a reciter who came from the vicinity of Craigievar.

1There came Gyptians to Corse Field yeats,Black, tho they warna bonny;They danced so neat and they danced so fine,Till down came the bonny lady.2She came trippin down the stair,And her nine maidens afore her;But up and starts him Johny Fa,And he cast the glamour oer her.3‘Ye’ll take frae me this gay mantle,And ye’ll gie to me a plaidie;For I shall follow Johny Fa,Lat weel or woe betide me.’4They’ve taen frae her her fine mantle,And they’ve gaen to her a plaidie,And she’s awa wi Johny Fa,Whatever may betide her.5When they came to a wan water,I wite it wasna bonny,. . . . . . .. . . . . . .6‘Yestreen I wade this wan water,And my good lord was wi me;The night I man cast aff my shoes and wide,And the black bands widen wi me.7‘Yestreen I lay in a well made bed,And my good lord lay wi me;The night I maun ly in a tenant’s barn,And the black bauds lyin wi me.’8‘Come to yer bed,’ says Johnie Fa,‘Come to yer bed, my dearie,And I shall swer, by the coat that I wear,That my hand it shall never go near thee.9‘I will never come to yer bed,I will never be yer dearie;For I think I hear his horse’s footThat was once called my dearie.’10‘Come to yer bed,’ says Johny Fa,‘Come to yer bed, my dearie,And I shall swear, by the coat that I wear,That my hand it shall never go oer thee.’11‘I will niver come to yer bed,I will niver be yer dearie;For I think I hear his bridle ringThat was once called my dearie.’* * * * * *12When that good lord came hame at night,He called for his lady;The one maid said, and the other replied,‘She’s aff wi the Gyptian laddy.’13‘Ye’ll saddle to me the good black steed,Tho the brown it was never so bonny;Before that ever I eat or drink,I shall have back my lady.’* * * * * *14‘Yestreen we were fifteen good armed men;Tho black, we werena bonny;The night we a’ ly slain for one,It’s the Laird o Corse Field’s lady.’

1There came Gyptians to Corse Field yeats,Black, tho they warna bonny;They danced so neat and they danced so fine,Till down came the bonny lady.

There came Gyptians to Corse Field yeats,

Black, tho they warna bonny;

They danced so neat and they danced so fine,

Till down came the bonny lady.

2She came trippin down the stair,And her nine maidens afore her;But up and starts him Johny Fa,And he cast the glamour oer her.

She came trippin down the stair,

And her nine maidens afore her;

But up and starts him Johny Fa,

And he cast the glamour oer her.

3‘Ye’ll take frae me this gay mantle,And ye’ll gie to me a plaidie;For I shall follow Johny Fa,Lat weel or woe betide me.’

‘Ye’ll take frae me this gay mantle,

And ye’ll gie to me a plaidie;

For I shall follow Johny Fa,

Lat weel or woe betide me.’

4They’ve taen frae her her fine mantle,And they’ve gaen to her a plaidie,And she’s awa wi Johny Fa,Whatever may betide her.

They’ve taen frae her her fine mantle,

And they’ve gaen to her a plaidie,

And she’s awa wi Johny Fa,

Whatever may betide her.

5When they came to a wan water,I wite it wasna bonny,. . . . . . .. . . . . . .

When they came to a wan water,

I wite it wasna bonny,

. . . . . . .

6‘Yestreen I wade this wan water,And my good lord was wi me;The night I man cast aff my shoes and wide,And the black bands widen wi me.

‘Yestreen I wade this wan water,

And my good lord was wi me;

The night I man cast aff my shoes and wide,

And the black bands widen wi me.

7‘Yestreen I lay in a well made bed,And my good lord lay wi me;The night I maun ly in a tenant’s barn,And the black bauds lyin wi me.’

‘Yestreen I lay in a well made bed,

And my good lord lay wi me;

The night I maun ly in a tenant’s barn,

And the black bauds lyin wi me.’

8‘Come to yer bed,’ says Johnie Fa,‘Come to yer bed, my dearie,And I shall swer, by the coat that I wear,That my hand it shall never go near thee.

‘Come to yer bed,’ says Johnie Fa,

‘Come to yer bed, my dearie,

And I shall swer, by the coat that I wear,

That my hand it shall never go near thee.

9‘I will never come to yer bed,I will never be yer dearie;For I think I hear his horse’s footThat was once called my dearie.’

‘I will never come to yer bed,

I will never be yer dearie;

For I think I hear his horse’s foot

That was once called my dearie.’

