The Gypsy Laddies
Three gypsies cam tae oor hall door
And oh, but they sang bonny oh
They sang so sweet and too complete
That they stole the heart of our lady oh.
For she cam tripping down the stairs,
Her maidens too before her oh,
And when they saw her weel faured face
They throwed their spell oot owre her oh.
When her good lord came home that night
He was askin for his lady oh,
But the answer the servants gave tae him,
"She’s awa wi the gypsy laddies oh”.
“Gae saddle tae me my bonnie, bonnie black,
My broon it’s ne’er sae speedy oh.
That I may go ridin this long summer day
In search of my true lady oh”
But it's he rode east and he rode west
And he rode through Strathbogie oh
And there he met a gey auld man
That was comin through Strathbogie oh
For it's "Did ye come east or did ye come west
Or did you come through Strathbogie oh
And did ye see a gey lady?
She was followin three gypsy laddies oh"
For it's "I've come east and I've come west
And I've come through Strathbogie oh
And the bonniest lady that ere I saw
She was followin three gypsy laddies oh"
For the very last night that I crossed this river
I had dukes and lords to attend me oh.
But this night I must put in ma warm feet an wide,
An the gypsies widin before me oh.
Last night I lay in a good feather bed,
My own wedded lord beside me oh.
But this night I must lie in a cauld corn barn,
An the gypsies lyin aroon me oh.
For it’s “Will you give up your houses and your lands,
An will you give up your baby oh?
An it's will you give up your own wedded lord
An keep followin the gypsy laddies oh?”
For it's “I'll give up my houses and my lands
An I'll give up my baby oh
An it's I will give up my own wedded lord
And keep followin the gypsy laddies oh”
For there are seven brothers of us all,
We all are wondrous bonnie oh
But this very night we all shall be hanged
For the stealin of the earl’s lady oh
Jeannie Robertson’s wonderful version of a ballad that is sung in many countries, with varying words and varying tunes. The gypsies cast a spell over the lady of the castle, and she goes off with them, but they are caught and hanged.
Although this ballad is known far and wide, some singers think it is about a particular Scottish woman who lived in the 1600s, Lady Jean Hamilton of Culzean Castle in Ayrshire. Her husband was the Earl of Cassillis. In England the ballad is sometimes called ‘The Raggle Taggle Gypsies’, and in the USA some singers make it happen on a ranch and call the villain who tempts the woman away ‘Blackjack Davie’.
