skip navigation
Songs and Lyrics
Songs and Lyrics
Menu
Search
All Recent Changes
News
Help
Contact Us
<<
previous page
The Green Wedding
|
group home page
Songs
|
next page
Gypsy Rover
>>
The Gypsy
Further Information
Version 1
Download ABC 1
Show/Hide ABC 1
Download MIDI 1
abc music source 1
%abc-2.1 X:1 T:The Gypsy C:Bob Pegg C:Carol Pegg Z:Webmaster M:4/4 L:1/4 Q:3/8=100 K:C P:A C2 c2 | B/2A/2G/2F/2 G2 | C c B/2A/2G/2F/2 | E F/2E/2 D2 | G, C C C | C A A2 | A G E F | G E2 z | w:I'd like to tell you peo-ple I met her at the fair C/2C/2 C D E | F G _F =F | G F E D | C D2 z | w:But I met her in the pub down by the far side of the square G,/2G,/2 C C C | C c c2 | e/2e/2 d c (B/2A/2) | G c2 z | w:She was dark and she was hand-some and her name was Ma - ry Lee c/2B/2 G G G | C A A2 | G F E D | C D2 z | w:And I'll tell you of the good times of Ma-ry Lee and me. % W: W:A 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:A 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:A 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:A 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:A 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:A 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:A 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:B 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:A 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:A 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:A 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.
Version 2
Download ABC 2
Show/Hide ABC 2
Download MIDI 2
abc music source 2
Version 3
Download ABC 3
Show/Hide ABC 3
Download MIDI 3
abc music source 3
Song Note
Song by
Bob Pegg
and
Carol Pegg
Country of origin:
England
Folk song references:
Song to be found in the following collection(s):
My Own Song Book