10‘Come to yer bed,’ says Johny Fa,‘Come to yer bed, my dearie,And I shall swear, by the coat that I wear,That my hand it shall never go oer thee.’

‘Come to yer bed,’ says Johny Fa,

‘Come to yer bed, my dearie,

And I shall swear, by the coat that I wear,

That my hand it shall never go oer thee.’

11‘I will niver come to yer bed,I will niver be yer dearie;For I think I hear his bridle ringThat was once called my dearie.’

‘I will niver come to yer bed,

I will niver be yer dearie;

For I think I hear his bridle ring

That was once called my dearie.’

* * * * * *

12When that good lord came hame at night,He called for his lady;The one maid said, and the other replied,‘She’s aff wi the Gyptian laddy.’

When that good lord came hame at night,

He called for his lady;

The one maid said, and the other replied,

‘She’s aff wi the Gyptian laddy.’

13‘Ye’ll saddle to me the good black steed,Tho the brown it was never so bonny;Before that ever I eat or drink,I shall have back my lady.’

‘Ye’ll saddle to me the good black steed,

Tho the brown it was never so bonny;

Before that ever I eat or drink,

I shall have back my lady.’

* * * * * *

14‘Yestreen we were fifteen good armed men;Tho black, we werena bonny;The night we a’ ly slain for one,It’s the Laird o Corse Field’s lady.’

‘Yestreen we were fifteen good armed men;

Tho black, we werena bonny;

The night we a’ ly slain for one,

It’s the Laird o Corse Field’s lady.’

The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, by John Mactaggart, 1824, p. 284.

1The gypsies they came to Lord Cassle’s yet,And O but they sang ready!They sang sae sweet and sae completeThat down came the lord’s fair lady.2O she came tripping down the stair,Wi a’ her maids afore her,And as soon as they saw her weelfared faceThey cuist their glaumry owre her.3She gaed to them the gude white bread,And they gaed to her the ginger,Then she gaed to them a far brawer thing,The gowd rings af her finger.4Quo she to her maids, There’s my gay mantle,And bring to me my plaidy,And tell my lord whan he comes hameI’m awa wi a gypsie laddie.5For her lord he had to the hounting gane,Awa in the wild green wuddie,And Jockie Faw, the gypsie king,Saw him there wi his cheeks sae ruddy.6On they mounted, and af they rade,Ilk gypsie had a cuddy,And whan through the stincher they did pranceThey made the water muddy.7Quo she, Aft times this water I hae rade,Wi many a lord and lady,But never afore did I it wadeTo follow a gypsie laddie.8‘Aft hae I lain in a saft feather-bed,Wi my gude lord aside me,But now I maun sleep in an auld reeky kilt,Alang wi a gypsie laddie.’9Sae whan that the yirl he came hame,His servants a’ stood ready;Some took his horse, and some drew his boots,But gane was his fair lady.10And whan he came ben to the parlour-door,He asked for his fair lady,But some denied, and ithers some replied,‘She’s awa wi a gypsie laddie.’11‘Then saddle,’ quoth he, ‘my gude black naig,For the brown is never sae speedy;As I will neither eat nor drinkTill I see my fair lady.12‘I met wi a cheel as I rade hame,And thae queer stories said he;Sir, I saw this day a fairy queenFu pack wi a gypsie laddie.13‘I hae been east, and I hae been west,And in the lang town o Kircadie,But the bonniest lass that ever I sawWas following a gypsie laddie.’14Sae his lordship has rade owre hills and dales,And owre mony a wild hie mountain,Until that he heard his ain lady say,‘Now my lord will be hame frae the hounting.’15‘Than will yon come hame, my hinnie and my love?’Quoth he to his charming dearie,‘And I’ll keep ye aye in a braw close room,Where the gypsies will never can steer ye.’16Said she, ‘I can swear by the sun and the stars,And the moon whilk shines sae clearie,That I am as chaste for the gypsie Jockie FawAs the day my minnie did bear me.’17‘Gif ye wad swear by the sun,’ said he,‘And the moon, till ye wad deave me,Ay and tho ye wad take a far bigger aith,My dear, I wadna believe ye.18‘I’ll tak ye hame, and the gypsies I’ll hang,Ay, I’ll make them girn in a wuddie,And afterwards I’ll burn Jockie Faw,Wha fashed himself wi my fair lady.19Quoth the gypsies, We’re fifteen weel-made men,Tho the maist o us be ill bred ay,Yet it wad be a pity we should a’ hang for ane,Wha fashed himself wi your fair lady.20Quoth the lady, My lord, forgive them a’,For they nae ill eer did ye,And gie ten guineas to the chief, Jockie Faw,For he is a worthy laddie.21The lord he hearkened to his fair dame,And O the gypsies war glad ay!They danced round and round their merry Jockie Faw,And roosed the gypsie laddie.22Sae the lord rade hame wi his charming spouse,Owre the hills and the haughs sae whunnie,And the gypsies slade down by yon bonny burn-side,To beek themsells there sae sunnie.

