The Gypsy / Songs and Lyrics

Version 1

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T:The Gypsy
C:Bob Pegg
C:Carol Pegg
Z:Webmaster
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w:I'd like to tell you peo-ple I met her at the fair 
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w:But I met her in the pub down by the far side of the square 
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w:She was dark and she was hand-some and her name was Ma - ry Lee 
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w:And I'll tell you of the good times of Ma-ry Lee and me.
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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

Version 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