The Gypsy Laddie
No: 200; variant: 200B
- The gypsies they came to my lord Cassilis' yett,
And O but they sang bonnie!
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That down came our fair ladie.
- She came tripping down the stairs,
And all her maids before her;
As soon as they saw her weel-far'd face,
They coost their glamourie owre her.
- She gave to them the good wheat bread,
And they gave her the ginger;
But she gave them a far better thing,
The gold ring off her finger.
- 'Will ye go with me, my hinny and my heart?
Will ye go with me, my dearie?
And I will swear, by the staff of my spear,
That your lord shall nae mair come near thee.'
- 'Sae take from me my silk mantel,
And bring to me a plaidie,
For I will travel the world owre
Along with the gypsie laddie.
- 'I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,
I could sail the seas with my dearie;
I could sail the seas with my Jockie Faa,
And with pleasure could drown with my dearie.
- They wandred high, they wandred low,
They wandred late and early,
Untill they came to an old tenant's-barn,
And by this time she was weary.
- 'Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,
And my noble lord beside me,
And now I must ly in an old tenant's-barn,
And the black crew glowring owre me.'
- 'O hold your tongue, my hinny and my heart,
O hold your tongue, my dearie,
For I will swear, by the moon and the stars,
That thy lord shall nae mair come near thee.'
- They wandred high, they wandred low,
They wandred late and early,
Untill they came to that wan water,
And by this time she was wearie.
- 'Aften have I rode that wan water,
And my lord Cassilis beside me,
And now I must set in my white feet and wade,
And carry the gypsie laddie.'
- By and by came home this noble lord,
And asking for his ladie,
The one did cry, the other did reply,
'She is gone with the gypsie laddie.'
- 'Go saddle to me the black,' he says,
'The brown rides never so speedie,
And I will neither eat nor drink
Till I bring home my ladie.'
- He wandred high, he wandred low,
He wandred late and early,
Untill he came to that wan water,
And there he spied his ladie.
- 'O wilt thou go home, my hinny and my heart,
O wilt thou go home, my dearie?
And I'l close thee in a close room,
Where no man shall come near thee.'
- 'I will not go home, my hinny and my heart,
I will not go home, my dearie;
If I have brewn good beer, I will drink of the same,
And my lord shall nae mair come near me.
- 'But I will swear, by the moon and the stars,
And the sun that shines so clearly,
That I am as free of the gypsie gang
As the hour my mother did bear me.'
- They were fifteen valiant men,
Black, but very bonny,
And they lost all their lives for one,
The Earl of Cassillis' ladie.