1The gypsies they came to Lord Cassle’s yet,And O but they sang ready!They sang sae sweet and sae completeThat down came the lord’s fair lady.

The gypsies they came to Lord Cassle’s yet,

And O but they sang ready!

They sang sae sweet and sae complete

That down came the lord’s fair lady.

2O she came tripping down the stair,Wi a’ her maids afore her,And as soon as they saw her weelfared faceThey cuist their glaumry owre her.

O she came tripping down the stair,

Wi a’ her maids afore her,

And as soon as they saw her weelfared face

They cuist their glaumry owre her.

3She gaed to them the gude white bread,And they gaed to her the ginger,Then she gaed to them a far brawer thing,The gowd rings af her finger.

She gaed to them the gude white bread,

And they gaed to her the ginger,

Then she gaed to them a far brawer thing,

The gowd rings af her finger.

4Quo she to her maids, There’s my gay mantle,And bring to me my plaidy,And tell my lord whan he comes hameI’m awa wi a gypsie laddie.

Quo she to her maids, There’s my gay mantle,

And bring to me my plaidy,

And tell my lord whan he comes hame

I’m awa wi a gypsie laddie.

5For her lord he had to the hounting gane,Awa in the wild green wuddie,And Jockie Faw, the gypsie king,Saw him there wi his cheeks sae ruddy.

For her lord he had to the hounting gane,

Awa in the wild green wuddie,

And Jockie Faw, the gypsie king,

Saw him there wi his cheeks sae ruddy.

6On they mounted, and af they rade,Ilk gypsie had a cuddy,And whan through the stincher they did pranceThey made the water muddy.

On they mounted, and af they rade,

Ilk gypsie had a cuddy,

And whan through the stincher they did prance

They made the water muddy.

7Quo she, Aft times this water I hae rade,Wi many a lord and lady,But never afore did I it wadeTo follow a gypsie laddie.

Quo she, Aft times this water I hae rade,

Wi many a lord and lady,

But never afore did I it wade

To follow a gypsie laddie.

8‘Aft hae I lain in a saft feather-bed,Wi my gude lord aside me,But now I maun sleep in an auld reeky kilt,Alang wi a gypsie laddie.’

‘Aft hae I lain in a saft feather-bed,

Wi my gude lord aside me,

But now I maun sleep in an auld reeky kilt,

Alang wi a gypsie laddie.’

9Sae whan that the yirl he came hame,His servants a’ stood ready;Some took his horse, and some drew his boots,But gane was his fair lady.

Sae whan that the yirl he came hame,

His servants a’ stood ready;

Some took his horse, and some drew his boots,

But gane was his fair lady.

10And whan he came ben to the parlour-door,He asked for his fair lady,But some denied, and ithers some replied,‘She’s awa wi a gypsie laddie.’

And whan he came ben to the parlour-door,

He asked for his fair lady,

But some denied, and ithers some replied,

‘She’s awa wi a gypsie laddie.’

11‘Then saddle,’ quoth he, ‘my gude black naig,For the brown is never sae speedy;As I will neither eat nor drinkTill I see my fair lady.

‘Then saddle,’ quoth he, ‘my gude black naig,

For the brown is never sae speedy;

As I will neither eat nor drink

Till I see my fair lady.

12‘I met wi a cheel as I rade hame,And thae queer stories said he;Sir, I saw this day a fairy queenFu pack wi a gypsie laddie.

‘I met wi a cheel as I rade hame,

And thae queer stories said he;

Sir, I saw this day a fairy queen

Fu pack wi a gypsie laddie.

13‘I hae been east, and I hae been west,And in the lang town o Kircadie,But the bonniest lass that ever I sawWas following a gypsie laddie.’

‘I hae been east, and I hae been west,

And in the lang town o Kircadie,

But the bonniest lass that ever I saw

Was following a gypsie laddie.’

14Sae his lordship has rade owre hills and dales,And owre mony a wild hie mountain,Until that he heard his ain lady say,‘Now my lord will be hame frae the hounting.’

