Raggle-Taggle Gypsy (Irish Descendants) w/lyrics and videos
See also: Gypsy Laddie-O (Collected by KennethPeacock)
And also: Roving Gypsy (Collected by MacEdward Leach)
And also: The Whistling Gypsy (Leo McGuire)
There were three old Gypsies came to our hall door,
They came brave and boldly-O;
And there's one sang high and the other sang low,
And the lady sang the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O.
It was upstairs and downstairs the lady went,
Put on her suit of leather-O;
It was the cry all around the door,
"She's away with the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O."
It was late that night when the lord came in,
Inquiring for his lady-O;
The servant girl she replied to the lord,
"She's away with the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O."
"Oh, saddle for me, me milk white steed,
Me big horse is not speedy-O;
Tonight I'll ride to the wide-open field,
And it's there that I'll spy my lady-O."
So he rode east, he rode west,
He rode north and south also;
And it's when he rode to the wide-open field,
It was there that he spied his lady-O.
"Oh, why did you leave your house and your land?
Why did you leave your money-O?
And why did you leave your only wedded lord,
To be off with the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O?"
"Yerra, what do I care for me house and me land?
What do I care for money-O?
And what do I care for my only wedded lord?
I'm away with the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O."
"Last night you slept in a goose-feather bed,
With blankets drawn so comely-O;
Tonight you'll lie in a wide-open field,
In the arms of a raggle-taggle Gypsy-O."
"Yerra, what do I care for a goose-feather bed?
What do I care for blankets-O?
And yerra what do I care for me only wedded lord?
I'm away with the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O."
So he rode east, she rode west,
He rode high and I rode low;
"And I'd rather have a kiss of the yellow Gypsy's lips,
Than all of your cash and your money-O."
There were three old Gypsies came to our hall door,
They came brave and boldly-O;
And there's one sang high and the other sang low,
And the lady sang the raggle-taggle Gypsy-O.
####.... Author unknown. Variant of an 18th century British ballad [Child ballad #200] The English And Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-1898) edited by Francis James Child (Dover, 1965). Also a variant of a British broadside ballad, Gypsy Laddie, published by W. Stephenson (Gateshead) sometime between 1821 and 1838, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 11(1446) ....####
This variant arranged by the Irish Descendants and recorded on their albums: (Gypsies & Lovers, trk#1, 1994, WEA, Scarborough, Ontario); and (So Far So Good - The Best Of The Irish Descendants, trk#1, 1999, Warner Music Canada Ltd, Scarborough, Ontario); and (We Are The Irish Descendants, trk#4, 2004, Kells Music, Troy, New York).
A variant was also collected in 1958 from Freeman Bennett of St. Paul's, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published as Gypsy Laddie-O in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.194, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
An imitation ballad was composed as The Whistling Gypsy by Leo McGuire of Dublin, Ireland, c.1950.
The YouTube video below features a variant arranged and recorded as Raggle Taggle by Shanneyganock (The Long Haul, trk#6, 1998, First City Productions/Soundworks, St. John's, NL).
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