Songs and Lyrics
Home
Songs
Songs
All Songs
Background
People
Places
Collections
Collections
Categories
Lists
Folk Indices
Child Ballads
Roud Folk Index
Laws Ballads
Folk Music
ABC Notation
ABC Notation
ABC Key
ABCJS
ABC Links
ABC Help
Site Pages
Site Pages
Login
Accessibility
Dispute Resolution
Privacy Policy
Recent Changes
Site Map
Feedback
Blog
Search
Go
Colour theme:
System
Light
Dark
Home
>>
Songs
>>
The Gypsy
<<
previous page
The Green Wedding
|
group home page
Songs
|
next page
Gypsy Rover
>>
Login
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