Sae his lordship has rade owre hills and dales,

And owre mony a wild hie mountain,

Until that he heard his ain lady say,

‘Now my lord will be hame frae the hounting.’

15‘Than will yon come hame, my hinnie and my love?’Quoth he to his charming dearie,‘And I’ll keep ye aye in a braw close room,Where the gypsies will never can steer ye.’

‘Than will yon come hame, my hinnie and my love?’

Quoth he to his charming dearie,

‘And I’ll keep ye aye in a braw close room,

Where the gypsies will never can steer ye.’

16Said she, ‘I can swear by the sun and the stars,And the moon whilk shines sae clearie,That I am as chaste for the gypsie Jockie FawAs the day my minnie did bear me.’

Said she, ‘I can swear by the sun and the stars,

And the moon whilk shines sae clearie,

That I am as chaste for the gypsie Jockie Faw

As the day my minnie did bear me.’

17‘Gif ye wad swear by the sun,’ said he,‘And the moon, till ye wad deave me,Ay and tho ye wad take a far bigger aith,My dear, I wadna believe ye.

‘Gif ye wad swear by the sun,’ said he,

‘And the moon, till ye wad deave me,

Ay and tho ye wad take a far bigger aith,

My dear, I wadna believe ye.

18‘I’ll tak ye hame, and the gypsies I’ll hang,Ay, I’ll make them girn in a wuddie,And afterwards I’ll burn Jockie Faw,Wha fashed himself wi my fair lady.

‘I’ll tak ye hame, and the gypsies I’ll hang,

Ay, I’ll make them girn in a wuddie,

And afterwards I’ll burn Jockie Faw,

Wha fashed himself wi my fair lady.

19Quoth the gypsies, We’re fifteen weel-made men,Tho the maist o us be ill bred ay,Yet it wad be a pity we should a’ hang for ane,Wha fashed himself wi your fair lady.

Quoth the gypsies, We’re fifteen weel-made men,

Tho the maist o us be ill bred ay,

Yet it wad be a pity we should a’ hang for ane,

Wha fashed himself wi your fair lady.

20Quoth the lady, My lord, forgive them a’,For they nae ill eer did ye,And gie ten guineas to the chief, Jockie Faw,For he is a worthy laddie.

Quoth the lady, My lord, forgive them a’,

For they nae ill eer did ye,

And gie ten guineas to the chief, Jockie Faw,

For he is a worthy laddie.

21The lord he hearkened to his fair dame,And O the gypsies war glad ay!They danced round and round their merry Jockie Faw,And roosed the gypsie laddie.

The lord he hearkened to his fair dame,

And O the gypsies war glad ay!

They danced round and round their merry Jockie Faw,

And roosed the gypsie laddie.

22Sae the lord rade hame wi his charming spouse,Owre the hills and the haughs sae whunnie,And the gypsies slade down by yon bonny burn-side,To beek themsells there sae sunnie.

Sae the lord rade hame wi his charming spouse,

Owre the hills and the haughs sae whunnie,

And the gypsies slade down by yon bonny burn-side,

To beek themsells there sae sunnie.

The Songs of England and Scotland [by P. Cunningham], London, 1835, II, 346, taken down, as current in the north of England, from the recitation of John Martin, the painter.

1The gypsies came to the Earl o Cassilis’ gate,And O but they sang bonnie!They sang sae sweet and sae completeThat down cam our fair ladie.2And she cam tripping down the stair,Wi her twa maids before her;As soon as they saw her weel-far’d face,They coost their glamer oer her.3‘O come wi me,’ says Johnnie Faw,‘O come wi me, my dearie,For I vow and swear, by the hilt of my sword,Your lord shall nae mair come near ye.’4‘Here, tak frae me this gay mantile,And gie to me a plaidie;Tho kith and kin and a’ had sworn,I’ll follow the gypsie laddie.5‘Yestreen I lay in a weel-made bed,And my gude lord beside me;This night I’ll lie in a tenant’s barn,Whatever shall betide me.6‘Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,Wi silken hangings round me;But now I’ll lie in a farmer’s barn,Wi the gypsies all around me.7‘The first ale-house that we come at,We’ll hae a pot o brandie;The next ale-house that we came at,We’ll drink to gypsie Geordie.’8Now when our lord cam home at een,He speir’d for his fair lady;The ane she cried, [the] tither replied,‘She’s awa wi the gypsie laddie.’9‘Gae saddle me the gude black steed;The bay was neer sae bonnie;For I will neither eat nor sleepTill I be wi my lady.’10Then he rode east, and he rode west,And he rode near Strabogie,And there he found his ain dear wife,Drinking wi gypsie Geordie.11‘And what made you leave your houses and land?Or what made you leave your money?Or what made you leave your ain wedded lord,To follow the gypsie laddie?12‘Then come thee hame, my ain dear wife,Then come thee hame, my hinnie,And I do swear, by the hilt of my sword,The gypsies nae mair shall come near thee.’13Then we were seven weel-made men,But lack! we were nae bonnie,And we were a’ put down for ane,For the Earl o Cassilis’ ladie.

