(:redirect quiet=1:) %abc-2.1 X:1 T:The Gypsy Z:Webmaster C:Bob Pegg C:Carol Pegg N:verses 1-7, 19-22 tune 1; verses 8-18 tune 2 K: W:1 W:I'd like to tell you people I met her at a fair, W:But I met her in a pub down by the far side of the square. W:She was dark and she was handsome and her name was Mary Lee, W:And I'll tell you of the good times of Mary Lee and me. W: W:2 W:She said she was a gypsy and I knew she didn't lie - W:You could see the fires of India in her dark and roaming eye. W:I knew I couldn't hold her, I knew she must be free W:But no power on Earth could quench the love I had for Mary-Lee. W: W:3 W:She said that I love horses that long since passed away. W:The family remembers them as carefree happy days. W:Her granddad used to drive in a pony and a trap, W:But now they lived in Bradford where her father dealt in scrap. W: W:4 W:I couldn't really tell you how we passed away our time. W:We mostly spent the evenings drinking Tetley's Ale and wine. W:And though it may seem commonplace the way I'm telling you, W:To me a life with Mary Lee was like a dream come true. W: W:5 W:I courted this young gypsy girl through autumn into spring W:And I thought that the time had come for me to offer her my ring. W:But I never plucked my courage up for I began to see, W:That Mary Lee grew restless with the budding of the trees. W: W:6 W:It was on a Sunday afternoon I called to take her out. W:It was Mary's dad, not Mary, who answered to my shout, W:"If it's her that you're seeking you've a long long way to go, W:She joined the vans for Scotland at least twelve hours ago." W: W:7 W:For a while I stood there speechless at what her father said, W:And the promises I'd hoped for were still ringing in my head. W:Then I knew that I must travel on the road that she'd gone on - W:Even if it took me to the dark side of the sun. W: W:8 W:So early the next morning I started for Ilkley. W:The city was silent and still as a stone. W:With hope in my heart and fire in my head, W:I set off to find where the gypsies had gone. W: W:9 W:I flagged down a car that dropped me at Bolton W:The valley before me had harnessed my pack. W:Walking alone by the low hills of Wharfedale, W:By the black top of Kilnsey I saw the dawn crack. W: W:10 W:The first one I met on the road was a farmer. W:He nodded his head as he passed me by. W:I asked him politely if he'd seen the gypsies, W:"They were camped up at Langstrothdale," came his reply. W: W:11 W:By evening I came to the village of Buckden W:Decided that here I should make my night's stop. W:"Have you seen the gypsies?" I asked my friend Jackie, W:"They've moved on," he said, "They've gone over the top." W: W:12 W:So next morning I took the road into Wensleydale, W:Moorland before me, stretched out like a dream. W:Up by the boulders and over the bridge, W:Where the white lady walks into the stream. W: W:13 W:I stopped an old man I'd met once before: W:Kit Cowburn, the maker of Wensleydale cheese. W:And when I asked Kit if he'd seen the gypsies, W:The words that he spoke helped to put me at ease. W: W:14 W:He said, "The gypsies left early, I watched as they went W:They had one amongst them, a fine dark haired lass. W:She shouted to me from the back of a wagon W:They were making for Keld by the Buttertubs Pass". W: W:15 W:Now the Buttertubs Pass, it's steep and it's high W:And the horses would find it a hard way to go. W:If I set on the road and my boots didn't fail me W:I might catch them up before daylight was through. W: W:16 W:High on the road, and nobody near me, W:Far from the city, and far from all harm. W:Sheep on the hillside, grouse in the heather, W:The blind windows of a far-distant farm. W: W:17 W:As the sun dropped down low I came into Thwaite, W:Leaving behind me the dusk on the fells. W:Started straight 'way down the road into Keld W:Where Neddy once played his harmonium and bells. W: W:18 W:From a field by the road I saw the smoke rising. W:I hitched up my pack as I rounded the bend. W:I first saw the horses, and then saw the wagons, W:And I knew that my journey was nearing its end. W: W:19 W:Mary walked up to me and I looked into her eyes, W:And the sadness in her face is a thing I can't describe. W:We didn't speak a word, there was nothing we could say W:About the closing of a love affair, the closing of a day. W: W:20 W:Mary took my hand in hers, I took her hand in mine, W:Just one more night together before we had our time. W:We couldn't sleep inside the van (there wasn't any room) W:So I spent the night in Mary's arms beneath the haloed moon. W: W:21 W:I woke up in the morning, the light was cold and grey. W:The gypsies and their caravans had gone upon their way. W:In my head a burning pain, in my heart a hole, W:By my side a note was pinned, "Have mercy on my soul". W: W:22 W:The last time I heard a word about my Mary Lee, W:She was married to a tinker and was living in Dundee. W:They say she has a baby now to bounce upon her knee, W:And I wonder in the long nights if she ever thinks of me. % % % % % % % % % %]