1The gypsies came to the Earl o Cassilis’ gate,And O but they sang bonnie!They sang sae sweet and sae completeThat down cam our fair ladie.

The gypsies came to the Earl o Cassilis’ gate,

And O but they sang bonnie!

They sang sae sweet and sae complete

That down cam our fair ladie.

2And she cam tripping down the stair,Wi her twa maids before her;As soon as they saw her weel-far’d face,They coost their glamer oer her.

And she cam tripping down the stair,

Wi her twa maids before her;

As soon as they saw her weel-far’d face,

They coost their glamer oer her.

3‘O come wi me,’ says Johnnie Faw,‘O come wi me, my dearie,For I vow and swear, by the hilt of my sword,Your lord shall nae mair come near ye.’

‘O come wi me,’ says Johnnie Faw,

‘O come wi me, my dearie,

For I vow and swear, by the hilt of my sword,

Your lord shall nae mair come near ye.’

4‘Here, tak frae me this gay mantile,And gie to me a plaidie;Tho kith and kin and a’ had sworn,I’ll follow the gypsie laddie.

‘Here, tak frae me this gay mantile,

And gie to me a plaidie;

Tho kith and kin and a’ had sworn,

I’ll follow the gypsie laddie.

5‘Yestreen I lay in a weel-made bed,And my gude lord beside me;This night I’ll lie in a tenant’s barn,Whatever shall betide me.

‘Yestreen I lay in a weel-made bed,

And my gude lord beside me;

This night I’ll lie in a tenant’s barn,

Whatever shall betide me.

6‘Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,Wi silken hangings round me;But now I’ll lie in a farmer’s barn,Wi the gypsies all around me.

‘Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,

Wi silken hangings round me;

But now I’ll lie in a farmer’s barn,

Wi the gypsies all around me.

7‘The first ale-house that we come at,We’ll hae a pot o brandie;The next ale-house that we came at,We’ll drink to gypsie Geordie.’

‘The first ale-house that we come at,

We’ll hae a pot o brandie;

The next ale-house that we came at,

We’ll drink to gypsie Geordie.’

8Now when our lord cam home at een,He speir’d for his fair lady;The ane she cried, [the] tither replied,‘She’s awa wi the gypsie laddie.’

Now when our lord cam home at een,

He speir’d for his fair lady;

The ane she cried, [the] tither replied,

‘She’s awa wi the gypsie laddie.’

9‘Gae saddle me the gude black steed;The bay was neer sae bonnie;For I will neither eat nor sleepTill I be wi my lady.’

‘Gae saddle me the gude black steed;

The bay was neer sae bonnie;

For I will neither eat nor sleep

Till I be wi my lady.’

10Then he rode east, and he rode west,And he rode near Strabogie,And there he found his ain dear wife,Drinking wi gypsie Geordie.

Then he rode east, and he rode west,

And he rode near Strabogie,

And there he found his ain dear wife,

Drinking wi gypsie Geordie.

11‘And what made you leave your houses and land?Or what made you leave your money?Or what made you leave your ain wedded lord,To follow the gypsie laddie?

‘And what made you leave your houses and land?

Or what made you leave your money?

Or what made you leave your ain wedded lord,

To follow the gypsie laddie?

12‘Then come thee hame, my ain dear wife,Then come thee hame, my hinnie,And I do swear, by the hilt of my sword,The gypsies nae mair shall come near thee.’

‘Then come thee hame, my ain dear wife,

Then come thee hame, my hinnie,

And I do swear, by the hilt of my sword,

The gypsies nae mair shall come near thee.’

13Then we were seven weel-made men,But lack! we were nae bonnie,And we were a’ put down for ane,For the Earl o Cassilis’ ladie.

Then we were seven weel-made men,

But lack! we were nae bonnie,

And we were a’ put down for ane,

For the Earl o Cassilis’ ladie.

a.A broadside in the Roxburghe Ballads, III, 685, entered in the catalogue, doubtfully, as of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1720.b.A recent stall-copy, Catnach, 2 Monmouth Court, Seven Dials.

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